This is manoushe bi kishik, or a flatbread with kishik. Kishik is made by mixing yogurt and bulgur and letting it ferment. Kishik can be served fresh (mixed fresh and only a few days old, which you'll find in Middle Eastern cheese shops). Or kishik can be dried completely in the sun, and then ground to a powder. This powder is then rehydrated as a soup or sauce and has a very distinctive sour taste.
Pictured is a very traditional kishik flatbread, where kishik powder is mixed with tomato paste, olive oil, and sesame seeds and spread on bread. It's very mild and quite delicious.
Sounds like the sort of thing that you taste once and then absolutely crave for its umami - especially with the tomato paste. Is that right? I need to track some of this down and try it.
ReplyDeleteI love kishik! A Lebanese friend of ours used to bring manaeesh bi kishik over when her mom came to visit and I never knew what it was until I saw it on this post. :) Thanks!
ReplyDeletethat looks really delicious. @_@
ReplyDeleteOh, we have this in Turkey also! It is called "tarhana" there but I've only ever seen it in soup, never on flatbread. Seems really tasty!
ReplyDeletemmmmm.do you have a good recipe for manaaish dough?
ReplyDeleteHi! I know this might be quite strange but I wanted to thank you for this blog! Today I looked up shish barak and I stumbled upon your blog. It made my day. I spent most of my childhood in Lebanon and Iran because of my parents. Alas,I had to return to my homeland - Romania. Ever since then I've been dreaming of going back and if I manage that even by recreating the food, I am happy. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteYou brought back lots of happy memories.
Raluca.