Sharing is caring… and festive

Making you fall in love with Middle Eastern cuisine. That is the goal of Algerian-born chef Tony Kitous, owner of the popular Comptoir Libanais restaurant chain. With his book Comptoir Libanais – Feast!, he invites you—in true Middle Eastern style—to turn every meal into a celebration.

Bowls full of pastries, hummus, aubergine salads, grilled sardines and stewed lamb. Lebanese-Mediterranean cuisine is one of strong flavours and abundance. And oh so festive. Not only because of the lavish colour palette that all those mezzes (and beautiful tableware) bring with them, but above all because of its character. Because if there is one cuisine in which sharing is central, it is Middle Eastern cuisine.

Feast at home

Kitous: ‘Although many people are unaware of the open nature of Arab culture, everything in the Middle East and North Africa revolves around hospitality—with food as the shining centrepiece.’ And although the Middle East is currently not the most inviting destination for a culinary feast, Kitous hopes to inspire people with this book to bring the celebration into their homes.

Easy

‘With the recipes in this book, you can make a feast, whether you are with two, ten or twenty people, and whether you want to prepare breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner or something in between,’ says the chef. And it needn’t be difficult, now that couscous, bulgur and even freekeh are no longer unusual sights on the shelves of Appie Heijn. And otherwise, the Moroccan or Turkish local supermarket is sure to have them too.

Sahtein!

So bring on that fig tart with pistachio and haloumi, pastries with feta and olives or that aubergine shakshuka. Sahtein! (or: ‘Enjoy your meal!’)

Title: Comptoir Libanais – Feast!
Author: Tony Kitous
Publisher: Becht
Price: €24.99