Almond Bar’s cosy interior. Photo: Carol Salloum
I have traditional Middle Eastern mezze in my fridge, courtesy of Almond Bar, pre-prepared and ready to be popped in the oven and on to a hot grill plate and consumed possibly with a home-made mint lemonade later this afternoon.
These small dishes — koush mehshi (stuffed grey zucchini), lamb kafta, and irresistibly sweet and florally fragrant baklawa — are the product of a cooking class i participated in at Almond Bar as part of the Crave International Food Festival.
For the uninitiated, Almond Bar is a treasure of the Sydney restaurant scene. It’s a Syrian family run affair located in Darlinghurst. This cosy narrow restaurant, with a beautiful engraved wood wall, delights customers with family recipes and wholehearted hospitality.
Having eaten at Almond Bar several times, i jumped at the chance to squirrel away some of the culinary secrets of the Salloum family. And while the cooking class only ran during this month’s Crave festival, the lamb kafta and baklawa are on the daily menu, while koush mehshi is likely to return when grey zucchini season is back in full swing.
In fact, the whole menu is abundantly enticing and i’m already factoring in a return for the traditional Middle Eastern breakfast menu they offer on the first Sunday of every month. Continue reading →
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