Shish Barak

Shish Barak is Lebanon's answer to tortellini in brodo — tiny crescent-shaped dumplings stuffed with spiced minced lamb, cooked in a warm, garlicky yoghurt sauce perfumed with dried mint. Like kibbeh b laban, the sauce must be carefully stabilised so it never curdles, and the dumplings must be thin-skinned enough to be delicate while remaining sturdy enough to hold their filling through the simmering.

This is a dish that Lebanese grandmothers are famous for, and it demands the patience and skill to roll and fill dozens of tiny dumplings entirely by hand. The flavour is deeply comforting: savoury, gently tangy, with the warmth of dried mint running through every spoonful.

Shish Barak is a winter dish at heart — the kind of meal that warms you from the inside on a cold evening. Mirna makes it the traditional way, every dumpling shaped and filled by hand. Each tanjara serves 4–5 people.