Fattoush comes from Arabic fatta, meaning “break,” from breaking the grilled Arabic bread (pita) over the fattoush. If you’ve ever heard of the Montagues and the Capulets, it is the same as with fattoush and tabouleh! There is a constant dilemma of choosing between one and the other for a mezze . . . or maybe just go for both.
If tabouleh is all about fine chopping and dicing, fattoush is on the contrary about big chunks of vegetables and fragrant herbs from the garden. Some like it with a hint of crushed garlic and a tangier sauce with lemon juice; this is up to personal taste. Still, some rules are de rigueur: It isn’t a fattoush without purslane, without grilled bread, and without sumac.
- 1 pita
- 2 medium tomatoes
- 7 ounces (200 g) radishes
- 2 scallions
- 7 ounces (200 g) arugula, torn
- 1/2 bunch purslane, torn
- 1/2 bunch thyme
- 1/2 bunch flat-leaf parsley
- 1/2 bunch mint
- 1 tablespoon (6 g) ground sumac
- 1 tablespoon (20 g) debs el remmen (pomegranate molasses)
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) olive oil
- Salt
- Kamal Mouzawak
- kamal@soukeltayeb.com
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Grill the pita on a stovetop grill pan, or toast it.
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Cut the tomatoes into chunks, slice the radishes, and coarsely chop the scallions. Tear the arugula and purslane into pieces. Strip the leaves from the thyme, and chop the parsley and mint.
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Mix the chopped vegetables, arugula, purslane, thyme, parsley, and mint in a large bowl.
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Mix in the sumac, pomegranate molasses, and olive oil, and season to taste with salt.
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Break the grilled bread into bite-size pieces over it all and serve straight away.
Yield 4 servings
