Mein Onkel aus der Levante

Cooking course in German
My uncle from the Levant
Soul food from the Levant - recipes with history
with Leis Bagdach

When I was looking for a name for my first Levantine cooking course a few years ago, the suggestion "My aunt from the Levant" was actually just a joke. But since this aunt really does exist and has more than influenced me in culinary terms, the name finally prevailed.

For my new cooking course, I have now collected my uncle's favorite recipes (fortunately, the men in my Syrian family are also passionate about cooking! Classics of Aleppo cuisine, soul food from the Levant, such as the bread patties known as "lahmacun" in their very best version (with beef and pomegranate syrup), smoked green wheat with lentils and fried onions, warm chickpeas with tahina and deep-fried flatbread, the legendary parsley salad with bulgur (not with couscous!) and a dessert that actually comes from Palestine, but which I have never eaten as well as in a small bakery in the old town of Aleppo, where "my uncle from the Levant" always took me ...

Menu:

• Lahm b'ajin Baladi:Levantine pizza with minced meat and pomegranate syrup
• M'jaddara with frikeh: lentils and green, smoky wheat with onions
• Shish barak: Stuffed dumplings in coriander yoghurt sauce
• Tabbouleh: parsley salad with bulgur
• Tis'ieh: a warm "hummus" variation with roasted nuts and fried flatbread
• Knafeh Nablussie: wafer-thin, crispy threads of dough with baked cheese and pistachios

Leis Bagdach

Born in Cologne to a German mother and a Syrian father, Leis Bagdach has a huge repertoire of traditional family recipes, cooks passionately every day (and accidentally always for at least six people) and, as a full-time screenwriter, also has the best ideas in the kitchen.