Batarekh

Before You Start

Slice it paper-thin. Thick slices are just salt.

Chill before slicing or it crumbles.

Oil and lemon only. It needs nothing else.

Cooking Batarekh

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1. Chill the batarekh in its block for 30 minutes. It slices far more cleanly cold.

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2. Peel away the wax or membrane coating with a small sharp knife.

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3. Slice as thinly as you possibly can — aim for 1 mm, translucent at the edges.

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4. Lay the slices in a single overlapping layer on a cold plate.

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5. Dress with the olive oil and lemon juice about 10 minutes before serving, so it softens slightly.

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6. Scatter with parsley leaves.

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7. Serve with lemon wedges, whole spring onions and bread, and let people build their own mouthfuls.

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Related guides: Prep, cook and total time · Ingredient substitutions.

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Why It Works

Batarekh is intense enough that the entire preparation is about restraint — the wax coating comes off, the block is sliced as thin as the knife will allow, and nothing is added but oil and lemon. Slicing it thick makes it overwhelmingly salty and slightly waxy on the tongue; at a millimetre it turns translucent and tastes of the sea rather than of salt. Chilling the block firms it enough to cut cleanly, which a room-temperature one will not do.

After You've Cooked It

The whole block keeps refrigerated and wrapped for 3 months. Once sliced, eat within a day.

Swaps and Variations

• Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.

What to Serve Alongside

• Aish baladi
• Spring onions
• A cold beer

Questions and Answers

The Numbers per Serving

Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: an ingredient listed without an amount is not counted, so the figures run low; part of the energy comes from foods, or weights per item, with no recorded source. How the figures are worked out.

Gluten-free when served without the aish baladi.

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