Turkish chopped salad: A reader’s verdict

READER Johan Gerryts, of Essexvale in Port Elizabeth, tried last weekend’s The Global Table test kitchen recipe for the Turkish chopped salad from Sam and Sam Clark’s best-selling cookery book, ‘Casa Moro’, which has been re-released in softcover.

Johan made a Moroccan lamb dish in his tagine and said the chopped salad was "absolutely delicious” with it – "it’s simple, hearty, healthy and different”.

To make his Moroccan lamb, Johan used a small leg of lamb, "but I have done it with lamb shanks before”, he says.

"This is also the first time I use a proper tagine but before I have used a Corningware dish with a lid or even the usual aluminium casserole dish (not so cool looking but it works).”

First you take the lamb and coat it with olive oil ("spray can works well”). Then you rub it with ‘Bed of Roses’ Rub (a Moroccan Kasbah experience with saffron and rose petals – available from Valley Harvest Shoppe in Sixth Avenue, Walmer).

Place the meat in the dish and add slices of lemon, whole garlic cloves and touch of black pepper. Put in two sprigs of fresh rosemary and put lid on. "I then seal the lid with a flour and water mixture – it’s almost like siliconing it on.” Put in the oven at 200C for 30 min and then a further 1 hr at 150C.

"One can eat this as a roast with veggies and potatoes but I found the combination of this tender ‘fall off the bone’ meat with the recently featured Turkish chopped salad from ‘Casa Moro’ is absolutely delicious,” says Johan, who also recommends the following wine with this dish: "I found the best wine to bring together and combine the red meat texture and the light salad taste is a blend of 60% Merlot and 40% Sauvignon Blanc from D’Aria in Durbanville called ‘Blush’. It’s a beautiful wine from Durbanville available from Barbara at Prestons, in Main Road, Walmer.”

See Johan’s pictures below and scroll down further for the Turkish chopped salad recipe.