HER MIDDLE EASTERN FOOD IS BIG ON FLAVOR
By T. Susan Chang, Globe Correspondent | September 7, 2005

Boston Globe, MA
Sept 7 2005

Zov: Recipes and Memories From the Heart, By Zov Karamardian, Zov’s
Publishing, 262 pp., $35

Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts Zov, of
Zov’s Bistro and the recently published “Zov: Recipes and Memories
>>From the Heart,” actually has a last name. She’s Zov Karamardian,
a chef from Orange County, Calif., who has built an institution around
affordable, accessible pan-Middle Eastern cuisine. But Zov likes to
keep things simple, on a first-name basis. Her recipes are the same,
with easy-to-find ingredients, big flavors, straightforward technique.

Karamardian, an Armenian born in Israel, is heir to the huge variety of
culinary styles that meet in the Caucasus region. Though her cooking
centers on flavors from Syria, Israel, Greece, and North Africa, she
is as likely to prepare a typical Mediterranean pasta salad as she is
the more eastern pilafs and grilled meats, with their seasonings of
sumac and Aleppo pepper. But classics like baba ghanouj, stuffed grape
leaves, tabbouleh, spanakopita, and moussaka also make appearances.

New England can match the natural abundance of the Fertile Crescent
(or southern California, for that matter) only in late summer. But when
our tomatoes, eggplants, and bell peppers are available in profusion
and the grill’s still up and running, these are the recipes you’re
looking for.

Moroccan salmon with charmoula sauce is thoroughly dredged in a bazaar
of spices; the charmoula’s liberal dose of diced tomatoes and cilantro
keeps the fish moist and bright-tasting. Rosemary-garlic chicken with
lemon gets marinated and grilled with its skin, for maximum flavor.

A massive quantity of thinly sliced onions, patiently cooked to gilded
brown shreds of sweetness, is the secret to her mujadara, or rice
pilaf with lentils and caramelized onions. Zov’s version uses a more
than generous dollop of sweet butter, which melds the flavors together
and gives depth to the onions. For vine-ripened roasted tomato-basil
soup, plum tomatoes get blasted in a 450-degree oven to concentrate
their flavor before joining a broth of aromatics and potatoes.

This is hot-weather food, so it’s no surprise that Zov’s desserts
turn toward cool, creamy comforts. Most are favorites, slightly
tailored. Jasmine rice pudding with fresh berries gets an elegant
scattering of sliced pistachios. Luscious lemon squares offer just
enough sweetness in their silken custard to get away with what would
otherwise be a withering, mouth-puckering tartness.

In other words, Zov doesn’t take any chances when it comes to flavor.

Why add just a teaspoon of lemon juice to the custard when you can
use two-thirds of a cup — and a handful of the grated rind while
you’re at it?

It’s not just the flavors that are big. You’ll need to break out your
largest pots for these recipes, none of which seem to be constructed to
serve fewer than six; eight to 10 is typical. These are party recipes,
meant to share with a big family or group of friends. A household of
only two would be dining on leftovers for a week.

“Zov” is a heavy, handsome book published outside traditional
channels. At $35, it doesn’t come cheap. Four-color photographs
fill every spread, large as life and sometimes larger. Those with a
taste for endless summer will find much to love in it; others will
thankfully browse its sunlit pages during the long season when sweet,
ripe tomatoes are just a memory.