Yesterday I had the opportunity to discuss Indian cuisine on RJ1200 – Vancouver’s #1 Bollywood Station – with host Shushma Datt, Gurj Dhaliwal – 2007 winner of Canada’s Superstar Chef Competition on the Food Network and Jose Mandallip – owner of Salam Bombay restaurant on Alberni Street.
It was a lot of fun and we covered a lot of ground. You can listen to it here.
Posted in Indian
Vancouver World Tour > Americas > Latin America, Chile
Panaderia Latina Bakery has been on my “to visit” list for a year at least but it’s out of the way enough that I forget about it constantly and I don’t have a sweet tooth so I never know what to expect from bakeries. Luckily a couple of weeks ago I had a wedding dress fitting literally a block away from Panaderia (it means ‘bakery’ in Spanish, so I’m tempted to leave out the rest of the name) and they had a selection of savoury empanadas.
Matt and I shared a carne empanada, huge and full of juicy beef filling but that’s not what catches your eye when you walk in. The display case is full of pastries, all kinds of sugary goodness piled up around the piece de resistance – neon pink vanilla cake. Not my thing at all but I was sorely tempted to gift it to a small child.
Instead we ordered a dulce de leche dessert. Dulce de leche is a thick caramel sauce or filling popular in Latin America. I can take it in small doses (before the sugar overpowers me) and it’s a flavour I enjoy. Unfortunately this pastry was comprised of a ball of hard (ish) dulce de leche sandwiched between 2 crackers. It was perhaps my fault for requesting something “not too sweet” but the contrast between the sugary middle and the almost tasteless outsides of this dessert was jarring. They have a dulce de leche empanada that might have suited better.
They also have a selection of Chilean sandwiches – and a small seating area – so I’m going to try and get back for a proper lunch – just as soon as I don’t have to fit into the dress!
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Panaderia Latina Bakery
4906 Joyce Street
Posted in Americas, Vancouver52
Tagged bakery, cake, dulce de leche, empanada, Latin, Vancouver, vancouver world tour
Vancouver World Tour > Middle East> Afghanistan
Pulling up in front of the Afghan Horsemen’s new location – a restaurant I hadn’t eaten at in years – I exclaimed over their sign, still intact since 1974. It was a guess at the date but, even though it turned out to be correct, this restaurant has been around a long time and corresponds with my first forays into “adventurous eating”, driving into the city from Langley to sit on cushions and eat strangely named luxuries.
Lush fabrics, ethnic art and artifacts hung on the walls make it feel as though you’ve been transported to a yurt in the Khyber Pass. They have tables and chairs, but for the full experience be sure to sit in one of the “pillow rooms” on a night when they have a belly dancer. Seated on cushions at low, communal dining tables sets the stage for an exotic dining experience.
From their website:
Afghani cuisine is mainly influenced by that of old Persia, India, Greece, and Mongolia. It draws together spices from India and Greece, styles of cooking meat from Persia, and rice, noodles and various pastas from Mongolia. The ingredients are fresh and without preservatives. The flavors of Afghanistan include cardamom, turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, saffron, cloves, coriander, garlic, black pepper, cilantro, dill and mint. Onion and tomato are also important in Afghani cooking. Afghan cuisine is noted for its succulent kebabs in addition to its variety of lentil and vegetarian dishes.
Meals come out in platters, so you’ll have the best sampling if you go in a group, but everything is available individually as well. At $17.95 the appetizer platter for two is not the array of riches it portends, but you will get one of everything; salata with feta cheese, humus, sabzi mast (spinach & yogurt dip), boulany (crust stuffed with mashed potatoes and onions) & sambosa (spiced mixed veggies and potato, wrapped in dough & deep fried), with chaka (sour cream & yogurt) and pita.
We also had the mantu, a Middle-Eastern version of the Chinese mantou. It’s a mixture of spiced minced beef, onions and herbs wrapped in dough, then steamed and topped with the ubiquitous chaka. We also had the kabuli palaw which comes vegetarian or with a choice of meat. Like in Indian cuisine, palaw is baked rice with sautéed carrots, raisins and almonds while kabuli is spinach, cauliflower and potato mix. We got it topped with a braised lamb shoulder.
I remember being enthralled with the Afghan Horsemen. So many group dinners of my past were held there, but maybe the magic of the room captured my imagination or perhaps my palate has changed. On this visit, the flavours were interesting but everything tasted watered down and oily, the delicate spices being overrun by the need to feed too many dinner guests.
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Afghan Horsemen
1833 Anderson Street #202, Vancouver
Posted in Afghanistan, Vancouver52
Tagged afghan, afghani, afghanistan, beef, cheese, feta, hummus, lamb, platter, salad, vancouver world tour, Vancouver52
Around Vancouver in 52 Restaurants > Caribbean > Cuba
I’ve written about Havana a couple of times, both drinking and eating. It’s been around for awhile and has become something of a Commercial Drive establishment, although I had given up on it for anything other than Caribbean style cocktails.
And I like the decor. The scratched out walls and the mural and the Cuban photos make the umbrella drinks go down a little easier, so I gave it another try. And this time around the Cuban sandwich was delicious.
Roasted pork, ham, Swiss cheese, Dijon mustard, and pickles on super soft Cubana bread, it was flavourful and tasty. I had the soup to accompany it, a spicy chicken and orzo dish that was flavourful and balanced and makes me want to get back for the chicken and chorizo penne and huevos rancheros.
But it’s still doubtful that I’ll ever be hungry enough to ever try the Es Una Locura – the sheer madness. Two beef patties, bacon, chorizo, back bacon, avocado, Dijon mustard, spicy mayo, lettuce, tomato, pickles, red onions, cheddar cheese, Swiss cheese, sauteed peppers and mushrooms on a ciabatta bun. OK, that’s not very Cuban. It’s still not overly authentic but it’ll do in a pinch.
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Havana
1212 Commercial Drive, Vancouver
Vancouver World Tour > Middle East > Israel
I wrote this for a Museum of Vancouver exhibit (on ethnic bread) that never came to be, but I thought I may as well include it in the Vancouver World Tour.
Walking into Solly’s Bagelry and Deli on a rainy day is tantamount to pressing the Comfort Overdrive button on some kind of sensory device. Filled throughout the day with the smells of baking bread (first challah and rye loaves, then regular rounds of bagels) as well as matzo ball soup, it smells like you expect your grandmother’s house should, even if your grandmother isn’t Jewish. It’s busy in a cozy, friendly way and the windows steam up when it’s wet out – for increased comfort. It’s the kind of New York style deli that makes you want to linger and eat the paper while you linger over lunch – a bagel sandwich or pastrami on rye with pickles and soup. Various counters and cases display all sorts of Jewish nosh including knishes, rugelach, cinnamon buns, chocolate babkas, latkes, and bagels and schmear galore. The ubiquitous pot of matzo ball soup simmers on the stove.
Challah is very similar to brioche, glazed with egg to make it shine and so soft to sink your teeth into. But unlike French egg bread, it can also come covered in sesame seeds or poppy seeds for extra decoration and flavour. At Solly’s the challah is available in sesame, poppy and plain, but also in multiple sizes (including one enormous wedding-size, about a metre long) and in French toast format. Sweet egg bread cooked in egg with syrup on top? That’s a decadent tradition I can get behind.
Tradition-wise, the Oxford Companion to Food tells us that, “two loaves are served at each of the three Sabbath meals, as a remembrance of the double portion of manna which fell for the Israelites in the wilderness to provide food both for the sixth day and for the succeeding Sabbath day.” While they were wandering in the desert for forty years after leaving Egypt, manna fell from the heavens as a gift from God. It didn’t fall on the Sabbath or holidays, thought, so an extra loaf fell the day before. This manna was apparently sweet to the taste – as is the challah – and being braided represents two loaves in one.
Within this realm of comfort, Challah is perhaps less recognized than say, matzo or knishes, but it is nonetheless a traditional, culturally important bread. It’s a braided egg bread sweetened with honey and, plucked off the shelves relatively soon after baking, can be a delicate, pillowy-soft treat.
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Solly’s Bagelry and Deli
2873 W Broadway, Vancouver
368 W 7th Ave., Vancouver
189 E 28th Ave., Vancouver
Posted in Israel, Jewish, Middle East, Vancouver52
Tagged bagel, bagelry, bakery, bread, challa, challah, chollah, deli, delicatessen, israel, knish, lunch, matzah, matzo, matzo ball, middle east, schmear, soup, take-out, Vancouver, vancouver world tour, Vancouver52
Vancouver World Tour > Middle East > Israel
I had brought salad for lunch – salad and celery – but my day turned sideways and I turned to some comfort food. Maybe not mac ‘n’ cheese, the comfort food of my childhood, but matzo ball soup will certainly do in a pinch.
I’ve been meaning to check out Omnitsky Kosher Deli for months but it was too late or it was Sunday or some other (not very good reason) and so when I finally got there last week, I didn’t really know what to make of it. It’s a deli, with a couple of seats in the front and a sandwich counter plus shelving in the back. It’s kosher, obviously.
You walk around the displays of chips to the meat counter where there is a sandwich board and deli meats. I was freezing, so I stammered out an order for soup – and received an order of standard daily chicken matzo ball soup - and made my way through ordering a half sandwich of Montreal smoked meat on caraway rye bread with homemade spicy mustard. First meat (Montreal smoked meat was the favorite), then bread (choice of rye, caraway rye, or wheat), then mustard (regular, grainy, spicy, and the only real choice in my opinion – spicy homemade).
I can’t even tell you how good it was and how kind everyone was, giving me tips on what to order and passing me the paper when they were done with a section. I loved the soft bread and they weren’t kidding about how spicy the mustard was – it was delicious. The whole experience was nourishing and comforting in many ways.
I wandered back into the deli to buy some spicy mustard and (also spicy!) hummus and to check out the ENTIRE SHELF of herring and it was impressive. I almost picked up some knishes, but my freezer is only so big and it still has a quarter of a lamb in it (not kosher). Sigh.
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Omnitsky Kosher Deli
5866 Cambie Street, Vancouver
Posted in Israel, Vancouver52
Tagged carawy rye, chicken, deli, ethniceats.ca, herring, israel, jewish, kosher, matzo ball, matzo ball soup, middle-east, montreal smoked meat, mustard, rye, sandwich, smoked meat, soup, Vancouver, vancouver world tour
Vancouver World Tour > Middle East > Arabic fusion
As we head east, East is East seemed like a logical place to start. Fusion food, they combine the flavours of the silk road from Turkey to China. The Silk Road Feast we ordered mixed dhal lentil soup, roti, Afghan boulani (roti stuffed with potato, green onion and herbs), tabouleh (parley and mint salad), with lamb kebab patties and “thai tofu” (tofu, red pepper, chilis, lime leaves and ginger in a sour mango green curry) presented on a tin thali plate.
Despite not usually being a fan of fusion foods (especially that span entire continents), I liked it. The lamb kebabs were flavourful and moist and the the the tang of the tofu curry was interesting and delightful. Not only did my meat-loving fiance pick it from the menu and order it, he loved it. That’s saying something.
Washed down with cups of sweet and spicy chai, we also sampled the Tibetan mantu. It surprised me. I’ve only had Chinese mantu, with thick dough but these were dumplings stuffed with green onions and chives with skin thin like a pot-sticker. and covered over with dehydrated yogurt, chickpeas and alfalfa sprouts. It was kind of a mess and after a couple of bites the dehydrated yogurt flavour got to be too much.
The room itself is a fusion of Kitsilano hippie chic – polished wood tables and stump stools – with Eastern-styled paper lanterns and wall hangings. It’s cosy and easy to hang out and sip tea for a while.
This turned out to be a good thing, at least on the day we were there, because a child birthday party arrived and no one ever came back to our table. Maybe laid back has been adopted as a service model or maybe the dessert isn’t actually that good.
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East is East
3239 W. Broadway, Vancouver
and
4413 Main Street (Main and 28th), Vancouver
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