In September 2000 John was asked by Greg Sharrow (Greg's barely visible behind me and George - BIG thanks, Greg!) of the Vermont Folklife Center in Middlebury, Vermont to demonstrate Arabic cooking at the Rutland Ethnic Festival. John cooked Syrian sausages and mishwey (recipe below.) Luckily George Hooker (the OTHER crazy canoe guy!) was there with his wife, Cheryl, who was demonstrating Italian cooking. George generously volunteered to tend the grill while John prepared the food and talked about his family's Syrian connection.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Both of these are very simple recipes but stuffing sausage might be a trick for some people. I prefer to use beef for both of these but lamb is probably more authentic.

Sausage

2 lbs. of 80-85% lean ground beef (leaner yields a dry and less tasty sausage)
2 teaspoons of Arabic allspice (This is different from standard store-bought allspice but if you can't get to a Middle Eastern foods specialty store regular allspice will do.)
2 tablespoons of finely chopped cilantro or parsley (This is my addition to the recipe, my mother never did this.)
lamb sausage casings (These are the narrow casings as for breakfast sausage links. The wider casings as for Italian and Polish sausage are from hogs. River Street Meats in Fair Haven, Vermont was able to special order lamb casings for me.)

Mix the first 3 ingredients thoroughly. Soak the sausage casings in a little bowl of fresh water. Put one length of the sausage casing (about 16-20+ inches) on the narrow end of the sausage horn (sort of like putting a sock on your foot - it's a lot easier than you would expect provided they have been freshened in water.)  The sausage horn I use is for hand stuffing - it looks like a funnel with the flared end enlarged on the bottom side to be a reserve for the meat and with the top of the flared end cut away so that your fingers can push the meat down the tube. (Sausage horn is pictured to the right.)
 

 
 
 

1.) My son Rowan has gotten quite good at making the sausages. He is demonstrating in the pictures. Fill the length of the casing being careful not to get air bubbles and to not let the meat squish out of the end of it.
 

 
 
 
 

2.) Pinch the filled length of casing in the middle and give it a twist.
 
 

 
 
 

3.)About 3 inches back from this twist pinch the sausage on both sides, twist them together once and pull one end through the link you just formed making a single overhand knot.
 

 
 

4.) Continue this until you are at the end of the chain.  It is not necessary to tie off the open ends. Grill or broil the sausages after they are all stuffed. Be careful not to over cook them.
 
 
 
 

 
 

Mishwey

This is Arabic shish-kabob. The Greeks got the idea from the Arabs, I'm sure. ;^)

1 lb. of stew beef
2 green peppers
2 onions
3 tomatoes
Arabic allspice

Cut stew beef into 3/4 inch chunks. (Usually the chunks that come from the market or butcher shop are larger than this.) Cut vegetables into 1 inch chunks. Put the meat and vegetables on skewers - I try to put the cubed tomato against the meat with the skin side of the tomato facing away from the meat then the onion on the other side of the meat. (I don't use cherry tomatoes, they are pretty but they don't get tomato juice on the meat.) You need to gently twist the peppers and onions on to the skewer otherwise they split. Sprinkle the prepared skewers lightly with the allspice. Grill or broil.

After the sausages and mishwey are cooked put it all into a single pot and mix them. Spoon it over pilaf or serve it up in Syrian bread (aka "pita pockets".) The very best Syrian bread in the United States is made by Sackal's Bakery in Central Falls, Rhode Island!