Meshwiya & matbucha

Worth mentioning here are meshwiya and matbucha, meaning ‘roasted’ and ‘cooked’ in Arabic. They are two preparations made with the same ingredients, more or less, but one is roasted and one cooked (as it says on the tin). Their recipes are tied to specific dishes in this book – check out octopus in meshwiya sauce and matbucha – but in the restaurant we use them for pretty much everything, as should you.