The Severnshed was a longstanding restaurant in a boathouse on Bristol harbourside. It survived at least 20 years but sadly i never got round to eating there before it closed. They specialised in middle eastern food including this traditional Syrian dish which was later adopted by the Jewish community in Damascus. This updated version is from one of their head chefs, Raviv Hadad, and I found it in Sophie Grigson’s ” Sunshine Food”, one of my go to books in 2000 when it was first published. It can be served as a starter or a vegetarian main course.