Lamb Soup with Quandong and Mountain Pepper Berry

A beautifully fragrant, fruity, sweet and sour lamb soup with quandong (Australian native peach) and mountain pepper berry. Inspired by the Iranian "abgushte miveh" (dried fruit soup), this dish derives its complementing flavours from apricot, tamarind, baby figs and a trio of red, black and sweet honey oriental dates (jujubes). The black dates give the soup an exquisite smokey flavour which works well with the dominating peachy aroma. The honey dates impart a mild sweetness without any added sugar. The butter adds extra flavour, but is not really needed. The soup is best served hot with Middle Eastern style breads as a main course together with salads and vegetables. General instructions follow.

Ingredients:
1 kg lamb rosettes (8 pieces to serve 4 people)
1 loomi (dried Middle Eastern lime, also called limu omani), pierced
2 teaspoon whole mountain pepper berries
1500 mL water
1/2 cup dried apricot
1/4 cup dried baby figs
1/4 cup black oriental dates (smoked red jujubes)
1/4 cup red oriental dates (red jujubes), pitted
4 large brown honey dates (honeyed jujubes)
1 large onion
2 tablespoon butter
2 teaspoon tumeric
1/4 cup dried quandong
2-4 slices dried tamarind

Place the lamb rosettes, loomi and mountain pepper berries in a heavy stockpot with the water and bring slowly to simmer. Skim off foam and fat. Simmer for 1.5 hours until almost tender. Lightly brown the onions in butter and then stir in the tumeric. Add to the soup with the dried fruits, except the quandong. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add the quandong, simmer for another 20-30 minutes or until the quandong plumbs. Alternatively poach the fruit separately to avoid overcooking. Add the tamarind slices to taste and simmer 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning. Serve hot.



Tamarind, loomi (or use equavilent Thai limes/leaves or lemon grass), and jujubes (oriental dates) are found in good oriental stores. Quandong is available at "The Grocer" of Nedlands, or online order like Vic Cherikoff's store or from Tumbeela. Obtain mountain pepper berry from the mentioned suppliers or from supermarkets like Action. Lemon myrtle, added towards the end of cooking, makes a good substitute for the loomi.