rip and dip for life
Those who don’t get to dine in New York City might know Ayesha Nurdjaja more from her appearance on Food Network than for her restaurants. As a frequent judge on Beat Bobby Flay and her place as one of his Triple Threat chefs, she is developing fans across the country for her bold flavors and rock’n’roll style. Her restaurants Shuka and Shukette are favorites of other chefs, who are drawn to her colorful and delicious dishes. And now she’s taken all of her enthusiasm and published it in her first cookbook, Mediterranean All the Way.
Nurdjaja grew up in a food-friendly home, with an Indonesian father who was a professional chef known for his precision and an Italian mother who cooked from her heart. She equates cooking with music, wanting to balance the low notes and the high notes, and bring the joy from the kitchen to the table. She focuses on seasonal fruits and vegetables, but she doesn’t neglect meats and seafood.
She starts out with some basics about plating and using citrus to add brightness and balance to a dish, and then she starts in with dishes that can be shared over drinks and laughs with friends and family. She offers up several dips, classics like Labne, Hummus, and Baba Ganoush but mixes it up with Gravesend Onion Dip, Anytime Pea Dip, Egg Salad, and Smoked Fish Salad with her own Crunchy Crackers or Flatbread.
She moves on to dishes with fruit and vegetables, like Feta with Grilled Apricots, Citrus Salad, Zocchini Fritters, Crispy Potato Batata Harra, Beets with Orange & Terragon, and Roasted Fennel. She also has salads for the table, a Green Rice, Chickpea Salad, My Big Fat Greek Salad, and a Pea Party. But if you’re looking for a hearty main, then you can try her Joojeh Roast Chicken, Marinated Lamb Chops, Pork Chops with Cherry Peppers, or Big Boy Steak.
There is an entire chapter on grilling, with as many kebabs as you could possibly want. And a chapter on seafood, with Fried Calamari with Za’atar Ta’atar, Lobster Pita Pocket, and Cod Shakshuka. After that is a chapter that fascinated me, with foods wrapped in phyllo dough. There are the Meat Cigars, Shrimp Cigarillos, Cheese Stogies, and Halloumi Schnitzel as well as some Crunchy Little Chips.
And while she’s not a fan of desserts (there is a recipe for an ice cream sundae, but that’s it for the sweets), Nurdjaja doesn’t shy away from baking. She offers her Dough It All with a selection of fillings that can be used in a number of different iterations, so you can pair the Potato Filling with a rectangular dough shape, the Savory Shroom and Cheese with the big flatbread, or the Spinach Pie with the coil. And she finishes it up with more of her big flavors—a chapter of drizzles, creamy sauces, vinaigrettes, butters, and chermoulas to add to dishes to pump up the flavors and colors on the plate.
The thing that always fascinated me about Nurdjaja was hearing other chefs talk about her food. It was the food they wanted to eat, so I could tell early on that she was a force in the kitchen. Now that I’ve gotten to see her cook and compete, I can see why she has the reputation she does. She brings joy and energy to the kitchen, and that comes through on each page of this cookbook. And while some of her recipes are high volume versions of traditional Mediterranean dishes, there are also several recipes that are her pure imagination.
I enjoyed reading Mediterranean All the Way, and I will be returning to some of these ideas in the near future. I love her “rip and dip” philosophy, bringing food that her guests can dig into while enjoying drinks and conversation. I am in love with her meat and cheese “cigars,” and I am itching to invite friends over just to try them out. The photography throughout is beautiful and inviting, making this book feel a little like a dinner party just about to happen. However, with her dough recipe, she specifically says it’s not for pizza and teases that she’ll talk about pizza in her next cookbook. However, I am ready for that now and don’t want to wait.
Mediterranean All the Way would be a thoughtful gift for those who love Mediterranean food (the Mediterranean diet is one of the healthiest ways to eat) and for those who love to shop the farmers market for all the latest veggies and fruits but can’t always come up with creative ways to use them once they get home. It’s a beautiful debut cookbook, smart and jazzy and inventive, full of ideas for bright and flavorful dishes to make and share.
A copy of Mediterranean All the Way was provided by Clarkson Potter, with many thanks, but the opinions are mine.
