Al-Mayass: The taste of excellence

My first culinary experience at Al-Mayass happened in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. When this restaurant offering Syrian specialties opened in Ashrafieh, it became an instant success. Al-Mayass gained the reputation of serving excellent cuisine and the Lebanese, they love good food!
To this day, I have not forgotten the delicious taste of the “shishbarak”, a meat filling enclosed in a pasta shell, similar to ravioli, and cooked in a yogurt-based sauce. I should add that ‘shishbarak’ unlike ravioli, are not square-shaped but look like small hats. The reason why “shishbarak” are exceptionally good at Al-Mayass, is because they are crunchy on the outside and soft inside.
However, I have noticed that some dishes available in Beirut are not featured on the Riyadh menu. But you can rest assured that Al-Mayass, located on Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Street, offers a wide choice of delicious food, including Syrian specialties.
Syrian food is, in many ways, similar to Lebanese, Palestinian and Jordanian cooking. Its cuisine reflects Persian culinary influences. As I was looking through the list of cold appetizers, I noticed the presence of “Makdous”, a delicious stuffed baby eggplant pickled in olive oil. Fall is the season when many Syrians prepare their “makdous”, which is part of the “mouneh”. The word ‘mouneh’ refers to all the food that will be preserved in one form or another and eaten throughout the year. To make “makdous”, piles of baby eggplant are stuffed with crushed walnut and sun-dried red pepper. You can enjoy this exotic pickle with a piece of bread or accompanied with labneh (which is strained yogurt) or with a slice of grilled or fried halloumi cheese.
Halloumi is a firm, slightly springy white cheese from Cyprus, traditionally made with sheep’s milk, although nowadays mass-produced varieties often use cow milk. Halloumi has a somewhat rubbery texture and that is the reason why it is often compared to a firm mozzarella. But, unlike mozzarella, it has an overpowering salty taste, particularly when preserved in brine. But when it is cooked, the saltiness fades into a strong savory bite, with a slightly creamy consistency. Incidentally, during the summer, in both Syria and Lebanon people enjoy “halloo” with chilled watermelon.
“Batrakh” is yet another interesting appetizer. Batrakh is known as pressed Egyptian “caviar”. As the name indicates, it has nothing to do with Syria. However, food lovers all over the Middle East consider “batrakh” a great delicacy.
The ovaries of a grey mullet filled with eggs are dried in the sun in much the same way as shown on the walls of the Old Kingdom tombs at Saqqara. Dried and pressed, the eggs appear as long amber bars, about three inches long, best eaten very thinly sliced on slivers of dried toast accompanied by equally thin slivers of lemon. The Lebanese enjoy their “batrakh” thinly sliced; each slice is covered with a piece of raw garlic and sprinkled in olive oil and it is then eaten with bread.
“Muhammara” is a typical delicacy from Aleppo. Its main ingredients are usually fresh or dried peppers, ground walnuts, breadcrumbs and olive oil. It may also contain garlic, salt and lemon juice, pomegranate molasses and spices like cumin. This reddish colored dip can be eaten as an appetizer with bread or as a sauce for kebabs, grilled meat or fish.
“Kibbeh Nayyeh”, which is basically, raw kibbeh, is particularly well loved by the Lebanese. Kibbeh Nayeh is made of minced raw lamb or beef combined with bulgur, cracked wheat, pureed onion and spices that depend on the cook. All these ingredients are kneaded together with a sprinkling of ice water and then eaten immediately along with olive oil, fresh mint and bread.
Another good appetizer at Al-Mayass is ‘borek’ which refers to a vast assortment of baked or fried savory pastries stuffed with cheese or meat. There is even a sweet version “Laz Boregi” filled with milk pudding and served fried with powdered sugar. Borek are very much associated with Ottoman cuisine but it seems that they were developed far earlier by the Turks of Central Asia before their westward migration to Anatolia. Al-Mayass serves two kinds of borek, one filled with meat and the other with cheese.
For the main dish, you must absolutely order Aleppo’s famous specialty, “Kabab Bil Karaz”, a cherry kabab made with minced lamb and “wishna”, a small and sour black cherry that grows on the outskirts of the city. The very first time I tasted this dish, I was completely overwhelmed by the perfect balance of sweet and sour flavors, as well as the unique presentation on triangular pieces of Arabic bread cut in triangles and topped with pine nuts. You can eat this delicacy by hand, so you just use the bread that has absorbed the tangy sauce to scoop the meat balls!
If you are not into sweet and sour food, you can order “Khashkhash Kebab” which puts tomato and garlic into the ground meat. This is a wonderfully juicy kebab, bursting with flavor! The irresistible “Itch,” an Armenian salad, prepared with chopped lettuce and tomatoes, shredded cabbage and a tangy dressing, adds a nice balance to any meat dish.
There is another delicious combination of meat and fruit found in “Kibbeh Sfarjaliyeh”, which is kibbeh prepared with quince. It is not featured yet on the menu but you will find “Kibbeh Kras”, a round shaped kibbeh stuffed with minced meat, chopped onions and nuts. The outer shell is made with lean minced lamb or beef mixed with fine burghul (cracked wheat), chopped onions and spices. “Kibbeh Sajiye” has basically the same filling but a different shape. Aleppo, incidentally, is famous for having more than 17 different kinds of kibbeh. In Iraq, kibbeh is prepared with rice instead of the cracked wheat (burghul), so the outer shell is a rice crust that encloses a scrumptious filling of minced meat, onions, golden raisins and pine nuts.
In the beverage section, I noticed the presence of “Jellab” a delightful refreshing summer drink, which I always associate with those carefree summer days in Beirut. It is made by diluting a syrup made with grape molasses, dates and rose water with chilled water poured in a tall glass with crushed ice and always topped with pine nuts and golden raisins. In the 1980s there was a place on the Beirut corniche, known as “Malak Al-Jellab” (the king of jellab) which served jellab in a huge glass, half of it was filled with pine nuts, cashew nuts and plump, golden raisins. This magical place has disappeared but that particular jellab remains the very best I have ever tasted.
Jellab is a sweet but thirst quenching drink. It has an acquired taste but can become addictive when it is well made.
The food at Al-Mayass reflects the attractive side of the Middle Eastern cuisines with its use of grains, vegetables, pulses, fruits, nuts and yogurt, which are now seen as an important part of a healthy diet. You will enjoy the delicious and wholesome taste of old and traditional dishes, a unique culinary experience, which is all about pleasure and enjoyment!

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