Sabrina Ghayour's Bazaar: vegetarian recipes that even the most devout meat eaters will love

The self-taught cook talks to Anna Barnett about why she's written a vegetarian book for non-vegetarians
Sabrina Ghayour recently released new cookbook Bazaar
Kris Kirkham
Anna Barnett24 April 2019

Food writer Sabrina Ghayour's fourth book, Bazaar, is a vibrant tribute to Middle Eastern cooking.

Focusing on plant-based recipes, Ghayour shares dishes packed full of flavour and colour which cleverly have every reader in mind. Even carnivores.

Readers are seduced from the get-go with practical and easy to follow recipes for every occasion. An essential cookbook for your shelf.

Here, Anna Barnett gets to know the bestselling chef...

Where’s home for you?

I recently bought my first house in North Yorkshire. I divide my time between London and Yorkshire these days and both feel like home to me, thankfully.

What inspired you to write the book?

I always resisted the idea of penning a vegetarian book and I hate jumping on trends so the turning point for me was admitting to myself that I just don’t eat as much meat anymore. As I’m getting older, I can’t seem to digest it as well and actually we seem to crave vegetable-based meals more often than meat in my household. I will never be a vegetarian, I don’t think… as I do love meat but I prefer it being a special treat. When I do have it, I really enjoy it and I choose better quality meat and poultry but less often. It’s a happy, not to mention healthy, balance that works for us. The book mirrors this change in my life in a natural, unforced way.

Who should buy it?

Everyone…. Not just vegetarians. I pretty much wrote the entire book with non-vegetarians in mind, because it is us who seem to be crying out for some inspiration to sustain us eating vegetables and not just turning to pasta, potatoes and cheese for meatless meals. Everyone eats vegetables, so nobody is excluded, even vegans can very easily adapt and embrace many of the recipes in the book, too.

A recipe for root ribbon salad features in Ghayour's new book
Kris Kirkham

What's your favourite recipe from the book?

The Aubergine with Tomato and Tamarind sauce seems to be my first go-to when I am cooking for people. I guess that means it is my favourite because I always want to cook it for people to share how simple yet utterly delicious it is. It’s a real crowd-pleaser, if you’re willing to share, of course.

I'm looking for a quick mid-week, no-fuss dinner, which recipe should I head to?

The aforementioned aubergine dish is wonderful but if you want something super quick then the baked halloumi with harissa and lime is a gem of dish. You can always keep halloumi in the fridge for emergencies and rose harissa as a cupboard staple. And if you’re vegan? Just use tofu! See? Nobody is excluded.

Your ultimate failsafe dinner party dish from the book?

The Persian classic of spiced green bean and tomato rice (Loobia Polow, as we call it) with that classic crunchy ‘tahdig’ (meaning ‘bottom of the pan’) base is always a winner. I’m surprised at how many non-Iranians have embraced the crunchy tahdig base and cook it so often and when you turn the rice dish, that action in itself is pretty spectacular.

Your ultimate dessert and why?

Baklava Buns! Does that count as a dessert? It's technically a hybrid of a cinnamon roll and all the best elements of baklava, minus a lot of the faff and fuss. I am mad for these, anytime of day or night, they are absolutely spectacular at any occasion, breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea or dinner.

Which chefs excite you?

People who are brave and unafraid of combining flavours that most people would never think to put together, or perhaps even frown upon, those people excite me. Food from other cultures excites me, people who cook with love and abundance excite me. Qualifications are a beautiful thing but the cooks that really excite me aren’t necessarily well-known, or even professional cooks… some people just love food and it oozes through every pore and their eyes light up with excitement at the mere mention of a variety of salt or a new spice they have recently discovered.

I am a consummate food nerd and I love food, not only the cooking of it, but the produce, how it grows or is reared, the journey that brings it into our kitchen and then what we do to it before we serve it.

Top 3 favourite restaurants?

Gosh, what a tough one! I have too many favourites to list so perhaps let me diplomatically spin this to my most-visited London restaurants in the past year.

Chickpea koftas are a great alternative to meat
Kris Kirkham

Which cookery books do you always reach for from the shelf?

I love Nigella’s books. For confidence in baking and food with flavour but no fuss, this woman is my Queen. I have so much love for books that educate me about flavours and cultures outside of that which is familiar to me. I read cookbooks from cover to cover and then pop them back onto the shelves and treat them as treasured possessions.

What’s next for you?

The book tour will keep me busy well into summer. I teach all year round and work with some fantastic clients in the consultancy arm of my business and that tends to keep me busy enough. Add a new home in Yorkshire and a few other wonderful projects into the mix and 2019 is already shaping up to be the busiest year of my life! I have no complaints and am getting ready to tackle and enjoy it all. Bring it on!

Bazaar: Vibrant Vegetarian and Plant-Based Recipes by Sabrina Ghayour is published by Mitchell Beazley on the April 4, 2019. £26.00, octopusbooks.co.uk

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