Some breakfast cereals only come into their own as children's party treats: what are cornflakes and Coco Pops for, if not to clump together with melted chocolate and spoon into a cupcake holder? Other cereals, by contrast, are so grown-up and pious that I can hardly bear to think about them at all – Weetabix springs to mind here, as does shredded wheat.
Actually, now that I mention it, Ican think of one good use for shredded wheat (though I challenge anybody to find one for Weetabix): it's the western product that bears closest resemblance to kadaifi (or kataifi), so it'll help me explain the texture of this magical pastry. Popular across the Levant, Turkey and Greece, kadaifi are angel hair, vermicelli pasta-like strands that are wrapped around or layered with various fillings – sweet or savoury – then baked or fried. It's basically a type of shredded filo, and gives a similar crunch to the one you get from the cereal, only 10 times better.
Two typical Levantine sweet options involve filling or layering kadaifi with a mild young cheese or with a paste of ground nuts, sugar and cinnamon. This is baked and then drenched in a sugar syrup flavoured with lemon juice or floral-scented water. (The nutty version maybe familiar to many of you: it's common in many a baklava selection.)
Kadaifi is not easy to find in the UK, even online (although a thorough search will reveal a few sources), but Ifind a real-life hunt far more exciting. I go to lots of Greek, Arab and Turkish grocers, most of which stock frozen packs of the stuff, and always end up coming away with all sorts of other ingredients that I can't get in normal supermarkets, notably fruit and veg that tastes as it's meant to and all sorts of young cheeses.
Kadaifi may not be easy to get hold of, but it is a cinch to use. You just need to work relatively quickly (so it doesn't dry out) and, crucially, take aliberal approach to the amount of melted butter or oil you use.
Once you're comfortable with working with kadaifi, experiment – wrap it around whole prawns and bake them, or around tender vegetables and deep-fry them; or try a more traditional layering of kadaifi and nuts, then bake and finish off with a syrupy soak. Whatever you do, though, don't pour milk on top of it in the morning.
Aubergine kadaifi nests with red pepper salsa
These are rich, filling and terribly satisfying. The salsa is almost essential to create a perfect balance, but if you don't have time to make it, serve the nests with a lemon wedge instead, though it won't be the same. Serves four.
2 large aubergines
120g ricotta
40g mature pecorino (or vegetarian alternative), coarsely grated
15g chopped parsley
1 egg, lightly beaten
Salt and black pepper
200g kadaifi pastry
80g unsalted butter, melted, plus alittle extra for greasing
60ml sunflower oil
For the salsa
1 red pepper
1 red chilli
3 garlic cloves
6 tomatoes, blanched and peeled
1 tsp sherry vinegar
Salt and black pepper
50ml olive oil
¼ medium red onion, peeled and very finely diced
Heat the oven to 210C/410F/gas mark 6½. Pierce the aubergines in a few places with a sharp knife, place on a tray and roast on the top shelf of the oven (make sure there's room to fit the red pepper underneath later) for 60 to 70 minutes, turning occasionally, until they go black all over. Remove from the oven and, when cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh into a colander and leave to drain for at least half an hour; discard the skin.
While the aubergines are roasting, prepare the salsa. Put the pepper, chilli and garlic on an oven tray and place underneath the aubergines in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove the chilli and garlic, turn the pepper and roast for another 20 minutes. Once the skin is blistered, put the pepper and chilli in a bowl and cover with clingfilm. When cool, peel and deseed both the pepper and chillies, and peel the garlic. Cut four of the tomatoes into 1cm dice and set aside. Deseed the remaining two and place in the small bowl of a food processor, along with the pepper, chilli and garlic. Whizz to a paste, add the vinegar and a third of a teaspoon of salt, then, with the motor running, slowly add the oil to make a thick sauce. Transfer to a bowl, add the diced tomatoes and onion, stir gently and set aside.
Mix the drained aubergine in a bowl with the ricotta, pecorino, parsley, egg, half a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of black pepper.
Turn the oven to 200C/390F/gasmark 6. Meanwhile, prepare thekadaifi nests. Mix together the melted butter and vegetable oil. Remove a 25g bundle of pastry fromthe packet and place in a smallbowl. Add a tablespoon of themelted butter and oil, and toss so the pastry soaks up the fats. Transferthe bundle to a work surface and spread it flat into a roughly 5cm x 5cm rectangle. Spoona heaped tablespoon of the aubergine mixture on to one end ofthe pastry, then roll it up very loosely into an airy ball. Repeat withthe remaining pastry and filling – you'll end up with eight stuffed balls – then lay snugly in a buttered ovenproof dish or tray (21cm x 28cm), so they're just touching each other.
Drizzle over all the remaining butter and oil, and bake for 30 minutes, until the tops of the nests are golden and crunchy. Serve at once, with the salsa on the side.
Goat's yoghurt-marinated lamb chops
This dish was inspired by Najmieh Batmanglij, the goddess of Iranian cooking. You really do need to marinate the chops for 24-48 hours, as the recipe suggests, because this both softens and flavours them. Use cutlets, if you prefer. Serves four.
300g goat's yoghurt
½ tsp saffron strands, soaked in 1 tsp boiling water
90ml lime juice
2 tsp orange-blossom water
Zest of ½ orange
1 tsp honey
½ tsp flaked chilli
Salt and white pepper
12 lamb chops, any sinew and most of the fat trimmed off
1 banana shallot, peeled and finelysliced
In a large bowl, mix together the yoghurt, soaked saffron and its water, lime juice, orange-blossom water and zest, honey, flaked chilli, a teaspoon and a half of salt and an eighth of a teaspoon of white pepper. Stir to combine, then transfer half the sauce into a smaller bowl, cover and refrigerate – this will be used as a dipping sauce.
Add the chops and shallot to the remaining sauce and mix to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 24-48 hours, stirring once or twice.
Heat a ridged griddle pan or barbecue until hot. Cook the chops for four to six minutes on each side, depending on their thickness, until they're golden-brown and crisp on the outside and medium-rare in thecentre. Leave to rest for a couple of minutes, then serve hot with the dipping sauce on the side.
