Life? Sabich! ... and then you fry W

Kicking off with a simple fish pie in 2008, we’ve come a long way together, and I hope that some of you have tried and enjoyed some of my recipes, or at the very least found this waffly bit before the instructions mildly entertaining. I’ve really enjoyed myself, too, pushing myself to develop new dishes, re-visit some old classics and try recipes from all over the world.

On a couple of occasions I’ve even developed recipes in my dreams. Even in my sleep, you see, I’m hard at work. Here’s to many more Friday articles, and let’s crack on with a new recipe to me, and I would imagine, to you too.

You’ll know of my love of street food from all around the globe – it’s a growing phenomenon in the west, but in many cultures it’s been going for centuries. Your bustling markets and souks wouldn’t survive long without the sustenance provided by a phalanx of food carts and stalls, selling tasty, filling stuff to the busy traders and shoppers. And so, in search of new pleasures, we flit across the Mediterranean and land in Israel, to explore a vibrant local cuisine.

Unlike the often rather unpleasant politics of the region, cuisines here in the Holy Land have crossed boundaries so many times, taking influences from here, mixing this with that, and generally having a great time of it, regardless of ethnicity.

The sumptuous, regal cooking of Persia clashes with the heat and spice of North Africa, and this alongside the simplicity and freshness of Mediterranean coastal cooking, with its love of fresh bright-eyed fish, dusty herbs and luscious fruit. Jewish cuisine has many different styles, encompassing a vast gamut of ingredients, trends and recipes.

We’re probably most familiar, here in the UK, with traditional Ashkenazi food – this Germanic branch is where chicken noodle soup with matzo balls, chopped liver, and potato latkes come from – but there are other divisions whose food is a lot less stodgy, where herbs are flung about with glee and garlic is used with an enthusiasm bordering on recklessness. Sephardic Jews, originating in Spain and Portugal, have a cuisine much as you’d imagine – very colourful, filled with herbs and luscious tomatoes. And the Mizrahi Jews hail from all around the Middle East, and it’s from this branch of Judaism that the mighty Sabich hails.

It’s a magnificent hotchpotch of bright, vibrant ingredients, and I tell you, eaten on a miserable wet, windy day (as my test versions were) it is a fierce ray of sunshine burning the clouds away and invigorating the senses.

There’s the coolness of the cream cheese, the kick of garlic in the tahini sauce and the crunch of the fried aubergine.

The soft egg gets on famously with the sweet, spicy amba sauce, crammed with mango flavour, and the whole thing is topped with the freshness of tomato, a little zip from some raw onion, all enveloped in a soft, slightly charred flatbread. Honestly, it’s bliss. If I could, I’d have this for my lunch pretty much every day.

Don’t faint at the ingredients list, by the way. This dish is as easy as anything, and you can always cheat and buy ready-made flatbreads or naans.