Where We Are Going Today: EL&N - a new dining destination in Jeddah
Updated 07 February 2023
SALEH FAREED
With its striking pink details, like the neon pink piano, there is no doubt that EL&N London is one of the world’s most Instagrammable cafes. The aesthetic has given the new dining destination the label “The riviera paradise in Jeddah.”
London’s famous EL&N, which stands for “Eat, Live & Nourish” has finally made its mark in Jeddah with a new opening in Atelier La Vie on King Abdulaziz Road. Aside from the allure of the shades of pink and artistic interiors, the decadent pastries and specialty coffee are worth the visit.
The eye-catching new cafe features a patisserie display with freshly-baked goods and offers a variety of artisanal coffee and specialty drinks and dishes on the menu. Their extensive drinks menu will have something for everyone.
At breakfast and brunch their menu includes the EL&N acai bowl, pink vitamin boost bowl, cinnamon s’mores waffle, smashed avocado on sourdough, breakfast mezze, eggs florentine, and more.
Mains include chicken and pink waffles, chicken and saffron risotto, buttermilk chicken burger, falafel wrap, and macaroni and cheese puffs. Desserts include rose macrons, cheesecakes and tarts, and a range of cakes.
EL&N was first established in 2017 by Alexandra Miller. It quickly expanded and now has 25 outlets across Europe and the Middle East, including ten in London, seven in Saudi Arabia, and more stores in Kuwait, Paris, Milan, Doha and Dubai.
Where We Are Going Today: Ortisei bakery in Riyadh
The bakery serves a variety of options, including croissants, flatbreads, sweets, beverages, sourdough bread, panini and sandwiches. The cakes are also well-reviewed
Updated 27 March 2023
Haifa Alshammari
If you are looking for a place to go to with friends or family for brunch, you can visit Ortisei. With many options for beverages, sweets, and sandwiches, the bakery can serve all members of the group with its menu.
Ortisei opened its doors last summer in Almalqa district in Riyadh, every day from 6 a.m. until 1 a.m. The bakery got its name from a small village in northern Italy and it is best known for serving different kinds of baked goods and coffee at a good price.
Along with its delicious food, bright interiors, and comfortable settings, it has a calm atmosphere that makes it great for people searching for quiet locations to work.
The bakery serves a variety of options, including croissants, flatbreads, sweets, beverages, sourdough bread, panini and sandwiches. The cakes are also well-reviewed.
Among these, “Orti Sunshine” and chicken avocado are some personal favorite choices from the sourdough menu. The former is worth a try because of the unique mix of spices, creating an explosion of flavors in one bite that challenges your taste buds.
For people who are friends of the environment, Ortisei uses natural flowers as part of its decor on every dining table. In addition, it has a small fountain that creates natural water sounds in the background, connecting you with nature.
For more information, check out Ortisei’s account on Instagram @ortisei_ksa. The chefz application is also collaborating with the bakery to deliver delicious foods right to your door.
In Sudan, the arduously made “helo-murr,” which means “bittersweet,” is a drink synonymous with Ramadan
It can be found on almost every table across the northeast African country at the end of the day’s fast
Updated 26 March 2023
AFP
OM ESHR, Sudan: As generations of Sudanese have done before her, Wissal Abdel Ghany crouched next to a fire to prepare a traditional drink, a thirst-quenching favorite enjoyed during the fasting month of Ramadan.
In Sudan, the arduously made “helo-murr,” which means “bittersweet,” is a drink synonymous with the Islamic holy month.
It can be found on almost every table across the northeast African country at the end of the day’s fast.
“Without it, our table feels empty,” said Abdel Ghany, wearing a bright orange headscarf.
She sat in a small room in the village of Om Eshr, on the outskirts of the capital Khartoum, which teemed with a small force of women busily scraping and spreading a mixture before serving the beverage in clear glasses.
The drink has satisfied thirsty fasters for decades and recipes are “inherited from our mothers and grandmothers,” the 43-year-old said.
Corn is harvested and left to dry in the sun before being ground and mixed with spices such as fenugreek, cumin or even hibiscus — Sudan’s other essential Ramadan beverage.
This mixture is then soaked in sugar and water for several days.
Abdel Ghany spread a layer of the thick brown paste over a grill plate above the coals of a wood fire, cooking it into a thin, leather-colored film.
The resulting crepe-like layer is then peeled away and stored — ready to be soaked in the final step to create the beloved drink.
Served as cold as possible, the drink is one of many ways that fasting Sudanese cool off, a significant challenge in one of the world’s hottest countries.
The daytime fasting month of Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam.
Observant Muslims refrain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk, after which they traditionally gather with family and friends to break their fast.
In Sudan, the brew is so identified with Ramadan that even the US embassy took to Twitter to promote its staff making it, with diplomats wielding wooden spoons over embers and sipping the amber liquid.
Abdel Ghany said preparing the drink is a collective effort, bringing “together our sisters and friends.”
“We make it together to share among ourselves,” she said.
In Sudan’s cities, she added, some people don’t make it themselves.
“But they still have to offer it for dinner, so they buy it ready-made,” she said.
For Abdel Ghany, the preparation of helo-murr and the holy month cannot be separated.
“All it takes is a whiff of the scent coming out of a home to know that Ramadan is here,” she said.
It is made by blending or mashing the meat in the curry and serving hot with flat breads or on its own.
Here, Prashant Chipkar Qureshi, the culinary head chef at Masti Cocktails and Cuisine, shares his lamb haleem recipe for a hearty iftar.
Lamb haleem is made by blending or mashing the meat in the curry. (Shutterstock)
Ingredients:
200 grams broken wheat
200 grams boneless lamb
2 grams red chili powder
50 grams yogurt
30ml ghee
5 grams mint
50 grams yellow moong dal
10 grams ginger garlic paste
2 grams turmeric
50-gram onion
50 grams haleem masala
20 grams coriander leaves
1-piece green chilies
Salt, to taste
Lemon wedges, 1 lemon
2 grams garam masala powder
1 gram peppercorns
1 cinnamon stick
50 grams cashew nuts
Method:
To prepare this popular delicacy, wash and soak the broken wheat for half an hour. Trim the lamb (boneless) of any excess fat. Add the lamb to a vassal with about one cup of water and put it over a medium flame. Fry the onion until golden brown and set aside.
To the lamb, add half a tablespoon of ginger and garlic paste, half a teaspoon of salt, red chilli powder and garam masala powder, along with a pinch of turmeric powder. Cook the mixture for eight to 10 minutes and simmer for another 15 to 20 minutes. Shred and keep aside.
Boil the broken wheat along with the yellow moong dal with a tablespoon of ginger-garlic paste, turmeric, green chillies, and peppercorns in eight cups of water until it is cooked completely, and the water is absorbed. Blend this mix for a few seconds.
Heat the oil in another container and add whole spices including a cinnamon stick, cooked and shredded lamb, the remaining green chillies, haleem masala, and half a cup of fresh coriander, and saute for two to three minutes. Add curd and saute for another 10 to 15 minutes. Add three cups of water and bring to a boil.
To this, add the blended broken wheat and dal mixture and mix well while adding a little ghee as you go. Let it simmer and cook slowly for at least 30 minutes. Serve hot garnished with fried onions prepared in step one, mint leaves, cashew nuts, lemon wedges, and the remaining fresh coriander.
Where We Are Going Today: Shovel Roastery - a coffee bar in Riyadh
Customers often say that the location serves the best flat white — a blend of micro-foamed milk poured over a single or double shot of espresso. There are many different milk options available at the shop.
Updated 25 March 2023
Rahaf Jambi
If you are looking for a new coffee tasting experience then visit Shovel Roastery in Riyadh.
Customers can enjoy specialty coffee, baked goods and see the roasting of beans in an open part of the shop.
Shovel Roastery hosts a coffee tasting bar, where customers can sample varieties before ordering, and purchase beans for brewing at home.
The staff are enthusiastic, welcoming and professional, giving customers a warm experience.
Shovel Roastery’s prices are fair, starting at SR10 ($2.66), but the shop also offers pricey varieties like premium Ethiopian bean brews that cost up to SR30.
Customers often say that the location serves the best flat white — a blend of micro-foamed milk poured over a single or double shot of espresso. There are many different milk options available at the shop.
As a special offering, Shovel Roastery also offers an event delivery service using a Jeep, with the vehicle traveling to businesses and universities. If you have any special events coming up, call Shovel Roastery and they will deliver coffee for your guests out of the Jeep.
Additionally, the shop stocks a line of specialty chocolates, Lurve, that come in a variety of flavors and are suitable for any occasion. Flavors include lavender, mint, coconut, salted caramel, coffee, dark and many more.
Cacao beans used to make the chocolate are shipped from Ecuador, after which they are roasted and ground into a powder. Flavors and sugars are then added before the chocolate is molded.
A very rich hot chocolate is also available at Shovel Roastery, with customers claiming that it is among the best in Riyadh.
Lurve has won an international award for its range of chocolates.
Shovel Roastery has two locations in Riyadh. It opens until late and offers online sales.
Visit Instagram @al_shovel for additional details.
Recipes for success: Chef Shun Shiroma offers advice and a tasty roast potato recipe to try this Ramadan
Updated 23 March 2023
Rawaa Talass
DUBAI: Omotenashi is a Japanese concept of hospitality historically related to hosts of the traditional tea ceremony. The term itself is divided into two parts, “omote” (public face) and “nashi” (nothing). “Together, it combines to mean service that comes from the bottom of the heart — honest, no hiding, no pretending,” according to the Michelin guide.
Omotenashi seems to be the guiding principle of Shun Shiroma, the executive chef of 3Fils, one of Dubai’s top restaurants. Overlooking Dubai Harbor, it’s a casual eatery that specializes in Asian- and Japanese-style dishes, including flavorful salmon carpaccio, Hokkaido scallops, and wagyu beef burgers. There is also a fresh offering of “Arabese” food, where the Middle East meets the Far East, such as their concoction snaa’tar, consisting of fine slices of Tai snapper covered with the deep flavors of zaatar.
3Fils is known for having its own rules, such as not serving soy sauce on the side as it might affect the freshness of the fish. But people are happy to keep coming back to what has been voted the fifth-best restaurant in the MENA region.
“There’s an ambience to it,” the restaurant’s marketing manager Khalil Khouri told Arab News. “We want people to feel at home. You can come in shorts and flip-flops. You’re by the water and there’s that fresh air and fresh ingredients. We’ve expanded, and there’s still a queue. It’s testament to what the kitchen does.”
Shiroma was raised in Okinawa and started his career aged 16 at a sushi restaurant there. By 2009, he was in a completely different environment: Jamaica. This was followed by stints in Singapore and New York, among other places.
Salmon Carpaccio. (Supplied)
No matter where he has been, though, his love for the cuisine of his home country has never left him. “We have many categories and variety: Sushi, sashimi, tempura, ramen, and curry,” Shun told Arab News. “It’s healthy and simple.”
Here, Chef Shun discusses Japanese hospitality, the importance of cleanliness, and shares a recipe for korya roast potatoes.
Q: What’s your earliest food memory?
A: I think I was three or four years old. I remember my mom making some bread, butter, and jam. I was shocked by how sweet it was. That’s when my addiction to jam started. [Laughs.]
When you started out as a professional, what was the most common mistake you made?
When I was cutting something, like fish, my chopping board became dirty and it needed to be washed. But I moved on and did something else. My boss said, “Why are you not washing your chopping board?” I was giving 50 percent of myself to the work. My boss told me that nice presentation for guests is important, but it’s just as important to be clean in the kitchen.
Wagyu Overload. (Supplied)
What one ingredient can instantly improve any dish?
Just one? [Laughs.] If I give you a cucumber with nothing, you can eat it. But, if I crack it, you can eat it easily. So, this is the ingredient: My heart. This is the best ingredient for food: “Omotenashi.”
Are you a disciplinarian in the kitchen? Do you shout a lot? Or are you more laidback?
We’re busy enough here already, so I don’t need to shout at anyone. I trust our sous-chefs. I just give them small bits of advice sometimes.
What’s your favorite dish to cook?
I love Japanese curry. I make it at home and my kids and wife also eat it. I’m a chef here, but at home, I’m totally not.
3Fils is one of Dubai’s top restaurants. (Supplied)
When you go out to eat, do you find yourself critiquing the food?
I don’t judge the food, but when I taste something different I’m always asking, “Why have they done that?” It interests me. I just imagine the culture, the history and the nature, then I understand why the dish tastes like that. Then I go back to my kitchen and maybe I’m inspired.
What’s your top tip for amateur chefs?
To be hospitable and to make your own story.
Chef Shun’s Korya Roast Potatoes
INGREDIENTS:
3 agria potatoes, washed
30g olive oil
3 pinches black pepper powder
20g spring onion, chopped
10g crispy fried garlic
50g 3Fils Gochujang mayo
Salt to taste
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Place the potatoes (whole) in a pan of water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 20 mins.
2. Cut the potatoes into wedges, transfer to a tray lined with baking paper and season with salt and black pepper powder.
3. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for 10 mins at 180 C.
4. Transfer to a plate, drizzle with Gochujang mayo and garnish with crispy garlic and spring onion.
