Amany Abdel-Moneim leads the way towards a delicious dinner with family that won't take you long to prepare Ramadan is a very special month for many of us, but it is also an extremely hectic one. Aside from the religious rituals and spiritual atmosphere, Ramadan is also characterised by social phenomena such as family and friends gathering for Iftar, to break the fast at sunset, or Sohour, to snack late into the night before the sun rises. As a working mother, I have a rather tight schedule, and have frequently had it tough to meet even my own family's demands to meet for our regular family Iftar. This all changed, however, when I met cooking instructor and food consultant Dina Sarhan -- or the Martha Stewart of the Middle East, as many prefer to call her after the great success of her TV show Asrar Al-Tabkh Maa Dina (The Secrets of Cooking, With Dina) -- which has been airing on Egypt's national channel two during Ramadan since 2004 on daily basis and once a week throughout the year. Sarhan believes recipes alone are not enough, and this is probably her most important message, for it is technique and skill that make all the difference. She has a food philosophy that can be summed up simply, as less is more. Sarhan works with the best and freshest ingredients possible, and tries to do as little as possible to them. She wants her students to know that cooking itself is but a link in a long chain of invaluable techniques namely: how to use the minimum number of utensils, how to optimise time management and how to keep it clean. "Cooking doesn't have to involve hours of slaving in a hot kitchen," she told Al-Ahram Weekly. For Sarhan, it is perfectly possible to produce a three-course menu in half an hour. Her motto is "work smart not hard." By smart, she means quick but impressive. "I want everyone to realise how fun cooking can be and to love their own kitchens," Sarhan says. To be a good cook, she believes you first need to recognise the value of cooking for the people you love. Then you need to practise. "The more you cook, the better you get at it," she insists. Once you've got the know-how and the experience, you can be adventurous with your cooking and that's the fun part. Take risks, she advises. Don't make life boring and monotonous. Sarhan herself gets bored making the same dish twice. "My children have no one favourite dish as I love the challenge of making something new every time," she smiles. The story behind Sarhan is as surprising as it is inspiring. A graduate with honours in engineering from the American University in Cairo, Sarhan went on to work for a leading air-conditioning company. Then her career path shifted following her marriage, when she accompanied her husband to Sydney, Australia. To begin with, she had no idea about cooking, yet she quickly set out to learn, checking stacks of cookbooks out of the library and experimenting with different types of cuisine. Within a year Sarhan was resolved to change her life, and she started studying catering and business at the prestigious TAFE Institute, an affiliate of Cordon Bleu in France, for two years. Upon returning to Egypt in 1997, life took another turn for Sarhan, she started her business in recreational cooking courses on a small scale at home and became a consultant, helping companies with menu planning, marketing and quality control. Today, she owns and teaches at Dina Sarhan Culinary Solutions, the first institute in the Middle East to provide cuisine consulting and training, as well as hands-on cooking classes. Sarhan doesn't think her engineering background has gone to waste. To her, cooking involves a lot of art and flair, but there's a lot of science in it as well. "My scientific background helped me to think logically, and to be organised," she told the Weekly. "I love engineering, but I love what I'm doing now more." While being a cooking instructor may seem like a vast deviation from her degree and training as a mechanical engineer, for Sarhan, it was engineering that helped mould her into a successful entrepreneur in the culinary arts industry. "To me, a kitchen is like a science laboratory and cooking is just another scientific experiment, every recipe is a new experiment," she explained. "Good cooks will use their experience to vary the temperature or the proportions of the ingredients for the next attempt to come out better," she added. In dealing with sweets, especially, one has to be extremely precise. To Sarhan, it is like chemistry: make a slightly wrong move and you could cause an explosion. "If you over- or under-bake by half a degree, you ruin the taste completely," she said. Butter and eggs have to be kept at room temperature, while cocoa powder must be of the best quality, and unsweetened. As for yeast, it should be dissolved in tepid water -- never too hot or too cold -- before being added to flour, Sarhan advised. With Eid Al-Fitr at the corner, Sarhan suggests some of her dessert recipes, inspired by Greek, Turkish, Syrian and Lebanese cuisines. Pistachio shortbread mounds (Serves four) Ingredients: 1/2 cup (75g) roasted shelled pistachios 250g butter, chopped 1 cup (160g) icing sugar 1 tsp orange blossom water, maa zahr 1 1/2 cups (225g) plain flour 2 tbsp rice flour 2 tbsp cornflour 3/4 cup (90g) almond meal Extra icing sugar for dusting Method: - Preheat oven to 150C/300F. Prepare one large oven tray. - Toast nuts in a small heavy-based frying pan until lightly browned; remove from pan. Coarsely chop 1/3 cup (50g) of the nuts; leave remaining nuts whole. - Beat butter and sugar in small bowl with mixer or in food processor until light and fluffy, add maa zahr. Stir in sifted flours, almond meal and chopped nuts. - Shape level tablespoons of mixture into mounds; place on oven tray, allowing three centimetres between each. Press one reserved nut on each mound; bake for about 25 minutes or until firm. Stand five minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool. Serve mounds dusted with extra sifted icing sugar. Cook's notes: - When shaping, handle dough with care. If it's too difficult to shape, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate till firm. - Nuts brown quickly, so watch closely while toasting. Variations: Instead of maa zahr, try using rosewater or 1/4 tsp of either ground cinnamon or cardamom. Kourabiedes, or walnut shortbreads (Makes 30-40) Ingredients: 250g soft unsalted butter 110g (2/3 cup) icing sugar, sifted, plus extra for dusting 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 egg yolk 300g (2 cups) plain flour 1/2 tsp baking powder 90g walnuts, finely chopped (substitute almonds, if preferred) 2 tbsp orange flower (blossom) water ( maa zahr ) Method: - Using an electric mixer, beat butter until pale and creamy, then add icing sugar, vanilla and egg yolk and beat until well combined. Fold in combined sifted flour and baking powder, then add chopped walnuts and stir to combine. - Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls, or crescents. Place on baking trays and bake at 160C/320F for 15-20 minutes or until just starting to colour. - Transfer shortbreads to wire racks and, while still warm, sprinkle with maa zahr and dust with icing sugar, then leave to cool. When completely cool, dust generously with icing sugar. Walnut shortbreads will keep in an airtight container for up to three weeks or more, if stored properly. Serving ideas: - Serve walnut shortbreads with scoops of mistika or pistachio sorbet. - Drizzle with a little rosewater ( maa ward ) instead of maa zahr. Cook's notes: - No holiday or special-occasion feast in Greece would be complete without these buttery shortbreads, and they are usually on hand to offer to guests. - Similar versions of them appear all over the Middle East, maybe with slight variations in shape and/or ingredients, also reserved for celebrations. - In Turkey they are served in Islamic feasts and weddings shaped into little round mounds with a piece of clove inserted in the top middle of each, resembling a mosque. Fruity couscous (Serves four) Ingredients: 1 cup medium or coarse grain couscous 1 cup boiling chicken stock, or water 1 tbsp olive oil 3/4 cup slivered almonds 2 tbsp chopped dried apricots 2 tbsp currants or raisins 1 to 2 tbsp lemon juice 1 tbsp olive oil (optional) 2 tbsp to 3 each of parsley and coriander, chopped 1/2 tsp salt Method: - Put couscous in a large heatproof bowl, add stock or water. Cover and leave to stand for about five minutes. - Meanwhile, heat oil in a large pan. Add almonds and cook, stirring frequently, until they just begin to colour, then stir in the dried fruits. Cook for one or two minutes longer until currants puff up, stirring continuously, then remove from the pan. - Add the nut mixture to the couscous, stir gently with a fork to fluff it up, then add lemon juice, oil, herbs and salt, then mix again. Taste and adjust to your liking. For more recipes, you can visit her website, www.dinasarhan.com.
