Bejewel your table with Eastern riches

The cradle of civilisation is also the birthplace of the banquet. Lay out an exquisite feast with Bethany Kehdy’s recipes

The Middle East is a cradle of lavish feasting, epitomised in its jewelled tables. Eating is both a necessity and a social ritual, and while most cookbooks understandably focus on the mezze ritual, it’s merely one side of the table.

In the Middle East, there is a basic split between what is served in the home and what is served outside of it. The nucleus of the culinary repertoire of the Middle East is the home kitchen. While a restaurant mezze table may be a procession of small plates, with no distinct main or principal dish, to be nibbled at leisure while drinking arak (raki) or wine, the anatomy of an everyday, home-style meal shares many of the same dishes but woven around, say, a stew and rice.

The key to any jewelled table is to provide an array of condiments and sides, always a salad and more often than not a platter of rice. A basic home meal will include a grain and vegetarian or meat stew, pickles, and a yogurt. Also on the table are bread, olives and/ or raw vegetables.

A more formal feast for company may star appetisers, or muqabilat, to be followed by two main dishes, usually a stew, stuffed vegetables or meat. The muqabilat remain on the table throughout the meal, all part of the decoration. Only once the dessert – which is typically coffee, fruit or pastry – has been served are the main dishes cleared away.

A Middle Eastern host is always ready to welcome guests and unannounced visitors; the table is always large enough for extra diners. In turn, a guest should always expect to be urged towards several helpings. The feast seems never to cease.