BURSTING WITH AROMAS, FLAVOR, AND HEAT, THIS EXOTIC GLAZE WILL INSTANTLY LIVEN UP ANY SUMMER DISH

BY CHEF DAVID BURKE

Everyone who works for me steals this recipe. It’s basically a Middle Eastern sweet and sour sauce; sometimes we call it Moroccan Barbecue Sauce, sometimes Black Honey Glaze. And what a sauce it is. It’s versatile and, like a condiment, stores well in your refrigerator. It has no fat and just a pinch of sugar. It’s aromatic, has heat, and goes well with fish, pork, spare ribs, or chicken. Am I making your mouth water yet?

My first dish that used the Moroccan Barbecue Sauce was with swordfish and crab falafel. We finished the plate with a drizzle of golden curry oil, and it was a downright beautiful dish. It’s tangy, colorful, and fragrant. We might not be able to travel to exotic locations this year, but we can go places with our menus, and that’s the beauty of modern American cuisine, which has influences from around the globe.

I’m often asked how I developed this recipe. I’ve never been to Morocco, but when I was executive chef at the River Café in Brooklyn, I lived on Atlantic Avenue, which was home to many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern spice shops. Sahadi’s was one I went to a lot. I learned about aromatic spices, dried eggplant, couscous, mustard oil, falafel, pita bread, preserved lemon, zaatar, and more.

At the River Café we used to zest and squeeze a ton of lemons, and one day we were cleaning out the walk-in and discovered five gallons of lemon juice. I wasn’t quite sure what I would do with it, so I put it on the stove to boil and completely forgot about it.

My saucier chef at the time, David Kopman who today is a surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan – asked, “What’s that on the stove?” Even though it was acidic, the sugar in the fruit had naturally caramelized, making it rich and dark in color. “Add honey,” I said to David. Then we just started reaching for the spice shelf and went all over the map. I wanted the sauce to cover a spectrum of flavors.

Don’t worry if you don’t have all the spices the recipe calls for; you can leave some out. Mint, for example, can be substituted for the dried lavender. Go ahead and experiment. Enjoy!
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to boil. Reduce by half. Strain and reserve.

A recipe from David Burke and Carmel Berman Reingold’s, Cooking with David Burke, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2013) p. 114-115