Culinary Chronicles
By Yasmin Rahul Bakshi
Shish Tawook on the table and Baladi music in the background brought back some cherished flashbacks.
Twenty-three years ago, “The spy who loved me” got me into a dilemma whether I should or shouldn’t explore Egypt. I was keen for the Nile cruise, pyramids and the cuisine yet the crime depicted in the James Bond movie in the narrow lanes of Cairo was making me apprehensive.
The trepidations changed the very moment I landed there. Everyone from the ground crew, cab chauffeur to the hotel staff exuded warmth and made us feel notable.
Food was a saporous amalgamation of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines, be it on the streets of Khan-el-Khalili or over the Oberoi Phiae cruiser. And! Served with remarkable generous hospitality.
Summer is knocking on the door. Before the mercury soars and the barbeque set gets wrapped up for the next season, Shish Tawook from the Ottoman cuisine is a must to be done. Egyptian food is highly influenced by Ottoman culture.
The redolence and savour of food is unbeatable that is prepared over charcoal. Cooking over coal has been prevalent over the last thirty thousand years. The Greeks are known to have invented the technique for grilling meat on skewers over it.
Barbacoa, a wooden framework, was used by the Taino tribe of the Caribbean islands to slow cook meat over an indirect heat. This method was adapted by the Spanish explorers in the 1500s which gradually the American colonies picked up. By the 17th century, “barbeque” came in vogue for social gatherings.
Grilling and barbecuing are not the same. Grilling is cooking food directly over an open fire or high heat while the other is cooking indirectly on slow and low heat.
The barbecued foods are more succulent with intensely penetrated flavours of the marinades and smoky aroma as compared to the grilled ones.
In Egypt, the “Mashwiyat” system is followed to grill meats over high heat on charcoal in open flame over metal skewers that imparts a smoky and charred savour.
The cordiality of the Egyptians and the cherished patrimony of the land drew us to make a second visit for a comparable experience after a few years.
Ingredients:
- Boneless chicken – ½ kg
- Curd – ¼ cup (thick)
- Lemon juice – 2 Tbsp
- Olive oil – 3 Tbsp
- Garlic cloves – 8 (minced)
- Tomato paste – 1 Tbsp
- Paprika – 1 tsp
- Cinnamon powder – ¼ tsp
- Dried oregano – ¼ tsp
- Salt – according to taste
- Black pepper – ¼ tsp
- Ginger powder – ¼ tsp
- Nutmeg powder – 2 pinch
Method:
- Wash and cut the chicken into 2 inch cubes. Pat dry.
- Whisk the curd, lemon juice, olive oil, minced garlic, salt, all the spices and oregano together in a bowl.
- Add the chicken pieces and coat the marinade well.
- Let the chicken marinate overnight in a refrigerator.
- Thread the chicken over the skewers, ensuring a little space between each piece. If using bamboo skewers then soak them in water for half an hour before threading the chicken.
- Preheat the grill to 220 degree centigrade.
- Oil the grates (oven wired racks), and place the skewers over them.
- Grill for 14 to 15 minutes until the chicken looks a bit charred from the edges and surface. (The internal temperature of the chicken should be 74 degree centigrade.)
- Serve hot with a choice of Middle Eastern dip.
(Yasmin Rahul Bakshi is an accomplished senior consultant Chef and a food historian. A widely travelled Army wife from the Mussoorie hills with exposure to international cuisines & preserving recipes with the medium of food photography and digital content creation in the form of stories.)
