Milk Street Digital Class: The Secrets of the Middle Eastern Pantry with Lior Lev Sercarz

About this Pre-Recorded Class:

From Turkey to Tunisia and Jordan to Iraq, the Middle East is a vast region with countless layers of culinary influence. It’s a part of the world we love to learn about at Milk Street, and one of our favorite teachers is chef, author and spice aficionado Lior Lev Sercarz, whose most recent book is “A Middle Eastern Pantry.” Lior is the teacher of this pre-recorded livestream class, where he proves that equipping your pantry with a short list of essential ingredients will set you up for endless delicious meals. We’re going beyond tahini and olive oil here. You’ll come away completely convinced that you need a jar of pickled grape leaves on hand for dolmas, which are prepared more like a casserole than you might think. Then, you’ll learn to make homemade versions of three beloved and utilitarian spice blends: tart za’atar, nutty dukkah and savory shawarma—that’s right, shawarma is a spice blend as well as a meat preparation. Finally, to satisfy your sweet tooth, you’ll use date syrup and rose water—both must-haves in a well-stocked Middle Eastern pantry—to make jallab, a nonalcoholic refreshing chilled drink that’s garnished with pine nuts. As we cook, Lior will shed light on the production, history, cultural resonance and storage of each of these staples. You’ll come away with a super-powered pantry to make future Middle Eastern meals a breeze to prepare.