Sauce

Tarator is the name used in different countries for sauces made with a variety of nuts. This sharp, garlicky one with pine nuts belongs to Syria and Lebanon. In Egypt it was served at grand buffet parties, where whole fish were entirely covered with it. For this simpler version you may use any white fish—fillets or steaks.

Pan-cooking with the famous marinade is the simplest and quickest way of preparing a Moroccan-style fish dish.

This hot, spicy, garlicky mixture is the all-purpose, ubiquitous Moroccan sauce for fish. It goes on every kind of fish—fried, grilled, baked, and stewed. It is marvelous, and I strongly recommend it, but not for a fish with a delicate flavor. Use half of it to marinate the fish in for 1/2 hour before cooking, and pour the rest on as a sauce before serving.

A ubiquitous sauce in Syria and Lebanon, served with fried and grilled fish as well as with cold fish.

Many Middle Eastern dishes call for yogurt as a cooking liquid or sauce which needs to be cooked—boiled or simmered—rather than just heated. Salted goat’s milk yogurt, which was used in similar recipes in olden times, can be cooked without curdling, which explains why medieval recipes do not give any indication of ways of preventing yogurt from curdling. Cooking, however, causes yogurt made with cow’s milk to curdle, and stabilizers such as cornstarch or egg white are required to prevent this.

Serve this in a bowl with plain boiled or steamed vegetables such as runner beans, zucchini, or cauliflower.

Serve as an appetizer with pita bread, or as a sauce to accompany various dishes such as fried fish, boiled vegetables, and falafel.

This bright red, creamy purée has an alluring mix of flavors. Serve it as a dip or to accompany fish.

The honey sweetness of this specialty from Marrakesh is surprising and enchanting. Serve it cold as an appetizer with bread, or hot to pour over meat or chicken, and sprinkle, if you like, with chopped, toasted almonds or sesame seeds.

This versatile topping is great for cakes, pies, ice cream, and regular or frozen yogurt.

Use this as a dip for vegetables or small crackers or as a dressing for salads or pita sandwiches.

This is especially good as a sauce for Shake-and-Bake Tofu (page 138). You can also use it as a sauce or spread with veggie burgers, or try it as a dip for crisp raw vegetables.

A simply delicious sauce to serve over grains, veggie burgers, green vegetables, or mashed potatoes.

A delectable sauce to serve over noodles, grains, or green vegetables. Cashew butter is a luscious treat. Look for it in natural foods stores. It is also, as you may imagine, a delicious change of pace from peanut butter in sandwiches. This recipe doubles easily if you’d like a larger quantity.

This tart treat is welcome on any Thanksgiving table.

Growing up, my family had a tradition that whoever got the bay leaf had to do the dishes.