Food as Art
Presentation is Central to Samira Cholagh’s Take on Pikota Habbia Kashka
Samira Cholagh’s elevates traditional cooked barley (Pikota Habbia Kashka) into a work of art.
By Z.Z. Dawod
Although there are a variety of ways to prepare Pikota, the age-old Chaldean dish, Samira Cholagh’s presentation is like nothing you’ve ever seen before. With only a handful of ingredients, the recipe itself is surprisingly simple but the final touch of display Samira gives her Pikota is over-the-top extraordinary: It’s a work of art.
Detail-oriented and creative, Samira draws on her love for baking when putting the final touches on her creations. Experimenting with cake pans for shaping and molding, the results are truly impressive, original presentations.
Barley as a Family Tradition
Although Samira was born and raised in Baghdad, summers were spent visiting her mother’s family in Alqosh, where farming and animal grazing was a way of life. Samira recalls the sheep producing the best cheese around; in fact, people would travel from afar to purchase the cheese.
Since the 1960s, her uncles in Alqosh have operated tahini and barley processing factories so, as a child, Samira saw first-hand the process barley and tahini follow prior to appearing in our kitchens.
With more than 113,000 subscribers, 14,036,505 views and 669 episodes, Samira Cholagh has earned a coveted symbol of YouTube success — the YouTube Play Button.
She began sharing her talent for baking and cooking on the World Wide Web when she launched her YouTube Channel in October 2010. At 669 episodes and counting, Samira has no plans to slow down anytime soon. From main dishes to soups to meat pies to salads to jams to breads, if you can think of it, Samira has a recipe for it. She enjoys encouraging and teaching the next generation all about the art of making deliciousness.
In addition to Samira’s success on YouTube, she is also very active on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, where she has a wide following.
A Short History
Barley is an extremely hardy grain and has survived over the centuries because of its unique design: It has a double husk, and the outer husk layer helps to make it very resistant to insects.
First cultivated around 11,000 years ago, barley was grown in the Fertile Crescent, a region with relatively abundant water that spans Western Asia and the Nile River delta in northeast Africa. It was a staple in many cultures — including ancient Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Chinese and Viking civilizations. In ancient Mesopotamia, barley was used not just for cooking but often served as currency as well.
Early Experiments in the Kitchen
Curious about cooking from a very young age, Samira would experiment with different ingredients. She recalls preparing meals at the age of ten, while her family took a siesta. If it did not turn out, she wouldn’t serve it so, “No one ever tasted the ‘wrong’ thing.” From a young age, Samira was a perfectionist at heart.
At about the age of eleven, Samira remembers a cookbook making its way into the family. Following recipes was like a puzzle for little Samira, she would try it over and over until she got it to taste right and look presentable.
Samira recalls her mother preparing traditional dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner but, as far as Samira can remember, her mom never baked. The aspiring young chef ventured into baking by following recipes from the cookbook, making her the baking pioneer in the family. Being the eldest of her siblings, she cherished and treasured what ended up being the only cookbook she had for many years to come.
Adjusting to the Western Diet
As Samira and her husband made their way to the United States in the early 1980s, her only cookbook made the journey as well. When she became a mother, she relied on this book to make meals for her growing family.
Having earned a degree in Agricultural Engineering from University of Baghdad, Samira’s philosophy is based on the basic foundation of whole ingredients that nourish the body — such as vegetables, grains, meats and fish.
Samira recalls her kids enjoying the traditional home-cooked dishes she made daily. But as her kids grew older, they became interested in eating what their friends were eating. Samira quickly realized that the modern Western diet is not at all the same (or as healthy) as the traditional Eastern diet she grew up eating.
It became Samira’s goal to recreate all sorts of dishes for her family, and to completely avoid feeding her children the unhealthy “fast food” meals. Focusing on wholesome ingredients, through trial and error, Samira figured out how to make a couple of favorites such as chicken nuggets and hamburger buns for the burgers.
Cheerleader for Aspiring Chefs
In addition to cooking for her family, Samira has always enjoyed sharing her recipes. Friends, family and sometimes complete strangers began asking for her recipes and instructions.
Eager to lead, set an example and empower, Samira’s approach is to encourage. She tells people, “You can do this, even if you’ve never cooked before.” The more she shared, the more inspired she became to keep going.
Over the years, Samira’s passion for cooking, and especially baking, grew to the point of boiling over (pun intended) and she finally decided to put it all into a book.
Between 1997 and 2011, Samira published three cookbooks in Arabic and in English. Her first book, Muchtar Min Fenoon Al-Dabough, was published in Arabic, in 1997. Next, came the Treasured Middle Eastern Cookbook, published in 1998. Her third book, A Baking Journey, was introduced in 2011.
While raising a family and putting together cookbooks, Samira also became a regular on TV Orient — the Arabic-speaking network on cable television — preparing, demonstrating and sharing her latest dishes for the Chaldean and Arabic speaking community.
Toward the end of her run with TV Orient, Samira moved her platform to YouTube, where she has been posting since October 2010. Taking charge of the production directly has given Samira complete creative freedom. It is only the latest chapter in her long and evolving career.
RECIPE
Pikota Habiya Kashka
Recipe shared by Samira Cholagh
Ingredients:
4-5 pounds beef or
lamb with bones
3 cups barley
6 cups water
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 cup oil or butter
1 large onion, chopped
salt to taste
Step 1, Barley: Rinse the barley. Fill pot with water, add barley, salt and turmeric. Boil until the water has evaporated. In a frying pan, heat 1/4 cup oil, add chopped onions. Cook onions until soft, not brown. Add onions to cooked barley, mix well. As a final step, add remaining 1/4 cup of oil to pan, heat at high temperature then pour into the pot of the Pikota. Mix well.
Step 2, Meat: Select beef or lamb with bones for best flavor, any choice of cut. Searing the meat in oil at a high temperature for a few minutes on each side will enhance the savory “meat” flavor. Add water to the pot, cover and simmer for an hour and a half or until tender.
Step 3, Presentation: To achieve the pictured presentation, pack Pikota into a round cake/Jello pan or any desired shape. Place a flat serving dish over filled Jello pan, keeping pressure to seal them together and in one quick swoop, flip Jello pan over serving dish and slowly remove the shaped pan. Arrange meat around the Pikota. As a side with this dish, fresh tomatoes, parsley and cucumbers are served.