Monthly Archives: October 2011

Veggiestan’s Greatest Hits #5 Tehrangeles

Some toe-tapping, medallion-jingling, hip-gyrating, short-skirted Persian pop to jiggle away your Autumn blues. All Iranian singers are contractually obliged to produce a song called ‘Dokhtar Irani’ (which just means Iranian Girl). Obligingly the dokhtar Irani in the video are giving … Continue reading

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Shaitan’s Baked Apples. With Djinn Custard. One for Hallowe’en.

Three whole aisles of Hallowe’en gimmicks, Poundland? Really? It is all a bit OTT this year, don’t you think? What happened to making your own costumes and watching Blue Peter for further ideas? And as for this trick or treat … Continue reading

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Fairuz? Googoosh? Who they? A few notes on the music of Veggiestan…

Thought this deserved a mention, as there are a few (otherwise obscure) allusions in the book. This at face value would be a book in its own right, as of course music in the Middle East offers just as much … Continue reading

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Veggiestan’s Greatest Hits #4: Morocco

To celebrate the arrival of last Christmas’ order of Moroccan artefacts (yes, you read that correctly), today’s interlude is Moroccan. Now most Arabic music is toe-tappingly catchy. This is chaabi music, however; if you study the video above you will … Continue reading

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Soup-e-Jo – Persian Barley Soup

An Autumn supper for 4. Or a starter for 6. There cannot be a more recession-friendly soup than this. But it is so creamy and comforting it tastes more like the fare of shahs than paupers. It is a very … Continue reading

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Veggiestan’s Greatest Hits #3: Armenia

Well this is jolly. We defy you not to tap your toes to it. Thinking about it, most Armenians we’ve met are rather jolly too. Absolutely no idea what’s the song’s called – sorry. But we get bonus points for … Continue reading

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On Being a Suspected Terrorist

My best experiences of some of the Lebanese delicacies in the book were courtesy of our customers along the Edgware Road. I particularly remember the first time I tried spinach fatayer: ‘twas served alongside sweet tea as an unlikely remedy … Continue reading

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Veggiestan’s Greatest Hits #2: Tunisia

Second stop in our musical tour of Veggiestan takes us to Tunisia, and perhaps one of the best known Arab anthems of all: Sidi Mansour. It was originally a Tunisian folk tune, but its catchy beats have been used across … Continue reading

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Some Bonus Home Remedies….

In the Middle East ‘you are what you eat’ is not a fly-on-the-wall TV programme, but rather a maxim embedded within the culinary culture. Many of the things that are routinely found in pantries across the region double as remedies. … Continue reading

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Israeli Fruit Soup – Marak Perot

To make 4 portions of anytime comfort food Fruit soups are two a shekel in the Middle East – but most of them are sweet and get served chilled. Iran boasts several fine savoury fruit numbers, the most famous being … Continue reading

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