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Meatballs in Sour Cherry Sauce (Kabab Karaz) by Anissa Helou
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Meatballs in Sour Cherry Sauce (Kabab Karaz) by Anissa Helou

If there is a dish that symbolizes the cooking of Aleppo, this has to be it.

Brian Hogan Stewart's avatar
Brian Hogan Stewart
Mar 23, 2019
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Salt + Spine
Salt + Spine
Meatballs in Sour Cherry Sauce (Kabab Karaz) by Anissa Helou
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Meatballs in Sour Cherry Sauce (Kabab Karaz)

Serves 5

• SYRIA •

If there is a dish that symbolizes the cooking of Aleppo, this has to be it. Maria Gaspard Samra, a rare Syrian woman chef who gave cooking classes before the destruction of the city, grinds the cherries before cooking them, while my friends Lena Toutounji (famous for having one of the best tables in Aleppo) and May Mamarbachi (creator of the first boutique hotel in Damascus, Beit Mamlouka) both leave the cherries whole. May very kindly gave me cherries from her frozen stock so I could test the recipe. If you can’t find fresh or frozen sour cherries, use dried.

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