Instructions: Toast the bread until crisp and then break it up into small uneven pieces.

Trim the purslane or rocket of its thick stalks and coarsely chop the leaves.

Trim and deseed the pepper and cut it into small dice.

Place all the salad ingredients in a large bowl.

Beat the vinaigrette ingredients together and season.

Add this to the bowl and toss the salad to coat everything in the dressing.

The moisture from the vegetables and the herbs will help moisten the bread (the original recipe uses much more oil so feel free to add more if you are not counting calories).

However the dressing is best added at least 1 hour before serving so that the bread softens and absorbs all the other flavours.

This Syrian salad is loved all around the Eastern Mediterranean coast. Bread particularly stale bread has always been used ingeniously in Mediterranean countries. The italian panzanella is a salad not unlike fattoush. Often the bread is toasted and used with soups like the Castilian sopa de ajo or the Egyptian fata.The dark red flakes of sumak are a must for the authentic slightly sour tone of the salad.

Serves 4

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