MIDDLE EASTERN FOOD appreciation thread

my school does themed buffet lunches every week and tomorrow they're doing a middle east one, so my garde manger class tonight was tasked with coming up with dishes for it. i made tabouli and it turned out really nice, but i never want to chop parsley or seed and dice a tomato again. :-)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8089/8512359440_b359ab8172_n.jpg

we have taco threads, pizza threads, chinese and indian threads, so here's a thread to talk about middle eastern food. hummus recipes, nyc halal carts, mezze, your personal za'atar blend...

a staple in our house is the spicy hummus from sahadis -- spiciness varies week to week but it's soo gooood. i like to eat it with pumpernickel pretzel rods.

i used to live in walking distance of sahadi's. i miss it!

looooove
falafel (obvs)
tahini on everything
spinach pies (what are these called? if i can see them, i will eat them)
lentil soup
pickled turnips
will eat all of the middle eastern foods

(xp) also really miss the damascus bakery.

yeah, damascus is great too.
also: that really garlicky cold carrot salad!

i don't have a fave halal cart. or rather, i think my fave halal cart is the cheapest halal cart.

will eat them all except for lentil soup

my mom used to take me to a middle eastern bakery for fresh pita bread that had little clouds in the bag -- it was so fun. we also ate meat pies there. it was a little tiny back-of-the-business sort of sales operation with 6-7 things for sale. i loooooved going there.

i mean, if this is the middle eastern food thread, i have a lot of appreciation to offer. i have tried to make spinach pies, and they were good, but not nearly as good as the ones i've had that were made by people who knew what they were doing.

more than anything, aside from hummus and other basic shit, i will defer to the experts on middle eastern food.

also -- can i get a round of applause for kibbeh

*applauds*

last week in class i made a stuffed turkish flatbread appetizer called gozleme. i stuffed mine with mushrooms, shallots, ricotta/parmesan (everyone else was using feta, i wanted to try something different), and a sumac/thyme/marjoram blend, and covered it in sesame seeds.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8091/8512513254_f57281209a_n.jpg

so, baklava

http://betravel.eturas.lt/img/uploads/5/flyout/stambulas/baklava.jpg

this stuff is incredible. finally introduced to it during a v delicious week in istanbul. also: the greatest kebabs, sea bream wrapped in vine leaves, kofte, olives & feta for breakfast

xp) also really miss the damascus bakery.

― johnny hit and run paul lynde (get bent), Wednesday, 27 February 2013 05:37 (1 week ago) Permalink

so much!

If we're including turkish food, I'd like to take the opportunity to stan for two places:

1) http://www.efesgrill.us/

My wife and I ate here all the time when we were dating, and loved it so much we had them cater our wedding (they had never even done one before and gave us a ridiculously low price). Apparently they have a location in Princeton now, which seems like a good move. TBH I haven't been in years so I can't promise it's still as good.

2) http://www.yelp.com/biz/mediterranean-kebab-house-westbury

We randomly ate here on an errand in long island and had shockingly good food.

I cosign this thread. btw, halvah is another classic dessert.

I have got two gorgeously aromatic bags of blended spices from the bazaar which I go and sniff when I want a quick pick-me-up. Going to be marinating some kebabs in yoghurt soon.

I have loads of great Middle Eastern cookbooks. Salma Hage's The Lebanese Kitchen is a current favorite.

Still looking for somewhere in London that does falafel as well as in Tel Aviv.

i f/w this
http://www.emilyslebanesedeli.com/

this is my jam:

http://www.beirutrestaurantanddeli.com/

twin cities going hard in the paint on food as always

middle eastern food is just fantastic always all the time

i've been fucking with this place lately:

http://www.laweekly.com/bestof/2012/award/and-10-best-falafel-1892653/

our big weakness used to be indian, but there are good places for that too. just fewer of them compared to others i think.

jjj thanks for the tip on Beirut. That's probably about same drive from my house as Emily's Lebanese Deli in NE Mplls, so yay!

both great! no alcohol at emily's tho fyi

I would say that Michigan probably has the best middle eastern restaurants and grocery stores in the country due to the large middle eastern population here. I buy more than I actually try cooking it because my efforts always feel inadequate after eating at fantastic places like Cedarland or Al-Ameer.

middle eastern is one of the few cuisines that offers a wide variety of cheap and healthy options -- so much of the meat is grilled, so many salads and bean or lentil based dishes, etc.

it was hilarious to hear my mom try to say "falafel"