La Shish serves up some kick-ass salsa that you can dip some pita into. I’ve decided that I must know how to recreate this sauce in my own kitchen. Not sure how popular or authentic this dip is in Mediterranean cuisine, but damn if it’s not tasty.
Anyone have a recipe I can try out?
No idea what La shish is, no idea what this mediterraneaen salsa might be. Though from what I know of Mediterranean cuisine, I am guessing that it might be a variation of Ratatouille or some kind of Tapanade. Maybe you could explain it…what do you taste in this salsa, what vegetables are recognizable in the salsa?
La Shish is a Mediterranean chain restaurant that can be found in the south-eastern Michigan area. Sorry about that, I just assumed they were a national chain. Anyway, It’s listed as Mediterranean Salsa in their menu (under Side Orders), so I’m not sure what it might be called elsewhere. Perhaps that’s why I’m having trouble googling it?
Description:
It is a tomato-based sauce, very much in appearance and consistency as traditional, latin-american salsa. However, I can’t detect any chili peppers or cilantro. It has a very acidic (lemon juice?) flavor to it. I think there is definitely parsley and onions. Any ideas?
I have googled Mediterranean Salsa, and so far, most of the recipes seem to be variations of traditional “mexican” tomato salsa with the addition of olives, basil, and oregano.
This whole foods market recipe sounds very tasty.
Mediterranean Salsa
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
6 oz organic kalamata olives, pitted and diced
2 green onions (tops only), thinly sliced
3 TB chopped fresh basil
1 TB freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 tsp dry whole oregano
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 oz feta cheese, crumbled
(Makes 2 cups)
Prep time: 20 minutes
Drain tomatoes well and chop to a 1/4" dice. Combine all ingredients except feta. Gently stir in feta cheese
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Personally, after thinking about the concept of a Mediterranean Salsa, and working off the Ratatouille tradition, I would probably make my own version like so…
My Mediterranean Salsa recipe from wholecloth, untested.
1 eggplant
1 zucchini
1 red, yellow, or green bell pepper (your preference)
2 cartons/packages of cherry tomatoes
1 onion
6 cloves of garlic
1 jar or about 12 oz. of Calamata or Nicoise Olives.
1 lemon (juice and peel)
1/4-1/2 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp. tomato paste
1 bunch of fresh Basil
1 tablespoon of Herbs de Provence (or 1/2 tbsp. each of Oregano and Thyme if unavailable)
Salt and Pepper to taste.
Peel the eggplant and cut into small cubes. Chop the zucchini, bell pepper, and onion into matching cubes/dice. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half.
Add all of the vegetables, including the cherry tomatoes and whole peeled
garlic cloves into a shallow roasting or sheet pan (keep the tomatoes and garlic segregated to one half of the pan). Drizzle all of the vegetables liberally with olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.
Roast the vegetables at 400F for about a half of an hour. (You will still want some definition and freshness to the vegetables, don’t overroast.).
While the vegetables roast, pit the olives and chop them roughly (not too fine.).
When the vegetables are done roasting, add about half of the roasted cherry tomatoes and all of the garlic cloves, plus the tomato paste, a handful of the basil and the herbs to a food processor or blender, as well as the olive oil/pan juices. Place the rest of the vegetables into a large bowl.
Pulse the tomato, garlic, and herb mixture until it’s a “chunky” puree. Add this puree back to the reserved bowl of roasted vegetables. Cover with saran and put the mixture in the refrigerator or freezer and bring this mixture down to room temp (about 15 mins. in the freezer).
Finally, add the chopped olives, the juice of one lemon plus its grated or jullienned peel, and a couple more glugs of Olive Oil to the cooled salsa mixture.
Serve at room temperature with pita or pita chips.
Thanks for your response! I was getting the same results from google as well, but it just didn’t sound like what I was getting from the restaurant. Anyway, your improvised recipe sounds a lot closer and sounds really good… i’ll try whipping up a batch! Thanks again!
I have seen this post for years because it was the only thing I could find online after we moved out of state that referred to the amazing La Shish “salsa”. I am now pretty confident the name of the sauce is “Banadurah Harrah” and many similar recipes named “Salata Hara”. It is a tomato chutney. I have seen quite a few recipes online and YouTube. Maybe if there is some other desperate soul like myself out there that has been looking for this for 15 years they will sleep soundly tonight. 
It sounds a bit like Matbukha.
I too am that “desperate soul”. I still live near Dearborn and have eaten it all my life. I have also asked every Lebanese chef $ Restaursnt owner what it is and after many years…… “red sahawiq”.
You might want to give us a little more info… is it fresh, is it cooked, is it chunky like pico de gallo, or is it more of a puree? What spices are obvious?
I would speculate that a “middle eastern salsa” might be some kind of tomato and harissa sort of sauce, but I’ve never had the one in question, so it’s totally a wild-assed guess.
Is it bruschetta?
i.e. tomatoes: no, capsica: yes
