Cauliflower, sauteed with cumin, and served with garlicky, lemony tahina sauce is a classic Middle Eastern meze, but i’ve added a few embellishments here which makes the whole plateful resemble a fauvist painting; of course the bright yellow plates help a great deal in that direction.
In Israel, a plate of anything with tahina will bring a garnish of olive oil, poured in a swirl, and a scattering of pickles. Usually it will be pickled cucumbers…..maybe peppers…….and so I’ve served the classic Middle East salad of tahina with cauliflower with pickles–but in this case, decorated all prettily with bits of pickled turnip–check out my pickle page, or buy a jar at an Arab or Middle Eastern grocers. The bright pink of the pickles looks jewel-like when it is cut into small pieces and balances the beige-ness of the cauli-tahina, while the sharp tanginess of these turnips perfectly balances the richness of the tahina and the blandness of the vegetable.
After I scattered the pickles, I looked at the plate. It needed something fresh, again, in the spirit of the Middle East where it might be a little parsley or cilantro/coriander. But when I went out to the garden to snip a little bit, the scent of fresh oregano pulled me towards it, so I plucked a few sprigs and put it on the plate. It was so good with the tahina, cauliflower and pickles. I felt like i was conducting a little orchestra of tastes and colours by now. I looked at the plate again, then thought: a little green onion? Instead I grabbed a leek and chopped a little bit, then scattered it around–the leek was great because it had a kind of crunchy, dry, texture, and didn’t blend into the rest of the ingredients the way the more moist green onion would have.
1 medium sized cauliflower, cut into bite-sized and smaller florets
2 tablespoons evoo, or as desired
Several generous pinches of ground cumin
Salt to taste
1-2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or crushed
About 1/2 cup/ 125ml tahini
Juice of 1-2 lemons
3-4 tablespoons water, or as needed
A generous pinch of ground coriander seed
A few drops of a delicious preferably garlicky hot sauce, any ethnicity will do–I use a Chinese or Vietnamese garlic-chile sauce often, which works really well; other times? Cholula!
Garnish–all optional, but pretty:
Several slices pink pickled turnips, storebought or made from my blog, cut into tiny jewel-like bits, or pickled cucumber or mixed vegetables (giardiniera), diced
A few sprigs fresh oregano, and a few leaves to strew around the dish
A little bit of chopped leek, again, for sprinkling
Precook the cauliflower in the microwave or steamed until it is nearly tender. Remove; you can do this ahead of time or not, as you like. Heat about a tablespoon of the olive oil in a heavy frying pan until moderately hot, and add the cauliflower florets, cooking as you saute them, sprinkling them with cumin and salt as you go. You want to lightly brown them a little, which should only take a few minutes.
Remove from the heat. This, too, you can do ahead of time, up to a few days.
Make the tahina sauce: combine the garlic with the tahini and mix well, then stir in the lemon juice; the mixture will thicken considerably, then add a few tablespoons water, one at a time, until it thins out to the consistency you wish, which should be like thick paste. Taste for seasoning and add salt, cumin, coriander, and hot sauce to taste.
Arrange the tahina sauce on a plate and arrange the cauliflower on top of it; alternatively but less prettily, you can mix it all together.
Garnish with the pickles, a swirl of the remaining evoo, and serve with lovely fresh pita or crusty French/Italian/levain bread…..
With over 70 cookbook titles (including contributions) to her credit, Marlena conjures up flavours and dishes from the Mediterranean to Mexico, California to France to the Italian islands and single subjects such as chili peppers, olive oil, mushrooms, to a book on classic Jewish food from all over the world.