Foura

This is the dish of Deir ez-Zor on the Euphrates, and almost all of it comes out of the store cupboard. Both main ingredients are made in summer and kept for winter: kishk and dried cowpeas. The name comes from boiling — the moment the pot rises and bubbles is the moment that names the dish.

The kishk is made in summer

Kishk is said as jashaj in the local speech and is in nearly every house in Deir ez-Zor. Cracked grain is worked into sour yoghurt and left to ferment, stirred from time to time; when bubbles show on the surface it has taken. Then it is dried, cut into discs and strung up like beads to wait for winter. The kishk page in this section covers that preparation on its own.

How it is cooked

The work starts the night before. The kishk discs and the cowpeas go into water separately and sit until morning. In the morning the kishk is crushed and strained, and the strained liquid goes on the fire, stirred without stopping so it does not catch. The cowpeas are boiled separately, drained and added to the kishk water.

The finish is plain: salt, garlic and clarified butter. Stirring carries on until the mixture is smooth and comes to the boil. It is poured into a deep bowl, fried garlic and a little more butter go on top, and it goes out hot.

When it is eaten

A dish for cold winter days and for spring. It reaches the table most often on a Friday morning, and that is no accident — since it needs a night of soaking, it is timed for the one morning of the week people get up late. It is eaten as a family, with the bowls in the middle and bread dipped into them.

Where to find it

This is not a restaurant dish. It is cooked in homes in Deir ez-Zor and reaches a traveller only at a table they have been invited to. Spice sellers in the city carry kishk through the winter; if you want to ask about the dish itself, ask where you are staying rather than in a restaurant.