LEAH KOENIG’S Lahmajun

Leah Koenig’s latest cookery book showcases Jewish starters

It’s not just restaurants putting a modern spin on Jewish food. Cookery books have been at it too. The latest book in the ‘modern Jewish’ trend is the small but perfectly formed Little Book of Jewish Appetizers by US food writer, Leah Koenig. “It’s the first in a series of three books” she explained over the phone from her Brooklyn home. “The next two will be about holiday (festival) feasts and Jewish baking — I’m already working on the holiday feasts book.”

Several haimishe staples have been brought into the 21st century. Was she worried about taking tradition too far? “I think it’s ok to play with food, so long as it’s done with integrity. I believe Jewish recipes have changed over the years as they’re handed from generation to generation. There’s a sense that our food hasn’t changed and that we’re bastardising it now, but I do think it has evolved over the years.

“I like to find a way of updating dishes, even simple changes that make a difference to the flavour. It doesn’t have to be drastic — I add onion powder to my potato kugel, for example.”

Koenig has played with several Ashkenazi recipes. Her chopped liver is vegetarian (“You can find plenty of regular chopped liver recipes”) made with eggs, mushrooms and kidney beans. Borscht ingredients are deconstructed onto crostini. Gefilte fish makes an appearance in its fried form.

“I didn’t know you could eat it chopped and fried until a few years ago” she admits. “We only have the boiled version here, but one of my bosses — Nigel Savage who runs US Jewish food and sustainability charity, Hazon — is English from Manchester, and explained how it can be prepared in the UK. He shared his mother’s recipe.”

She has mostly left the Sephardi-influenced dishes alone. “I tend to be more inventive with Ashkenazi food as I’m more familiar with it. Also, Sephardi foods are a bit novel as they’re newer here.” However, she has tweaked the more familiar Sephardi dishes — hummus has added sweet potato and smoked paprika for instance.

Why did she choose starters? “They are an obvious idea for the first book as they open the meal and I feel the appetising course is an underappreciated part of the Jewish meal. Main dishes like brisket and roast chicken get all the attention.”

Appetisers have long been a part of the Ashkenazi menu — the Yiddish term is forspeisn (pronounced FOR-shpice) which comes from the German for ‘before food’.

“They tend to be more structured and specific, but when you open it up to the Sephardi table it’s quite different — a huge spread of plates that you eat with challah or pitta. It’s a meal in itself, and when you’re full you get the fish course and then the meat!” Koenig suggests several menus combining her recipes — including a cocktail party and Chanucah party. She also lists some suitable for freezing to whack in the oven for surprise visitors. Does she get plenty of those?

“My house becomes a bit of a dinner lab when I’m testing recipes. I use Shabbat to test them out on my friends.”

As she’s already testing recipes for the next course, her table must be the hottest in Brooklyn.

Recipes adapted from The Little Book of Jewish Appetizers, Chronicle Books £13.99

Jews hailing from Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, and surrounding countries took the lead from their neighbours and fell in love with these small flatbreads topped with ground lamb or beef. The dough is rolled quite thin and crisps around the edges while baking. The topping, meanwhile, is enriched with fragrant spices and pine nuts that add subtle flavour and crunch. Drizzle the lahmajun with good-quality tahini and shower it with fresh parsley and lemon juice, then slice into wedges and serve as a decadent party or dinner appetiser.

INGREDIENTS: Dough:

7g active dried yeast (2 ¼tsp) 1tsp sugar

180ml warm water

255g plain flour, plus more as needed 1 ½ tsp kosher salt

1tbsp plus 1tsp extra-virgin olive oil

Fillings:

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 plum tomato, seeded and finely chopped

225g ground lamb or beef

½ small onion, grated on the large holes of a box grater

1 tsp sweet paprika

¼ tsp red pepper flakes

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground cumin

1 tsp za’atar

1 tbsp tomato paste

40g pine nuts

Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, tahini, and lemon wedges for serving

METHOD:

To make the dough: Stir together the yeast, sugar, and warm water in a medium bowl. Let sit until foaming, 5 to 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour and salt. Stir in 1 Tbsp of the olive oil into the yeast mixture, then pour into the flour. Stir until the dough starts to come together, then turn knead on a lightly floured surface adding a little more flour, if needed, until the dough is smooth and elastic but not sticky, 7 to 8 minutes. (You can also knead the dough in a food mixer fitted with the dough hook on medium speed for 5 to 7 minutes.)

Pour the remaining 1 tsp of oil into a large bowl, add the dough, and turn to coat. Cover and leave in a warm place until it doubles in size, about 1 hour.

Gently deflate the dough with the palm of your hand and turn onto a lightly floured surface.

Cut the dough into four equal portions and roll each into a ball. Transfer the dough balls to a floured baking sheet. Cover and let rest in a warm place until soft and pliable, 30 to 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the filling: Heat the olive oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add the garlic, tomato, and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes.

Remove from the heat. Mix the lamb, onion, paprika, red pepper flakes, cinnamon, cumin, za’atar, 1 tsp salt, tomato paste, pine nuts and cooled tomatoes in a large bowlwith your hands until well combined.

Preheat the oven to 230°C, and line two large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Lay another piece of parchment on a flat surface. Working with one ball of dough at a time, place the ball on top of the parchment. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a 20-cm circle.

Lay the dough on the prepared baking sheet, top with one quarter of the topping (the meat should still be raw), and use your fingers to press it evenly to the edges.

Sprinkle with a little salt. Repeat with remaining dough and topping. Bake until the dough is golden brown and topping is cooked through, 15 to 18 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Slice into wedges and sprinkle with parsley and drizzle with tahini. Serve warm, with lemon wedges on the side for squeezing.