Le Cèdre journal · Guide
Lebanese grill side dishes: what to serve with your skewers? Toum, vermicelli rice, salads and bread
In Lebanon, grilled meat never comes alone. Here is everything around it, from our kitchen on rue Kervegan.
In short
Lebanese grills always come with a sauce, a starch, vegetables and a fresh salad. Toum suits chicken, tahini suits lamb and kafta. Vermicelli rice or fries, and always Lebanese bread to wrap the meat.
At our place, a skewer never reaches the table alone: toum, bread, grilled tomatoes and tabbouleh always come along.
This guide reviews each side dish one by one; marinades will get their own article.
01 · The starting point
Lebanese grills in brief
Shish taouk (chicken), kafta (minced meat with parsley) and shish kebab (lamb leg).
Plus shawarma and mixed grills, all marinated then seared over high heat.
A dedicated shish taouk article is coming soon.
02 · The sauce
Toum, the king of sides
Toum sits next to almost every chicken grill in Lebanon.
What is toum?
An egg-free white emulsion of garlic, oil and lemon.
Homemade recipe, and why it splits
It splits when oil is added too fast or the blender heats up.
Prepare the garlic
Remove the germ and blend with salt.
Go slowly
Drizzle in oil, alternating with lemon.
Chill
The garlic mellows after a few hours.
If it splits, restart with a garlic clove and iced water, then whisk it back in.
Toum, tahini or yoghurt sauce: which with which meat?
Each sauce has its meat.
Toum
For chicken: shish taouk, shawarma.
Tahini
For lamb, kafta and beef shawarma.
Yoghurt sauce
Cooling with spicy kafta.
03 · Starches
Starches: vermicelli rice, fries and Lebanese bread
Three options on every table.
Vermicelli rice
Toast the vermicelli, add rice and boiling water, simmer gently.
Homemade fries with sumac, and spicy potatoes
Crisp fries with sumac, or batata harra with garlic and coriander.
Lebanese bread for wrapping
Thin bread is the cutlery: wrap the meat with toum and onions.
04 · Vegetables
Vegetables: grilled tomatoes and onions, peppers, sumac onion salad
Tomatoes, onions and green peppers grill next to the skewers.
Sumac and parsley onion salad cuts through the richness.
Our tips
- Salt the onion for ten minutes before adding sumac.
- Grill cherry tomatoes on a separate skewer.
- Serve mild green peppers whole.
- A little olive oil and salt is enough.
05 · Freshness
Fresh salads for balance
Two salads share this role in Lebanon.
Add the fattoush bread at the last minute.
06 · Before the meat
Mezze that go with a grill
The meal opens with cold mezze: hummus and moutabal.
Cold first whets the appetite and gives the grill time to cook.
07 · At the table
Building a balanced plate, or a sharing platter
Simple rule: one grill, one sauce, one starch, something fresh.
For a group: a mixed grill platter in the middle, bowls around it.
Count two to three skewers per adult, and more bread than you think.
08 · In the glass
Which wine with Lebanese grills?
White or rosé with chicken and toum; a Lebanese red with lamb and kafta.
Lemon and sumac firm up tannins: avoid oaky reds.
Browse our Lebanese wines. A full pairing guide is coming soon.
Your questions
Frequently asked questions
Does toum keep?
Yes, about a week in a sealed jar in the fridge.
Which sauce with shish taouk?
Toum, or a mint yoghurt sauce for something milder.
What to prepare ahead for a barbecue?
Toum, hummus, moutabal and tahini; dress the salads at the last minute.
What to serve vegetarians?
Hummus, moutabal, tabbouleh, fattoush, falafel, spicy potatoes, grilled vegetables.
How many sides to plan?
Four to five sides are enough for a table.
Can I replace Lebanese bread?
A thin wheat flatbread works, but Lebanese bread is best for wrapping.
Time to eat
Le Cèdre's grills, rue Kervegan since 1988
Shish taouk, kafta, shish kebab, shawarma, mixed grill and arayes, marinated and grilled on site.
With hummus, moutabal, tabbouleh, fattoush and spicy potatoes. Discover Le Cèdre's grills and book your table in Nantes.
Further reading