[beef] Dawood Basha (داوود باشا)
Meatballs in tomato sauce; from Italian Polpette to Indian Kofta, nearly every cuisine has some variation of this delicious comfort food staple. In Syria, this dish inherited the name of an Ottoman governor (“pasha”, or “basha” in Arabic, which does not have the letter “p”), Daoud, who administered Mt. Lebanon in the 18th century, and reputedly had one of his chefs create this recipe especially for him. The dish is deceptively simple, ground beef meatball seasoned with onion, black pepper and allspice, in a rich tomato & onion sauce, served alongside Rez bel Shairieh (rice with vermicelli).

[vegetarian] Yakaneh Batata bel Batinjan ( يخنة بطاطا و باذنجان)
Potatoes and eggplants are popular (if relatively recent) ingredients in Mediterranean cooking, whether in Greek Moussaka or Turkish Güveç. Yakaneh is general Syrian name used to describe hearty, home-style stews; in this case one featuring batata (potato) and batinjan (eggplant) in a tomato & onion gravy, with a hint of curry powder.

Tabbouleh (تبولة‎‎ )
Originally from the mountains of Syria and Lebanon, tabbouleh has become one of the most popular salads in the Middle East. A fragrant herb salad of parsley and mint, tomato and onion, with a scattering of bulgur, and seasoned with olive oil, lemon, and salt.

M’a’krona (معكرونة)
Macaroons, macarons (and macaroni) share a complicated linguistic history, with roots in medieval Arabic and Sicilian trade in semolina, the same kind of hard durum wheat that these delicious cookies are made from. Akin to Greek loukoumades or lokma, these sweets are made from from deep-fried dough fritters scented with anise and vanilla and soaked in a lemon-sugar syrup.

$20 +HST

Meals are available for pickup from The Depanneur, 1033 College Street (between Dufferin & Dovercourt) from 6–7pm on Thursday, Oct. 20
foodora sponsors FREE Delivery within 3km radius

Meals go on sale on Tuesday at 7am.
Please indicate “PICKUP” or “DELIVERY” in the Order Notes at the Checkout.

Newcomer Kitchen is a new project that invites groups of Syrian refugee women to use our kitchen to cook traditional Syrian dishes in a fun, social setting. Meals are prepared and packaged, and then sold online for pickup or delivery to pay for all the ingredients and provide an honorarium for the cooks.

We also offer 1 spot to help/hang out in the kitchen, learn the recipes and join the ladies for family meal on Thursday afternoon. We are asking for a $50 donation for this, which will go to topping up the $ we have to share with the cooks. This is available for purchase online, on a first-come, first-served basis.

Proceeds from the sale of meals goes directly to the newcomer cooks. However this does not cover the costs of the enormous amount of behind-the-scenes coordination required to keep this project going. You can support the Newcomer Kitchen project directly and our vision of expanding this model to support more women in more neighbourhoods!

Help us take this idea into any restaurant kitchen, in any city in the world!

Learn more about the Newcomer Kitchen project.