zeitoun
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Posts posted by zeitoun
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Hi Chef, thank you for taking the time to answer our questions.
Your Bio briefly mentions that you spent some time in Greece prior to opening your first restaurant. I’m curious to know more about your time there, where you worked and how this sojourn influenced your style of cooking. I find it quite interesting that you chose Greece given that many young cooks tend to prefer countries such as France, Spain or Italy to go stage abroad.
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I've seen Musar and Kefraya here in NY but in middle eastern restaurants only. Quite frankly i've never looked for them in wine shops but i'm pretty sure they are available. I haven't tasted many lebanese wines but Musar is arguably amongst the best out there. I personally like it quite a bit.
Nevertheless, it is true, as Behemoth pointed out, that a greater variety is available in Europe (especially in France).
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[...]Damascus Bread & Pastries is good, above average for that sort of thing, but not worth a long trip, its not that much better than average.
I agree with your assessment (good, above average) and that it's probably not worth a long trip by itself, only in combination with a trip to Sahadi's or/and some other place(s) on Atlantic Av., but I don't know what kind of average place has those date cakes. They just aren't common in New York, are they?
The date cakes (mamoul tamr) you are referring to are available in the ME pastry shop i mentionned upthread. They also make them daily with pistacchio or almond filling. They are in my opinion some of the best in NY.
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I've gotten very good shanklish in Montreal. Well, actually my dad buys it when he's up there and brings it down for me. There is a big Lebanese population in Montreal from what I understand. Still, I would love to perfect a homemade version.
Not to deviate too much from this thread but Montreal is indeed great for stocking up on Middle Eastern goods. The market called Adonis (on 9590 l'Acadie and probably where your shanklish came from) is just incredible, nothing beats it i think in North America. Think Target with only middle eastern grocery goods...
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Shanklish as it is made in Lebanon is indeed hard to come by in the US or even in places like France where there is a sizable lebanese community (and hundreds of lebanese restaurants). Interestingly, it seems to me that when we talk about shanklish outside of lebanon we immediately think of the cheese salad served with tomatoes, onions and parsley that is quite common on lebanese restaurant menus. From what i've seen such salads are mostly prepared with feta cheese though.
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Anyone know where to find Poi in NYC? I know Waikiki Wally's won't have it, but would love to try.....!
--Janet (GG)
What is it? is it a hawaian ingredient?
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Thanks for the nice report Elie, as you were dining at El Bulli I was actually dining not too far away from you in San Sebastian. I hope to write about it soon.
Funny little anecdote about lamb brain: to (unknowingly of course) ask a lebanese person if lamb brain is "okay" on the menu is like to ask a japanese person if sea cucumber is acceptable
. Funny you got to tried Adria's preparation of a classical lebanese ingredient.
Welcome back!
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I just want to correct the impression I may have given that this was an award given by Le Figaro. It was reported in their equivalent of the NYTimes "bold names" in the print version, source not given (I tried to find out the source, unsucessfully). To my knowledge, except for the great pizza test-off several years ago, Le Figaro has not been known to do best-of type ratings (hearts, numbers, Dossiers, yes).Stunning. I guess originality in flavors is not being rewarded by Le Figaro.My missunderstanding, thanks for the correction John.
In light of what was said earlier I will shame myself by admitting that despite quite a few visits to Hevin, it never occurred to me to buy his chocolate macarons. Will certainly do next time, whenever next time is...
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Knafe is a standard dessert at Middle Eastern bakeries, and I'm just about positive I've seen at least one version of it for sale at Damascus.
Just a quick note that if you like Knafe there is a Jordanian bakery on Steinway Street in Astoria called Laziza that makes an excellent rendition of it. They also make excellent baklava, mamoul, ghraibe etc..
The bakery was featured in this Newsday article last year.
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Thanks all for your kind comments, I hope to report on the rest of this trip as soon as as I can.
Since my return unfortunately, i've been buried in paperwork trying to catch up
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Stunning.
I guess originality in flavors is not being rewarded by Le Figaro. I love Hevin but for chocolates only, to my recollection the only macarons he had were well...quite chocolate oriented (maybe i wasn't looking carefully enough???). La Duree and Herme might impress the world each season with bold new flavor combinations, yet the good old chocolate macaron prevails...
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Not to forget Patisserie Claude in the village although good frenchman that he is he closes one full month in the summer (July I think). Must tries in my opinion are Cafe Sabarsky and Petrossian, maybe Payard for the experience.
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It’s been close to one week almost since my wife and I returned from our two week trip to France sightseeing and visiting friends and family. In the course of this trip we also planned to venture into Northern Spain (San Sebastian and La Rioja) for a few days and spend a few days in Geneva visiting my sister. Even though San Sebastian was going to be the highlight of this trip, we decided to fly through Paris first to visit my parents. We thought that the region of Bordeaux would be a pleasant stopover on our way to Spain. It is a region that I do not know well since I think the last time I was there I was about 16 years old. No food memories to keep from this trip obviously since at that age I was more concerned with dating girls and getting stoned than eating good food or drinking good wine.
I wish I had taken notes and pictures in Paris since we spent close to 2 days there checking out some of our favorite food spots: dinner at L’Arpege one night, dinner at Le Troquet another night, for lunch falafel sandwich at Noura and Merguez frites in Barbes, food shopping at La Grande Epicerie; Pierre Herme, Jean Paul Hevin, La Duree, Sadaharu Aoki for sweets; Barthelemy and Quattrehomme for cheese, Poujaurand for viennoiseries.
Despite two days of insatiable gourmandise on our part, we were still were ready for more…(To serve as an introduction to the region of Aquitaine, this is a cool website that gives a brief summary of each sub region’s various specialties.
Following a 3 hour ride to Bordeaux en Train a Grande Vitesse , we rented a car in the city and started making our way to Puymirol near Agen for a one night stay at Les Loges de L’Aubergade. This was my wife’s first time in the TGV and Japanese that she is, she naturally had to brag about the TGV’s Japanese cousin, the Shinkansen. She thought the TGV looked very “retro” in comparison, a little like what the Shinkansen looked like 20 years ago. No offense to the French but I personally think she’s right on this one. I remember taking the TGV 20 years ago as a kid and it hasn’t changed much since then, just the color really, from orange to blue. Since the drive to Agen was short of two hours, we decided to make a stop on our way there in Sauternes to have lunch and laze around a little bit. In the village itself we found a charming little restaurant called Le Sapien. I picked the place solely on account of the Bib Gourmand it was awarded by Michelin. The food was great and the view form the patio overlooking the vineyards was just breathtaking.
Here are a few pictures of Sauternes:
Lovely views from the patio overlooking the vineyards
Stuffed peppers w/crab
Eel “en salade” with herbs and zucchini. Eel was outstanding.
Halibut with wild rice
Sweetbreads, carrots, endives in a curry sauce
After lunch we walked around the village and stopped by a small wine shop to buy a bottle of Sauternes. The village itself is quite tranquil, it doesn’t look like it gets very crowded even in the summer time. I’d say it makes for a pleasant lunch stop at most if visiting the region.
We arrived in Puymirol later in the afternoon. As noted in a previous report, Puymirol is a bastide like village (500 inhabitants) perched on a hill just outside of Agen. Just to get a sense of how small it is, the staff at L’Aubergade recommends every guest to walk around the village (literally, following a path that encircles the outside walls of the village). The walk took us about 45 minutes at a very slow pace. Since we were the only hotel guests that night, we were of course upgraded to a bigger room located by the courtyard pool.
Main square in Puymirol
Les Loges is on the main street on the right
Views as we were walking around the village.
Musical interlude from Charles Trenet: "Douu-ce Frannnn-ce, douce france de mon enfannnnn-ce..." That song stuck in my head for two days after that walk...
Diner was set for 8 o’clock. Fortunately, the weather was beautiful that day so we were told dinner would be served outside in the cloister. Yippeee!
Amuse Gueules:
La Variation de Legumes
4 quenelles consisting of zucchini and tomato sorbet; squash and eggplant mousse. Each quenelle was topped with a crispy / paper thin shaving of each vegetable.
A nice and refreshing way to begin this meal. **As you may have noticed we were almost done with the dish when I remembered to snap a photo**
La Grosse Crevette aux Asperges Vertes a l’Huile d’Argan
This dish consisted of one whole shrimp cooked on a skewer and one single crusted asparagus sprig on skewer. It was my first time trying some Huile D’Argan, there is some interesting information about it on this website. From what I remember it was very nutty in flavor, somewhat reminiscent of hazelnut oil. A nice presentation overall but nothing to go crazy for.
La Raviole de Homard a la Noix de Coco
Fines Lamelles de Pomme Vertes et Coriandre
Lobster meat folded in one single layer of pasta served in a coriander scented light coconut broth with green apple shavings on top. This was one of our favorite dishes. I am not too fond of sauces that have coconut milk as a base but this was absolutely delicious.
Estofinado de Morue “Nouvelle Version”
Cod mousse and potato crisps. This would have been fantastic had it been served as an amuse gueule. Both my wife and I thought it was too much mousse for one single dish, despite the two sauces (which I do not remember unfortunately) this dish became boring very quickly.
Papillotte de Pomme de Terre a la Truffe
One single Bonnotte de Noirmoutiers wrapped “en papillotte” in what I think was a spinach leaf in a truffle sauce topped with truffle shavings. If you like truffles you’ll get a kick out of this. Although truffle is the star here, this single potato does not beat the potato I had at L’Arpege a few days prior (a steamed Bonnotte with Choux Blanc and Sauce au Vin Jaune). I think I’ll remember this potato from L’Arpege for the rest of my life…
Le Chou Fleur Preparé Comme un Risotto
Exactly what it is, a chunky cauliflower cream that had the appearance and texture of a risotto (but with no rice of course). Morel mushrooms on top served with a morel sauce as a base. Nice, simple and succulent.
Le Fois Gras Chaud Poelé, Caramel de Carottes
Some darn good foie gras I have to say (this was expected given the region we were in) resting on top of perfectly caramelized carrots. I do not remember what the green sauce was though.
Le Pigeonneau Roti aux Epices
Spiced Squab with a red wine reduction. My wife liked this very much, and as far as I can remember it was probably the best squab I ever tasted.
L’Epaule d’Agneau Confite Parfumée au Thym, Pommes de Terres Fondantes
Thyme scented Lamb Shoulder “Confit”, another example of how versatile Michel Trama’s cuisine is, the lamb was meltingly tender and nicely complimented by the potatoes, crispy on the outside and silky on the inside.
L’assiette de Tous les Sens
Not sure how you would translate that. Plate of all the senses? Sounds prettier in French..
- Chunky green apple sorbet with green apple chips
- Triple layered dessert in a cup: Framboise with honey gelee, light crème patisserie, coulis of fruits rouges (berries)
- Chocolate cake - Ganache covered by thin layer of chocolate with crème anglaise
- Chocolate “cigar” - Chocolate tuile filled with nougat (cigar shaped) and more tuile in the middle
And to drink you might ask: A bottle of Pomerol, La Fugue de Nenin, 1999, quite good for a second wine and not too harmful on the wallet.
Overall, we were extremely happy with the experience, the staff was friendly and really helped make our short stay an enjoyable one. Trama’s food is worth the detour if anyone ever visits the region. I would certainly go again if given the opportunity, but there are too many other restaurants on my list!!!
On the following day we headed towards San Sebastian and decided to dine in Saint Jean de Luz on our way there, just across the border from Spain. After a quick stroll through town where we bought a 2 pound piece of Jambon de Bayonne (which I preciously hid in my backpack), we found a seafood restaurant called Chez Oskar which served grilled gambas and cuttlefish that were to die for.
After a four day sojourn into Spain which I will report on soon in the Spain forum, we drove back to France after spending one night in Biarritz where we again refilled on deliciously fresh seafood and headed towards St. Emilion for the day. Out of all the regions of the Bordelais we picked St. Emilion because we were told that compared to other regions of the Bordelais, it was more amenable to tourism. Plus, St Emilion is home to some of my favorite wines, Figeac, Ausone, L’Arrosee, Pavie, Trottevielle just to name a few. Most of the important chateaux in St Emilion are located at a walking distance from each other (expect for Cheval Blanc which curiously stands apart more towards the valley) and a few minutes outside of the village of St Emilion itself. Our goal upon arrival was to find a chateau that would accommodate us for a short visit. Luckily, we managed to get an appointment at Chateau Belair after lunch. Figeac, which I really wanted to see and does open its doors to random visitors was unfortunately closed for the day (sniff).
Views of St Emilion from the vineyards of Chateau Ausone
St Emilion main square views
Chateau Belair vineyards, bottom right Chateau Pavie, bottom left Chateau La Gaffeliere
My wife and I fell in love with St Emilion the minute we set foot into town. Wine shops abound around town obviously but we were even more happy to see that there was close to half a dozen shops that sold another Bordeaux staple: Canneles!!
Wine shops in the region are a good way to taste and discover the lesser known wines produced in the area. Least is to say that we did quite a lot of tasting which might be the reason why we ended up purchasing close to 8 bottles in one day. We wanted to limit ourselves to 4 or 5 since we had already purchased quite a few bottles in Spain. I think that after a few drinks I started forgetting that all this wine had to make the trip back to New York…
A few souvenirs from Aquitaine which will keep us busy in our Brooklyn kitchen for a while:
After close to one week of eating from 3 star Michelin restaurants to lovely countryside restaurants in Southwestern France and Spain where we filled our stomachs with sumptuous southwestern food, we both felt the sudden urge to eat something drastically different for our last night in Bordeaux. For some reason we both had a craving for couscous that night. Fortunately, we were able to find a dozen restaurants to choose from near a square (the name escapes me) located not too far from our hotel.
We took the TGV back the following morning to Paris well fed and our minds filled with beautiful memories of southwestern food, wine and couscous.
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A classic "pairing" with zaatar is of course bread, any bread really, which is discussed at length here. Two things to keep in mind though is that for this kind of preparation adding olive oil to the zaatar is essential. The amount of olive oil you add is up to you really since some people like it kind of liquid while others like it pasty. I like mine liquid.
I've also used dried zaatar alone to grill chicken !!!great stuff!!! or sprinkled in grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches, as a condiment in cheese or labne and olives in pita bread rolls etc...I personaly think that it blends well with any kind of salty cheese in general (mixed with feta it is awesome)
If you decide to make your own, I wouldn't hesitate to set your own proportions as some peeple like it with more or less sumac/thyme or sesame seeds. It really varies so, however you like it will do...
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The ‘gargouillou’ of baby vegetables with sprouting grains and wild leaves.
- An early season version, this, with dozens of different vegetables, all cooked perfectly, with a thin tranche of cooked mountain ham and flickers of olive oil cream, red and yellow pepper purees and vinegar syrup. Every mouthful different, zingly fresh – unforgettable. I’d wanted to try this again for so many years, and decided that I’d go for it this time. So glad.
I think I would visit Bras just to experience his famous Gargouillou. The visual concept of it is just fascinating and to me really illustrates food in its purest and most beautiful form. I'm curious, you mentionned flickers of olive oil cream, purees, vinegar syrup, I just wonder how they all "sit" in this dish. But above all, how do you best enjoy such a complex dish? I guess with each monthful you end up composing your own symphony of textures and tastes? Is that the intent?
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Yasuda's menu is big, almost too big. They claim to be buying only the best at market. I have my doubts that the market has 50 kinds of fish every week that are at top of market. There may be reasons why no one else has a fish menu that broad.
On my first and only trip to Yasuda a few weeks ago, I also ordered sushi a la carte. Although the list of fish appeared quite extensive, only about less than two third of what was listed was actually available that day (I'd venture to say that maybe close to 30 different fish/shellfish was available). 50 seems like a high number to me.
I think Yasuda's sushi really stands in a class of its own, not that it is superior to anything else, some people might not like it, but it clearly is a different approach to sushi making. I got a sense that Yasuda-san doesn't attempt to abide by any standard, he simply prepares sushi his own way. One could certainly argue that he cuts his fish too small and thin in proportion to the rice but JJ explained it very well earlier: his sushi features rice, with the fish as condiment. This is just how he likes to serve it. My wife who is Japanese and a Tokyo native is extremely picky when it comes to any Japanese food in the US, she still enjoyed it very much. While we were eating she asked Yasuda-san why he made sushi this particular way. He simply told her that he didn't care much about the do's and dont's of sushi making or how it is served elsewhere (one of the main reasons why he left Hatsuhana apparently), as long as poeple liked his way of making sushi, that was what mattered most to him.
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I've actually never been there and promised myself for quite some time now to try it on my next trip to Bay Ridge. Based on the more than favorable opinions you and other EGullet members have about the place, I'll be looking forward to it, hopefully I'll get to go this summer too..
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If you decide to venture into Bay Ridge in Brooklyn, then I would urge you to stop by Karam on 4th Ave and 85th Street for a delicious falafel or shawarma sandwich. Another good middle eastern place nearby is Sally's and George's Place on 3rd Ave and 78th Street.
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Thank you for this great report, I will be myself dining at L'Aubergade with my wife in three weeks. Trama is sort of a mistery to me, it will be my first time visiting and I am not going with much in terms of expectations since prior to this report I haven't received that much feedback on his food. I am now eagerly anticipating this visit... I'll try to report back after I return from my trip.
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Yesterday was is affectionatly known in my house as "cheese-pie Sunday". The reason for that is because whenever I make those, it inevitably is a Sunday. So, now it is a tradition
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Here are my favorite garnishes that go with the za'tar manaish:
Labneh, tomatoes, onions, mint and olives.
This all looks great Elie, do you actually mix all these ingredients to garnish your manaish??
I generally like the combo of zaatar/tomato alone or zaatar/olives (green lebanese ones)/labneh.
I never thought of combining mint with zaatar, will try that next time...
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Any suggestions for good Lebanese restaurants on/near the Corniche? I want to avoid tourist traps!
Welcome! Not sure if you can call any place in Beirut a tourist trap in general since it is not as "touristy" as other capitals of the world can be (it is changing though). I found that food in Lebanon was good pretty much everywhere I went, from the fancy hotels in Beirut to the hole in the wall kind of places one might find in the narrow streets of old Trablous or Saida. I'd say you can't go wrong anywhere on the Corniche so Foodman's recommendation to factor in the beautiful view as your primary incentive is wise. Enjoy!
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Should we start a thread for this book? Anyone interested?
YES!! My mother is flying back from Beirut next week, I'll ask her to bring me a copy! Which book is it specifically, volume 1 or 2 or you guys have both? I hope this book will be available in English and in the US soon, we certainly need it!
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Zeitoun, you sould've gone with your initial instinct. Yes, the dough is more or less the same but with extra olive oil. The inclusion of yeast in these pies is a must, both for taste and for texture. Otherwise it is an empanada
.Ok, I'll try again this week end and report back. Thanks.
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Bill - Your dishes look fantastic! Thomas would be proud!
To elaborate on your findings and impressions:
Your reaction to the crab with cucumber gelee was similar to mine when i first tried it, i thought it was odd and also rather bland. After a few attempts and adjustments, I realized that what needed to gain in flavor was not the cucumber gelee which in my opinion should remain pure and unseasoned (I think Keller is right not to season it). I thought the crab mixture itself needed improvement. So what i did was add to the crab mixture some finely diced radish that i had slightly pickled, and added a little more mustard as you had suggested, I thought it improved the mixture significantly and created a nice contrast between the stronger sweet/acid crab mixture and the milder and refreshing cucumber base.
For the duck, as far as i can recall I followed Keller's instructions for poaching time and did not have any problems. I think I poached it for 7 minutes and even thought it was a little too dry! Strange! (maybe our waters boiled at different temperatures
) But seriously, I am not sure if the addition of cheesecloth would require adjustments in cooking time since it does not really act as a "protective" layer. Maybe your duck pieces were too thick or the cylinder itself was too thick? One problem I had with this dish was that on the day I made it, I used overly sweet corn which in my opinion killed it a little (it masked the beautiful taste of the morel sauce). I made sure I had a milder corn on the following attempt and it was better.How did you like the beet reduction with the cheese course? I personaly loved it!! So now I use the same beet recipe as a sauce with other preparations such as venison or even duck breast, it's delicious!!
I hope you will do this again and post it here on Egullet! I generally cook from the book often so i have learned enormously reading through your various posts. Knowing how much time it took you to do all this, I am in awe that you were able to come to your computer and tell it all as you went and in so much detail!!
Brasserie Les Halles
in New York: Dining
Posted
I've always received lousy service at Les Halles in about 4 or 5 visits, but that still didn't keep me from going again obviously. Waiters with bad attitudes, wrong orders making to the table, spills... none of it was significant enough to keep me from a good steak frites.
More recently though, I personaly chose to give it an indefinitive pass since my last trip there after the renovation (in March I think) was a disaster. Soggy fries with Cote de Boeuf that was fatty, chewy and overcooked. That night alone managed to kill everything I loved about the place.