Middle East

Welcome to the A-Z Guidebook Link Up. If you would like to join, read the A-Z Guidebook tab at the top of the blog and write a travel post relating to the letter of the month. *TIFFIN may be travelling but there is no stopping A-Z!  This month: W or Wander I’ve written before about how my… Read more

Welcome to the A-Z Guidebook Link Up. If you would like to join, read the A-Z Guidebook tab at the top of the blog and write a travel post relating to the letter of the month. * Did you know A-Z Guidebook is on Instagram? I am! If you are too, swing past and follow. This… Read more

Random Recipes has been playing out very well for me recently. After a clunky start, I’ve been selecting some beauties.  This month, Dom from Belleau Kitchen challenged us to ‘Get Random Baby!‘, using his automated random number generator to select the cookbook.  Regular readers will know that I’ve used a similar function on several occasions… Read more

It’s been a while since I’ve been on a lunch sized adventure as there are slim pickings down my end of town.  If you look hard enough though, there are a few hidden gems.  Tucked away behind a fence in the courtyard of a former church is OuterSpace.  There’s a small area inside with stools… Read more

I was born in Australia but I come from the biggest wave of migrants that arrived in this country in the late 1700’s.  Yep, I’m from convict stock.  Other than potatoes and stew, the culinary highlights from Ireland are few and far between.  There have been many more waves of migrants in the last 200+… Read more

A few weeks ago we had some friends over for the enthusiastically titled ‘Middle Eastern Feast’. In keeping with the theme and the Middle Eastern tradition of generous hospitality and an abundant table, our own table positively groaned.  Food from Greg & Lucy Malouf’s Turquoise and Barry Vera’s Feast Bazaar featured as well as some… Read more

I was sorting through my holiday photos and discovered this little video I captured Al-Madina Souq in Aleppo. I re-watched it and realised it wasn’t half bad, considering it was recorded on my basic point and snap camera. I’m only sorry I didn’t record for longer. How good is this guy? Can you make pancakes… Read more

I’m going to marry Yotam Ottolenghi.  Sure, he may be playing for the other team and doesn’t even know I exist but I am having a love affair with him anyway.  Oh, OK, with his food.  My books arrived from Amazon the other day and I’m enjoying every moment of leafing through, poring over recipes… Read more

With the weather starting to warm up, my mind and body has well and truly been set to salad mode.  With a long summer ahead, I am keen to broaden my repertoire and enjoy salads with all sorts of grains and pulses tossed through to give some substance to the dish. I have written before… Read more

Do you know what Koshari (or Kushari or Koshary) is?  No, I didn’t either.  Apparently it’s one of the most popular dishes in Egypt but until I visited there, I’d never heard of it.  After I arrived in Egypt, I saw lots of shwarma and felafel stands and even a KFC run by the deaf… Read more

It’s terrible what’s happening in Syria. I have walked through the souks of Damascus and Aleppo, visited the ancient ruins of Palmyra and the Crusader Castle at Krak de Chevalier. It’s difficult for me to reconcile what is going on now with what I saw just over 12 months ago. But there’s another side to… Read more

I’m in love with Yotam Ottolenghi.  I fell under his spell whilst living in the UK, reading his regular piece in The Weekend Guardian.  Every recipe sounded delicious and seemed achievable.  For the longest while, I thought he was vegetarian until a recipe with mince appeared.  His flavours are Middle Eastern, belying his Israeli upbringing… Read more

One of the reasons I was keen to visit the Middle East and Syria in particular were the images conjured up by Barry Vera in his book and accompanying TV show ‘Feast Bazaar‘ which was shown on SBS.  The idea of travelling halfway across the world to try hither to unsampled cuisines left an indelible… Read more