An Arabic restaurant opened near here recently. I’ve been a couple times. At the second visit I had to confess that it was my favorite food. Right now, though, I can’t think why. So much for memory. I would think that I just had falafel, yogurt, pita, kabob, cucumber, hummus, babganoush, tabbouleh. Now, all that is a great combo, sure, but there must be more. Do you think? Or maybe that’s it.
Also, I may be conflating cuisines. Persian and Arabic might not be as simpatico as I’m suggesting, given, as I recall, the endless warring between the cultures.
Anyway, my enjoyment of this food goes back to college days and the Moosewood Cookbook, but it’s hitting a high point now. Finally.
I had another high point with it not long after college. I was living in a co-op with younger people. What a fun way to live — I recommend it for students or anyone wanting cheaper digs with responsible socializing. Of course, your results may vary. The co-op I lived in — Montie House at MSU — has had many up’s and down’s. When I was there it was several years of UP, which was great.
One of my housemates was a Persian named Mahmoud, or Mood, as he liked to be called. Mood-man was fine, too. He and I did a lot together and ended up having breakfast often as well. I’d fix him an eggs scramble along with my own. After awhile of this, though, he said “OK, tomorrow we’ll have a Persian breakfast!”
What a treat!
My memory is probably shot to heck about this, but why not pile it on. I think I might have more ingredients in this breakfast than what we had and I might be merging meals but whatever. It’s all good and it goes together fine.
Why not start with tea instead of coffee. Then here goes: in piles around on a plate: pita bread, feta cheese, walnuts, cucumber slices, strawberry jam, proscuitto, green melon. That should about do it. Mix, match — dive in. Best when it’s summer and hot outside. Hot inside is fine, too.
(Thanks, Mood-man!)
I just googled my own website and see that I’ve posted about this before. Ha! The more the merrier.
I also found a few other webpages about Persian Breakfast. It’s close to what I came up with. Here’s one link… I poached my pic from her blog… Maybe I’ll take my own oneathesedays!
www.foodandfarsi.com/2011/07/sobhaneh-persian-breakfast.html
