A stunning salad from south-east Turkey where all the ingredients grow in abundance. It strikes the perfect balance of sweet, salty and chilli hot. The ruby-red pomegranate seeds look gorgeous against the muted khakis and greens of the other ingredients.
Veteran food writer Claudia Roden describes this dish as “a thrilling mix of flavours, textures and colours that is almost too glorious to look at. It is a speciality of Gaziantep, a Turkish city on the border with Syria, famous for its gastronomy.”
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 100g good-quality pitted green olives in brine, drained
- 50g walnuts
- 3 spring onions, chopped
- bunch (25g) of flat-leaf parsley, leaves chopped
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
- salt, to taste
- chilli flakes, to taste
- 3 tablespoons pomegranate seeds
Method
Coarsely chop the olives and walnuts, place in a serving dish and mix with the spring onions and parsley.
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In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, lemon juice and pomegranate molasses with a little salt and chilli flakes to taste. Pour over the olives and walnuts and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.
Great served alongside pork skewers, simply cooked fish or sliced steak.
Med by Claudia Roden, photography by Susan Bell, is published by Ebury Press, available now.
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