Muhamara

I buy something very similar (or is it exactly the same?) at my local farmer's market, from a Mediterranean stand - not sure exactly what nationality they are, but they're not Lebanese: more like Tunisian or Moroccan? I'll have to ask them.

Anyway it's great, it's got roasted red bell peppers, walnuts, I believe there's also pine nuts, and pomegranate.

Awesome indeed.

 

Is it thick like a hummus?  (referring to texture, obviously)  or more saucy like a chutney or pesto...?

Never heard of it!

Where is it made?

 

Muhamara is found all over the Mideast, but originated in Lebanon. It's similar to hummus in texture, or, sometimes, a little thinner. It can often be found on a mezze table.

Typical ingredients: roasted red bell peppers, walnuts, pomegranate molasses, salt, cumin, hot sauce, and lemon juice, all zapped together in the food processor. Sometimes it's thickened with some bread crumbs as well.

Better watch yourself, BDL. It can be addictive!
 

 

I can picture it now. There's boar-d-laze, in a long overcoat and slouch hat, lurking in the back corriders of Greystone, furtively pushing muhamara to culinary students to support his jones.

Ahhhh, the shame of it!

 

Something to keep in mind is that traditional muhamara is actually a nut spread, rather than a pepper spread per se. For anyone interested in trying this, there's a full recipe in Hussien Dekmak's The Lebanese Cookbook:

Oil for deep frying

1/2 cup pistachio nuts

1 cup walnuts

1/2 cup cashew nuts

1/2 cup blanced almonds

1/2 cup pine nuts (optional)

2 tbls finely choped onion

1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped

1 tbls finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

4 cups fresh bread crumbs

1 green chile, finely chopped

1 cup olive oil

Salt and black pepper

Heat the oil in a deep fat fryer or deep, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Deep fry the nuts for a matter of minutes---any longer and the walnuts will taste bitter. Drain and set aside to cool.

Finely chop the nuts and place in a bowl with the onion, red pepper, parsley, bread crumbs, chile and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and mix well.

Personally, I leave out the pine nuts, and char-roast both the bell pepper and green chile. And I increase the bells to two, cuz I like their flavor so much.