Cré Olé asked proprietor chef Adam Aboud of Adam’s Bagels restaurant, 15A Saddle Road, Maraval, to choose the dish of the week.

Though Adam’s Bagels offers a variety of cuisines, Adam drew on his Arabic roots in making his selections. His appetizer was mezza, an assortment of vegetable dips and breads. His entrée was comprised of tenderloin, chicken and fish kebabs and he finished a strongly Middle Eastern meal with traditional Syrian/Lebanese desserts of namoora and mammool.
The mezza comprised three dishes, all served at the same time and all equally delightful to the palate. The first, bubba ganough, was made with melongene and tahini paste (a sesame seed-based paste).

The second, hummus, was made from channa and tahini paste. The third was tabouleh salad, made predominantly with parsley, tomatoes, cucumbers, lime, salt and olive oil. Side baskets of fresh and toasted pita & simsum breads were also served.

By design, the portions of the starters were large enough to ensure there was enough left to accompany the main course of chicken, fish & beef cubes, seasoned with traditional Arabic spices and herbs and grilled on skewers.

The baklava dessert was a buttery filo pastry filled with a walnut and sugar mix. The mammool was made with cream of wheat, sprinkled with icing sugar, stuffed with dates and sugar. (Mammool can be stuffed with walnuts instead of dates.)