Stuffed vegetables — mahshi in Arabic — are among the oldest preparations in the Levantine kitchen, documented in medieval Arab cookery manuscripts. Every vegetable that can be hollowed is hollowed: courgettes, peppers, aubergines, tomatoes, grape leaves, cabbage, chard. The filling is always rice-based with meat or without, spiced with baharat or allspice, and the cooking method is always steam-braising in a covered pot with aromatic liquid.
Vegetables hollowed, filled with a spiced rice and sometimes meat mixture, and braised in a covered pot with water, tomato, and aromatics until the vegetables are completely tender and the rice is fully cooked. The braising liquid reduces to a concentrated sauce that glazes the stuffed vegetables as it evaporates.
The stuffed vegetable is the meeting of two flavours — the concentrated, caramelised exterior of the vegetable and the spiced, herbed interior of the filling. The braising liquid that remains is the third element: reduced to a sauce, it carries both characters. Served with yogurt or labneh, the acid contrast completes the dish.
- The rice filling must be raw or only partially cooked before stuffing — it will continue cooking inside the vegetable. Over-cooked rice before stuffing produces mush [VERIFY: use short-grain rice, soaked 30 minutes to begin hydration] - Fill to approximately 75% capacity — rice expands during cooking and a tightly filled vegetable will burst - Arrange tightly in the pot — stuffed vegetables need to support each other to maintain their shape during cooking - Liquid should reach approximately halfway up the vegetables — enough to generate steam but not so much that the vegetables boil rather than braise - Cook covered on low heat throughout — high heat causes the vegetables to disintegrate before the rice is cooked
OTTOLENGHI JERUSALEM — Technique Entries OT-01 through OT-25