flipLamb siniya with tahini, the Shabbat dish
Lamb siniya with tahini, the Shabbat dish
Why this dish? A bon vivant with an imposing figure, Sharon loved meat and hearty meals: the siniya, a tray of spiced minced lamb baked under a tahini crust, is exactly the kind of generous dish that gathers a large festive table in the Negev.
Spiced minced lamb, spread in a dish with pine nuts and onions, covered with a veil of tahini that browns and gratinates in the oven. Served piping hot, cut into portions, with bread and rice.
When there are many of you and you need to feed hungry men, you don't skimp. You take fatty lamb, mince it, work it with onion, cumin, cinnamon, a handful of toasted pine nuts. You spread it in a large dish, and on top — this is the secret — a cover of lemon-laced tahini that will brown and crack in the oven. When it comes out, it's still sizzling. You cut it, push it with bread, and believe me, no one leaves the table hungry.
- •Fatty minced lamb — a good amount (base)
- •Onions — several, chopped and browned (sweetness)
- •Pine nuts — a handful, toasted (texture)
- •Cumin, cinnamon, sweet paprika, black pepper — to taste (spices)
- •Tahini thinned with lemon — enough to coat (gratinated topping)
Lamb siniya with tahini, the Shabbat dish
Spiced minced lamb, spread in a dish with pine nuts and onions, covered with a veil of tahini that browns and gratinates in the oven. Served piping hot, cut into portions, with bread and rice.
Why this dish? A bon vivant with an imposing figure, Sharon loved meat and hearty meals: the siniya, a tray of spiced minced lamb baked under a tahini crust, is exactly the kind of generous dish that gathers a large festive table in the Negev.
When there are many of you and you need to feed hungry men, you don't skimp. You take fatty lamb, mince it, work it with onion, cumin, cinnamon, a handful of toasted pine nuts. You spread it in a large dish, and on top — this is the secret — a cover of lemon-laced tahini that will brown and crack in the oven. When it comes out, it's still sizzling. You cut it, push it with bread, and believe me, no one leaves the table hungry.
Ingredients (period version)
- Fatty minced lamb — a good amount (base)
- Onions — several, chopped and browned (sweetness)
- Pine nuts — a handful, toasted (texture)
- Cumin, cinnamon, sweet paprika, black pepper — to taste (spices)
- Tahini thinned with lemon — enough to coat (gratinated topping)
Ingredients
- Minced lamb — 700 g (base)
- Onions — 2 large (sweetness)
- Pine nuts — 60 g (texture)
- Cumin, cinnamon, sweet paprika, pepper — 1 tsp each (spices)
- Tahini — 150 g (gratinated topping)
- Lemon juice + water — 5 cl + 10 cl (thins the sauce)
- Flat-leaf parsley, salt — to taste (finishing)
Method
- Sauté the chopped onions in olive oil until golden, add half the pine nuts.
- Mix the lamb with the onions and spices, season with salt, spread in an even layer in a baking dish.
- Prepare the tahini sauce: whisk the tahini with lemon juice, salt, and water until a coating cream forms.
- Pour the tahini over the meat to cover completely, sprinkle with the remaining pine nuts.
- Bake at 200°C for 25 to 30 minutes, until the surface is golden and cracked. Sprinkle with parsley and serve piping hot with rice and bread.
How it was made : The siniya (from the Arabic sini, tray) was cooked in a large tinned copper tray slid into the baker's oven after the bread was baked, on Friday, for the evening meal. The tahini layer protected the meat from drying while gratinating.
The contemporary twist : An individual serving in small cocottes, each topped with a golden tahini crust, served hot on the plate without cutting.
Ariel Sharon · Charactorium
