Cold appetizers · The home kitchen
Mixed Cold Appetizer
Four small bowls turn a few familiar ingredients into a generous cold mezze platter. Creamy chickpeas, roasted eggplant, tangy yogurt and sweet peppers offer contrasting textures without requiring four complicated cooking projects. Arrange warm pita around the bowls and add fresh vegetables if you want to make the spread more substantial. This is an original home-style interpretation inspired by the menu’s ingredients, rather than Beiruty’s restaurant formula. Quantities are written for a domestic kitchen so you can prepare the dish confidently and adjust the final seasoning to your own taste. The independent recipe linked below provides another cook’s perspective and useful background for exploring this style of food at home.
A home-style recipe inspired by our menu. Restaurant preparation, portions and ingredients may differ.
Make it at home
Mixed Cold Appetizer recipe
- Serves
- 8
- Prep
- 45 min
- Cook
- 45 min
- Rest / chill
- 240 min
- Total
- 330 min
Ingredients
- Hummus: 240 g drained chickpeas, 30 ml tahini, 30 ml lemon juice, 30 ml water, 1/2 garlic clove, 1/4 tsp salt
- Baba ghannouj: 400 g eggplant, 25 ml tahini, 15 ml lemon juice, 1/2 garlic clove, 1/4 tsp salt
- Labneh: 350 g Greek yogurt, 1/4 tsp salt
- Muhammara: 200 g drained roasted peppers, 40 g toasted walnuts, 20 g breadcrumbs, 10 ml pomegranate molasses, 10 ml lemon juice, 1/4 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp salt
- 60 ml olive oil, divided equally among four dips
- 4 pita breads, cut into wedges
Method
For labneh, mix yogurt with its salt and drain in a cloth-lined sieve over a bowl in the refrigerator for 4 hours.
For baba ghannouj, pierce eggplant and roast at 230°C/450°F for 40–45 minutes until collapsed. Scoop flesh, drain 15 minutes, chop and stir with its tahini, lemon, grated garlic, salt and 15 ml oil.
For hummus, blend its chickpeas, tahini, lemon, water, garlic and salt until smooth, then stir in 15 ml oil.
For muhammara, pulse all its ingredients with 15 ml oil to a textured paste. Spoon each dip into a separate bowl; finish labneh with remaining 15 ml oil and serve with pita.
Make it your own.
- Make the labneh first so it drains while you prepare the other dips.
- Keep dips separate so guests can enjoy their different textures.