Arabian Nights

Sorry, I forgot the potted shrimp.  I didn't have much time for gourmet shopping oop Morecambe way, too busy extreme rambling, thigh deep in freezing water, all for a good cause!
Nothing gourmet of note, in fact, until today when I started preparing for the Arabian Nights themed book club I'm having tomorrow night.  Hosting a book club makes me sound terribly middle class, and the fact that it is themed is even worse, but screw you.  It's something I've been doing with a close bunch of like-minded girls for several years now.  It actually takes shape more along the lines of a bacchanalian feast, not an orgy but in terms of the gluttonous, wine fuelled aspect.  After we have eaten and drunk our fill, or during, we see who can shout the loudest about a book that they have read recently and can remember the title of.  Richard and Judy it ain't.
Initially we just brought along some nibbles but eventually decided to plump for a theme so we got some variations on the grub.  Don't ask me why I came up with Arabian Nights; Morrocan, Turkish and Lebanese etc.  Perhaps because I've eaten some nice food along these lines this summer (Turkish in York, Lebanese Mezze at the Big Chill).  Perhaps because the nights are drawing in and I wish I was in Arabia.
I've heard lots of rumblings about what people are going to cook, one young lady was even going to create her own Turkish cheese!  (Labneh).  I purchased some Za'atar from Soundbites the other day on a whim, so decided to base a dish around that.  Za'atar is a condiment made from the dried herbs, mixed together with sesame seeds, dried sumac, and often salt, as well as other spices. Used in Arab cuisine since medieval times, it is popular throughout the Middle East.  I found a nice and simple Nigella Lawson recipe so I've just put my chicken in to marinade:
http://www.food.com/recipe/nigellas-zaatar-chicken-378600
I also made a most exciting gourmet discovery today, thanks to Nottingham gourmet Andy.  He used familial contacts to locate an authentic Turkish delicatessen.  It is called Murat and located on Gedling Street in Nottingham, at the bottom of Hockley / in the Sneinton area.  Incidentally lots of other interesting food shops in the area but I didn't have time to explore, will come back another time.
Murat has it's own bakery, selling Turkish flatbreads, freshly made Baklava and other delights for sod all basically.  It also stocks a huge variety of olives, cheeses, meats, stuffed vine leaves, Turkish Delight, Halva, Tahini...it is the last word in Turkish wonderfullness and I will certainly be returning.  I bought massive, freshly baked flatbreads for 65p each, blow your head off pickled green chillis, dates and Feta cheese (they have Feta cheese from every feasibly cheese producing animal out there!)
The above picture depicts one of the best things I saw in Murat today....