Mahashi dishes are associated with Sundays and holidays because they can be prepared the day before. After the family got back from church all my mother had to do was leave the prepared dish to cook while the rest of the family gathered for long drinks and appetisers. Their preparation is elaborate and time-consuming, a minor consideration in large families where many women can help. Now that the extended family has gradually given way to the nuclear family and more women are joining the workforce, these dishes have still managed to survive, thanks to the assistance of a mother, mother-in-law or generous neighbour, always eager to give a hand.
The preparation of stuffed dishes is a delicate operation requiring great dexterity and infinite patience. It requires a special coring tool that you can buy in Middle Eastern food shops or in the Arab quarters of big cities. When I finally decided to venture into the arena of mahashi preparation, I reinforced my firm decision, which, by the way, elicited a great deal of scepticism, with an extravagant investment in a fancy coring tool with a beautiful wooden handle. Not a good move as it turned out, because not only did it confirm others’ doubts about my initiative – I was just not the mahashi cook type – but it also turned out to be as useless as it looked fancy. After a few failed attempts – I broke most of the marrows and never got to the stuffing stage – I admitted defeat until my new household help offered me an offensive-looking corer that looked as if it came from a junkyard. But it worked! And it has served me all these years. I tried to tell my friends about the incredible qualities of my coring tool from the junk heap only to discover that they all had their own fancy corer at the bottom of a drawer of kitchen memorabilia and, in a top drawer, handily accessible, an exact replica of the dubious-looking instrument.
Still, the process of coring marrows or baby aubergines is a skill that will need a few attempts and a dose of will power to master. Using a knife, cut off the tip or stem of the vegetable and hold it in your left hand; with the corer in your right hand try to slowly pierce the pulp all around while pushing in the corer no more than 1 cm (½ in) at a time. Remove the loose pulp and try again in the same way, pushing the corer deeper in and removing the loose pulp until you reach the bottom. It is very important to proceed delicately against the sides of the vegetables and the bottom so as not to pierce it. If this happens, do not let it defeat you and carry on with the next one. Once you are done with the third or fourth marrow or aubergine you will get a feel for it, which will make it easier.
Gone are the winter evenings when one could reminisce and drool over a plate of mahshi u warak, stuffed baladi marrows and fresh vine leaves. We had to wait for spring to get the first taste of this delicious meal! Now marrows are available all year round and vine leaves keep very well in the freezer. Still, for the most tender vine leaves it is always best to pick the first growth, preferably from the betuni, grapevine, as it has a slightly acid flavour and does wonders in combination with the sweet marrows.
2 kg (4 lb 8 oz) about 16 marrows, preferably baladi
300 g (11 oz) grapevine leaves
2 cups round-grain rice
500 g (1 lb 2 oz) ground beef
50 g butter
1 tsp samneh (optional)
2 tsp salt
¾ tsp pepper
½ tsp allspice
(You can substitute the pepper and allspice with 1½ tsp mixed spice)
3 cups hot water
3 fresh tomatoes, sliced
Core the marrows to the desired thickness and leave them to soak in salted water for half an hour. Blanch the vine leaves by pouring boiling water over them in a heatproof container and soak them for 10 minutes, just enough for them to get soft. Remove the marrows from the water and stand them on the open end to drain properly, transfer the vine leaves to a colander and leave them to drain in the sink. The leaves tend to stick together; separate them so they drain faster.
For the stuffing you will have to wash the rice under hot running water for a few minutes then put it aside to drain. Transfer the rice to a big glass bowl to which you will add the meat, half the butter, melted, and the salt and spices. Mix thoroughly until you get an even blend of meat and rice.
You can start by stuffing the marrows. The best way not to overstuff them is to fill them until you can fit your little finger inside the marrow up to the first knuckle.
While you are sitting comfortably in front of your worktop, spread the vine leaves one at a time over the surface and put enough stuffing on the leaf to be able to roll it like a cigarette. The stuffing should be parallel to the wide end of the leaf which you will fold once over the stuffing, then flip the two ends over and continue rolling until the leaf is tightly closed. Repeat with the other leaves, leaving a few for the bottom and top of the cooking pot.
For this amount you will need quite a large pan. It is preferable to use an old-fashioned aluminium or copper pan that diffuses the heat evenly. Cover the bottom of the pan with a few vine leaves and spread the rolled vine leaves in a circle to cover two rows at the bottom. Alternate with the stuffed marrows and finish with the rest of the vine leaves. Dot the surface with the rest of the butter and cover with a layer of sliced tomatoes. Add the hot water, cover the pot and cook over a high heat for 10 to 15 minutes. Taste the liquid to check the salt and spices, adjust them if necessary, lower the heat and let the mixture simmer for 45 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed. Turn off the heat and let the contents of the pot rest for 10 minutes before serving.
If you prefer to cook this dish the traditional way, you have to substitute the beef with lamb and the butter with an equal amount of samneh. I prefer the healthier approach and believe that the suggested recipe above does not compromise the authenticity of the dish: The careful use of fresh spices and a small amount of samneh for the flavour justly restore its authenticity.
This makes the perfect Sunday dish if you prepare it one day ahead; all you have to do the next day is put it on the stove. If you are using an aluminium or copper pot, wait until just before cooking to put the food in it.
Tips
I use an old-fashioned aluminium bowl-shaped pan without handles to cook this dish as this allows me to flip it over in a tray for serving. The resulting display is spectacular and will certainly impress your family or your guests if you try it! The pulp of the marrows is not to be wasted. Cook over a medium heat for 15 minutes then add lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper. Or you can try the recipe for ijjeh on p.64.
The local variety of aubergines – the best are grown in Battir and Aroub, south of Bethlehem and are famous for their particularly pungent flavour – turn this dish into a special delicacy.
15 baby aubergines (makes about 1 kg/2 lb 4 oz)
½ cup olive oil
1 cup stock for cooking
400 g (about 13 oz) hashweh (see recipe p.94)
30 g (1 oz) pine nuts, fried and added to the meat stuffing
For the tomato sauce
6 fresh ripe tomatoes
2 tbs tomato paste
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
⅓ tsp allspice
4 tbs oil (optional)
For the yoghurt sauce
1½ cups stock
2 cups yoghurt
2 tsp cornflour
¾ tsp salt
½ tsp white pepper
The only way you can get this dish right is by setting aside your scruples and deep-frying the aubergines in olive oil. Wash the baby aubergines and dry them, keeping them whole with the stem so as to prevent the oil from penetrating them. Fry them in the hot oil until they become slightly soft to the touch. Be careful not to pierce the aubergines when you turn them over. Leave them to drain on kitchen paper while you prepare the hashweh, the meat and onion stuffing.
Preheat the oven to 180° C /360° F/Gas mark 4.
Remove the stems and slit an opening along the side of each aubergine away from the ends, so as to obtain a pocket, which you will fill with hashweh. Place the aubergines with the open end facing up in an ovenproof dish and cover with the sauce of your choice.
If you are using a tomato sauce, blend four of the tomatoes in a food processor, adding the paste and the spices and about ¾ cup water. Pour the sauce over the aubergines. Soak the remaining two tomatoes in boiling water for easy peeling, slice them and spread them evenly over the aubergines. Cover with aluminium foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and check the consistency of the sauce: you might wish to add some water or some olive oil for a richer taste. Put back in the oven and bake, uncovered, 10 more minutes. Serve immediately with vermicelli or plain rice.
If you are using the yoghurt dressing, it should be added at the last stage of the cooking. Add one cup of stock to the aubergines and bake them, covered with aluminium foil, for 30 minutes. Meanwhile mix the yoghurt with the cornflour in a heavy saucepan, add half a cup of stock, the salt and pepper and cook over a medium heat while stirring. Lower the heat and let simmer for 5 minutes.
Remove the aubergines from the oven and add the yoghurt sauce. Return to the oven and bake uncovered for another 10 minutes.
Serve immediately with vermicelli or plain rice.
The traditional way requires frying the marrows after stuffing them, but I find it unnecessary and they come out just as delicious.
If you think that 16 marrows, as indicated in the recipe, is more than you need, do not hesitate to freeze some after cooking as they keep very well for at least three weeks. Such a dish as this one, which requires some elaborate preparation, is always worth doing in a large quantity. With vermicelli rice on the side, it goes a long way, and make sure to have enough sauce to moisten the rice.
You can either serve the whole quantity for a small party of friends or freeze the extra portion. One of the advantages is that it can be prepared ahead of time.
1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) small baladi marrows (about 16 pieces)
400 g (14 oz) of hashweh (see p.94)
30 g (3 oz) pine nuts
3 fresh tomatoes, sliced
1½ tbs tomato paste
1 cup water
¾ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
⅓ tsp allspice
30 g (1 oz) butter or samneh
Core the marrows to the desired thickness and leave them to soak in salted water for 30 minutes. Meanwhile prepare the hashweh stuffing, adding the fried pine nuts at the very end. Preheat the oven to 200° C/4000 F/Gas mark 6.
Remove the marrows from the water and let them drain upside down in a colander for a few minutes before stuffing them with the cooled hashweh. Stuffing them requires some patience and you have to be careful not to break the tips in the process. Arrange the marrows inside two greased oven pans and spread the fresh slices of tomatoes on top. Dissolve the tomato paste in the water to which you add the spices, then pour this over the marrows. Dot with the butter or samneh and bake, covered with aluminium foil, for one hour. Remove the aluminium foil, add some water if the sauce is too thick and bake, uncovered, for another 10 minutes.
Serve hot with vermicelli rice on the side.
Tips
Refrigerated marrows will break upon coring. If they are not fresh from the market remove them from the refrigerator three hours ahead and core them when they are at room temperature.
Buying the right cabbage for stuffing is supposed to be an art, though I believe it is sheer luck. I watch as women hold a big cabbage in both hands, trying to assess the weight per volume, the same way they do with watermelons; the secret lies in the paradox that the bigger the volume the lighter it should feel. But physics have never been my forte and I rely on the choice of the greengrocer. The cabbages we use for stuffing weigh up to four kilos (4 ¾ pounds) and are appropriate because of their wide leaves. The most flavoursome variety comes from the area south of Bethlehem and is only available in early summer, the only time of year any self-respecting cook will serve this dish at her table.
The process of preparing the cabbage is somewhat lengthy but can be done the day before. You need to buy a cabbage weighing at least three kilos (about seven pounds) to prepare a meal for four persons. You separate the leaves one by one until you reach the heart where the leaves become wrinkled and unsuitable for rolling, so save them for a salad.
Remove the stems from the flat leaves and cut the leaves in squares and triangles big enough to roll into small ‘cigars’. Put a pan of water to boil, to which you add one teaspoonful of salt and cumin, and dip the leaves, a few at a time, for two minutes or until they are just tender enough to roll. Transfer with a perforated ladle to a colander then lay them flat on a kitchen towel to cool. Repeat this process until you have blanched all the leaves. If you stack them hot they will become too soft and will tear upon rolling. I always blanch the tender stems and use them to line the bottom of the pan. While they add extra flavour, they also protect the lower layer of malfouf from burning.
1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) blanched cabbage leaves, ready for stuffing
1 cup round-grain rice
300 g minced beef
50 g (2 oz) butter
1 tsp samneh (optional)
1 tsp salt
¾ tsp pepper
½ tsp allspice
Dash of cumin, nutmeg and cinnamon
(You can substitute the spices with 1½ tsp mixed spices)
6 garlic cloves, peeled
To prepare the stuffing, wash the rice under running water and soak it for five minutes. Drain the rice and transfer to a glass bowl. Add the meat, the softened butter, the salt and the spices and mix thoroughly.
Put the individual cabbage leaves flat on the working surface and add a heaped tablespoonful of the stuffing parallel to the veins of the leaf; roll it like a cigarette. Stack the rolls closely together at the bottom of a large pot lined with stems from the cabbage. Repeat the layers, inserting the peeled garlic cloves in between. The stacking is important as it will prevent the cabbage rolls from opening or getting too mushy during the cooking. Add two cups of hot water to the pot and cook on the stove-top on a high heat until the liquid boils. Leave on high for five minutes – you may taste the liquid to adjust the spices if necessary – then lower the heat and let it simmer for 30 minutes or until most of the water is absorbed. You may want to insert a heat diffuser under the pot during the last stage of the cooking.
Serve immediately with a tomato and cucumber salad and unflavoured yoghurt on the side.
While many meat aficionados dismiss this dish because of the amount of time it takes to prepare – ‘since you are doing it anyway you might as well add the meat,’ says my husband – it is one of the finest gourmet dishes among the mahashi. My mother has always served it for her summer buffet dinners to the delight of all the guests, and I make sure to keep the tradition going.
20 marrows (about 1.5 kg/3 lb 4 oz) 200 g (7 oz) vine leaves
1½ cups rice, round grain
8 large tomatoes
1 medium onion or 100 g (4 oz) spring onions
1½ tsp salt
¾ tsp pepper
½ tsp allspice
Small bunch of fresh parsley
A handful of fresh mint leaves or 2 tbs dried and crushed mint leaves
½ cup olive oil
⅓ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
About 2½ cups water
Prepare the marrows and vine leaves following the directions in the previous recipe.
For the stuffing, wash the tomatoes and herbs and peel and wash the onion. Finely dice five tomatoes, the onion, the parsley and fresh mint leaves and add them to the rice. Add the oil, the lemon and the spices and mix thoroughly.
Using the directions for Qussa mahshi ma‘ warak, stuff the marrows and roll the vine leaves and arrange them in a medium-sized cooking pot. Slice the rest of the tomatoes to cover the top, add a layer of vine leaves, add the hot water and put the pan, covered, on a high heat until it boils. Taste the liquid in order to adjust the spices and leave it to cook for 45 minutes. Lower the heat and let the ingredients simmer until all the water is absorbed. Leave to cool and sprinkle with fresh olive oil upon serving.
Serve with pickled green olives, salted black olives and a plate of hummos. If meat is a must, then so be it, as kiftah is the best accompaniment. This dish is as delicious the next day straight from the refrigerator.
The advantage of this dish, as with many stuffed vegetable dishes, is that it can be prepared in advance. Traditionally this dish was prepared with laban jmeed or laban immo as it is called in the Bethlehem dialect, which has a particularly strong and acrid flavour that may not be appreciated by those who did not grow up eating it. My mother, who is not a native Palestinian, has always cooked it successfully with unflavoured yoghurt. This recipe is a variation on her theme.
20 marrows about
1½ kg (3 lb 4 oz)
400 g (14 oz) minced beef or lamb
1 cup rice
30 g(l oz) butter
½ tsp salt
¾ tsp pepper
½ tsp allspice
2½ cups broth
For the yoghurt sauce
2 cups yoghurt
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbs cornflour
2 tbs butter or samneh
½ cup broth
1 tsp salt
½ tsp white pepper
Dash of freshly ground nutmeg and cinnamon
Wash the marrows and dry with a towel. Empty out their contents with a corer and let them soak in a basin of salted water for 30 minutes. Pour out the water and let them drain while you prepare the stuffing.
Wash the rice under the tap and let it drain in a sieve. In a glass bowl, mix the rice with the minced meat, the melted butter and the spices. Stuff the marrows one at a time, pushing the stuffing inside with your little finger. In order to check if they are sufficiently full, you should be able to insert your little finger up to the top knuckle. Be careful not to over-stuff them or they will burst open during the cooking.
Put the stuffed marrows in a pan with 2½ cups stock, cover and bring to the boil over a high heat. Lower the heat and let them cook for about one hour or until they are almost done. Add the yoghurt sauce and cook for another 10 minutes.
Mix the cornflour with the yoghurt and mix in the stock. In a heavy saucepan, lightly fry the crushed garlic in the butter or samneh, add the yoghurt mixture and the salt and pepper, heat through and add to the cooked marrows. Stir carefully so as not to break the marrows and cook on a low heat for another 10 minutes. Serve very hot.
If you have any left over, refrigerate the marrows and the sauce in separate tightly covered containers, which you can put back together and re-heat in the microwave or on the stove-top.
