Pickled bishbash, better known as fennel, is one of the mezze dishes that chef Nir Messika’s mother Yaffa used to serve at the beginning of a large meal. Nir elevated this traditional salad into a colorful dish for winter celebrating the season’s finest: cured olives, oranges, greens, and fresh sumac.
Ingredients
- 2 oranges
- 10 ½ ounces / 300 grams labneh
- Zest from 3 lemons
- Salt
- 3 medium fennel bulbs, thinly sliced with a mandoline
- 3 tablespoons chopped Thassos (Moroccan oil-cured) olives
- ⅓ red onion, julienned (cut into long thin strips)
- ⅓ cup mint leaves
- ½ cup garden cress
- For the dressing:
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
- ½ teaspoon sumac
- Salt
- White pepper
Preparation
- Peel and segment the oranges over a bowl, reserving the orange juice collected at the bottom for the dressing. Set the orange segments aside.
- Mix the labneh, lemon zest, and salt and spread in a shallow serving bowl (similar to hummus).
- Mix the fennel, orange segments, olives, onions and herbs in a bowl. Add the dressing ingredients to the reserved orange juice and mix. Add to the vegetables, mix, and then gently mound over the labneh. Serve immediately.
