Solidarity

I am not immune to the goings-on in the great wide world and have lately been following with some interest the astonishing - and not a little concerning - political turmoil in Egypt. Increasingly, my thoughts are turning to my old colleague and dear Facebook friend the International Woman of Mystery, currently riding out these tumultuous times on her houseboat in El Kit Kat on the Nile.

Communication with the IWOM has been a bit intermittent of late, so I am forced to express my one-ness with the Egyptian people in other ways. But how should I pay tribute to the spread of popular will and celebrate (hopefully) the retirement of yet another of the world's undesirable despots? Why, with the production for dinner of a fine Middle Eastern-inspired dish, of course!

Coincidentally, I have in my possession at present the December issue of Sainsbury's Magazine. Sainsbury's, as readers are well aware, is the ubiquitous and rather high-end supermarket chain that is to the Brits what Wegmans is to Mid-Atlantic state dwellers on this side of the Pond. DMR is a big fan of the mag, and trips to Blighty for anybody in the family always include the purchase of the current copy for her delectation. Each Christmas, the Rels kindly send her the super-duper holiday edition, which DMR happily devours and subsequently passes to me.

Thus, like some neo-con vision of Middle Eastern democracy, news of the latest in British foodie fads eventually makes its way to my corner of Pennsylvania.

In this December's issue (which I just received last week), I spied the perfect dish for my purposes: roasted butternut squash with chickpeas and cumin. While butternut squash is New World in the extreme, chickpeas have an undisputed Levantine lineage. Remains of the domesticated legume from eight thousand years ago were found during excavations at Jericho and the modern kabuli variety of the pulse is still used all over North Africa as an important source of protein. Cumin, of course, has been enjoyed in the region since the time of the ancient Greeks. The addition of lemon at the end of cooking calls to mind the Moorish settlement of Spain, but if you wanted to honor more explicitly the culture of northern Africa, you could use salt-preserved lemons instead.

Down-with-the-Tyrant Butternut Squash 

• about three pounds of butternut squash
• 10 cloves of garlic (unpeeled)
• fresh thyme (about four sprigs)
• a couple good splashes of olive oil
• 4 teaspoons of cumin seeds
• 4 teaspoons of coriander seeds
• a 14-ounce can of chickpeas, drained (or a similar weight of dried, soaked overnight and boiled until tender)
• juice of a lemon

Preheat your oven to 425 deg F. Peel and deseed the squash and cut it into one-inch chunks. Plop these into your biggest bowl and toss them with the whole garlic gloves, thyme and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Spread the mixture out onto a baking tray and roast for half an hour or so until the squash is soft, delicious and charred at the edges.

Toast the seeds in a dry frying pan and then mush 'em up somehow (I use a mortar and pestle, but I know many cooks who employ dedicated coffee grinders with great success).

When your squash is cooked, discard the thyme sprigs. Pick out all the garlic cloves and squeeze the paste from the skins into a really big frying pan. Add the chickpeas and the ground seeds. Cook over medium heat and stir to warm it all through. Mix in the squash and cook for a bit, being careful not to bust up the delicate pieces.

Just before serving, add the lemon juice and taste for seasoning.

It would be excellent as a main course or as a side-dish for grilled lamb.

The dish can be served either in the comfort of your own home or on the barricades, warm or at room temperature.