From Turkey to Tunisia and Jordan to Iraq, the Middle East is a vast region with countless layers of culinary influence. It’s a part of the world we love to learn about at Milk Street, and one of our favorite teachers is chef, author and spice aficionado Lior Lev Sercarz, whose most recent book is “A Middle Eastern Pantry.” Lior is the teacher of this pre-recorded livestream class, where he proves that equipping your pantry with a short list of essential ingredients will set you up for endless delicious meals. We’re going beyond tahini and olive oil here. You’ll come away completely convinced that you need a jar of pickled grape leaves on hand for dolmas, which are prepared more like a casserole than you might think. Then, you’ll learn to make homemade versions of three beloved and utilitarian spice blends: tart za’atar, nutty dukkah and savory shawarma—that’s right, shawarma is a spice blend as well as a meat preparation. Finally, to satisfy your sweet tooth, you’ll use date syrup and rose water—both must-haves in a well-stocked Middle Eastern pantry—to make jallab, a nonalcoholic refreshing chilled drink that’s garnished with pine nuts. As we cook, Lior will shed light on the production, history, cultural resonance and storage of each of these staples. You’ll come away with a super-powered pantry to make future Middle Eastern meals a breeze to prepare.

[/description-break] What's Included[/title] You will receive a .zip file that includes the cooking school video as well as PDFs of the recipe instructions.[/accordion] How to Download[/title] After you purchase your Milk Street Cooking School Video, you will receive an email from the Milk Street Store with the subject line "Your Cooking School Video is Ready for Download." Within this email there is a link that will direct you to a download page, click download now to download the .zip folder. To unzip the folder, double-click the zipped folder to open it. Please note: your video download file will have an approximate size of 500 MB. [/accordions-break]Lior Lev Sercarz is the chef and owner of La Boîte, [/banner_heading] a destination spice atelier in New York City, and the author of “Mastering Spice” and “The Spice Companion.” His collections are sold online and in select stores. He lives in New York City with his wife and children. [/banner-text-break]