So how to start? With a bubbly, of course. And then a bit of her background. Norma is born and bred on the North Shore, but her family is from Armenia originally. Loved hearing of family traditions, but I'm still wondering how women from years ago could cook like this without our kitchen mod cons.
First dish into the oven was basbousa. It looked easy when Norma made it, but I reckon I could give it a go. Except next time I will not be naughty and lift the lid before its time. Look at the neat almonds, perfect when it was cut into pieces.
Cinnamon spiced walnuts going into the Baklava. My fave...
Learning how to cut baklava so perfectly - brilliant. Is that still champers in the background??
Super organised Norma had this printed - menu, shopping list, recipes, and a list of wog shops. We will do the full tour another day!
Easy to know when the babousa is ready in the oven. The smell....
From here, we headed up to the local Wog Shop, having been granted honorary wog status for the day. It was so good to have Norma telling us what to buy or not. Steep learning curve - fava beans are not broad beans? Oops.
I bought Lupini to cook (Norma, how do I do this??), date syrup, slivered pistachios, pepper (capsicum) paste, semolina, avjar and labne. And had a taste of the pistachio Turkish delight. In the meantime, Norma ordered lunch from the local Lebanese restaurant, and we took it home to eat. Have a look at the plate of Kebbe Nayeh.
Now, I have to admit, I am not adventurous when it comes to raw meat. Norma understood, but said "Well, you eat raw fish, don't you?" Well, actually no. But I have to say, I really enjoyed it. Drizzled with olive oil, onion, mint, some tabouli and garlic sauce, it was creamy, smooth and great flavours.
So, back to the kitchen. Have a look at the recipe on the cupboard. Super-organised Norma! Here she is separating the shredded pastry, which we then put in the food processor and shredded until it was even finer. Never seen it before!
Did I mention the baklava? How good it this?
Norma explained that in the Middle East, every meal has rice with it. When it is this good, I can understand why! We fried fine noodles in ghee, added rice, then added stock. Here it is, bubbling away. Perfect pilaf.
Completely new to me, here is Mouloukheya - the Soup of the Pharoahs. Not sure how to describe it, but garlic, coriander - hey, how can you go wrong! I loved it over the pilaf.
This is before we ate. Feeling hungry and excited. Later, full, satisfied and sleepy...
So, for some, this was saving the best till last. Knafeh. So different, and Norma had to start this 3 days ago to "de-salt" the cheeses. The result was perfect. Hard to describe, easy to eat.
What a fabulous day, with very special people. Pity Steve and Doug couldn't join us, but then again, more for us. I am so full that I can't eat another thing tonight. Or maybe just 1 piece of baklava. Norma assures me it is better the next day, but it has never lasted with me overnight before!
Thanks Norma, brilliant day.
