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Aside from visiting the beach, Jeddawis love a good breakfast and brunch spot.
Located at the heart of Al-Rawdah district — where most of the popular restaurants are — is Daily Edition Cafe; an attractive restaurant with an awesome music playlist, and one of the best culinary experiences you can find in Jeddah.
Their menu is very appetizing and nutritious — a combination I always look for when dining out, ticking all the boxes for a good restaurant experience.
I loved how colorful and unique their dishes are. I visited Daily Edition with my family, and we all ordered different things to share, including the “SE” croissant, salmon salad, the “Harvest Bowl,” mushroom risotto, and the “BB” pancakes.
Needless to say, we enjoyed every item. It was my first time trying cured salmon, and I found it to be delicious in their SE croissant.
Their salmon salad is delicious and nutrient-dense, made up of grilled salmon, fresh greens, avocado, shaved parmesan, soft-boiled eggs, and homemade goma — a Japanese sesame dressing.
The risotto, meanwhile, included a variety of mushrooms; enoki, cremini and more, placed on a soft bed of risotto rice.
Customers are very lucky that the “BB” pancakes are available in their all-day section. They are homemade with banana, blueberries, whipped cream cheese, spiced maple and popping boba.
Vegans will really enjoy their hearty “Harvest Bowl” made up of chickpeas, cauliflower, kale, roasted sweet potato, cucumber, red onion, avocado, various healthy seeds, and smoked maple dressing.
What also made my visit splendid was their welcoming attitude. Kind and helpful staff warmly greeted me at the entrance and made sure we had a wonderful dining experience.
TORONTO: Dona Murad’s connection to the kitchen started with family. Her mother and grandmother were talented bakers, who instilled in her an appreciation for the dedication and passion that is required to “create.”
Now a coffee roaster and owner of two bakeries, Murad left a regimented, nine-to-five job to focus on her passion for coffee and the food and beverage industry in general. She had noticed that some of her friends would travel to certain cities just for their café culture. In 2015, she founded Hopscotch Bakery & Café to cater to this gap in the Bahraini market.
Mostly self-taught, Murad believes that the hands-on learning that has come with running her own bakery and coffee shop has outweighed any academic training she might have gotten.
After achieving success with Hopscotch Bakery & Café and Grind Micro Roastery in Bahrain, she has now opened Librae Bakery in New York.
Based in Lower Manhattan, Librae might be seen as just another just another grab-and-go coffee spot in the Big Apple. But as Murad tells it, it’s an oasis where her customers are encouraged to “come and dwell.”
She tells Arab News: “New York has incredible energy; it’s constantly rushing. We bring Bahraini hospitality and the culture around community — the aspect of slowing things down.” One example of this is the café’s majlis. Most of her NY counterparts wouldn’t be nearly so generous with a seating area taking up precious real estate.
Murad calls Librae a “third-culture bakery” — alongside Bahraini hospitality and New York vibes, the bakery uses Copenhagen baking techniques. Known for its culinary innovation, the Danish capital’s approach to fermentation is scientific and lengthy, with no shortcuts tolerated. At Librae Bakery, they employ a similar meticulous approach, with three tiers, Murad explains.
“Does it taste good? Is it the correct use of ingredients? And is it needed? If it passes these parameters, we know we’re on to something,” she says. A Librae croissant, for example, takes over 72 hours to create.
Here, Murad discusses the power of good bread, cleanliness, and kindness, and provides a simple mocha recipe.
Q. When you started out, what was the most common mistake you made?
A. Cooking when I was hungry. Never do that. And never take a shortcut.
Q. What’s your top tip for amateur bakers?
A. Clean as you go. That’s probably the first, and most important, lesson you learn in any kitchen. Also, purchase a cast-iron skillet. It’s my favorite, for baking and cooking.
Q. What’s one ingredient that can instantly improve any dish?
A. Black lime is my personal favorite. Not only is it a key ingredient in a lot of classic Bahraini dishes, but its versatility — it can complement both sweet and savory dishes — is amazing. One of our signature items at Librae is the Black Lime Curd Babka.
Q. What’s your go-to dish if you have to cook something quickly?
A. I make a plum cardamom crumble that my husband swears is the best thing I make. I think it’s totally average, but he loves it.
Q. What’s your favorite dish to cook?
A. I’m a sucker for incredibly crispy, grilled, or charred lamb chops. My mother, who works with me on every project, will tell you that I can eat a terrifying amount of lamb chops in one sitting. I am a simple person and I adore a garden barbeque, surrounded by people I love.
Q. What’s the most difficult dish to cook on your current menu?
A. A plain butter croissant. It took us months — and thousands of failed attempts — to get what we consider the best butter croissant.
Q. When you go out to eat, do you find yourself critiquing the food? What’s he most common mistake that you find in other restaurants?
A. Anyone who has the bravery and work ethic to open a restaurant only deserves my praise. However, one thing I’m always impressed by is good bread and good coffee. If a restaurant (does this well), I’m a sucker for it.
Q. As a boss, are you a disciplinarian? Or are you quite laid back?
A. I can say with great confidence that one of the most important things I did when hiring for the bakery was to think about having a kind team. Kindness was more important than talent. Restaurant hours are brutal, you spend all your waking hours together. I care for respect and integrity, the rest can be taught or learned together. The days of toxic kitchen culture are over.
Dona Murad’s Mocha recipe
Ingredients:
2 cups cocoa powder
2 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 tablespoon vanilla essence
750 ml water
Instructions:
1. Blend all the ingredients together. The mix should have a syrup-like texture.
2. Add the syrup to your favorite espresso (or just to hot milk for a great hot chocolate).
3. Don’t forget the marshmallows!
During my visit to Paris, I had the pleasure of tasting the classic French madeleine, a small, spongy lemony cake known for its distinct shell shape.
Food historians believe that madeleines are named after Madeleine Paulmier, a young servant girl who offered her recipe in 1755 to Stanislas Leczinski, the king of Poland, after the main chef became angry and left the kitchen in the middle of a feast.
Once I came back to Saudi Arabia, I was surprised to find that one of Alkhobar’s bakeries, Deema’s Bakery, specialized in offering madeleines with a Saudi twist.
The bakery fuses bold Middle Eastern flavors with European desserts. Its madeleines come in seven flavors: lemon and cardamom, saffron, rahash (made with tahini), ginger honey, orange, coconut, and chocolate fudge.
Deema’s Bakery offers another variation to the original recipe for madeleines, adding cinnamon and chocolate to some of the cakes, giving them a color that is darker than the original light golden tone.
The bakery also has other offerings, such as brownies and chocolate fudge with peanut butter.
I was curious about all the flavors, so I picked the mixed box containing the bakery’s many madeleine varieties. The box is ideal for gatherings or as gifts.
Deema’s Bakery supplies over 20 coffee shops in the Eastern Province, and it also takes individual orders. For more details and information, visit the Instagram page @chef.deema.
TORONTO: Chinese-Canadian chef Kelvin Cheung’s culinary journey started at the age of 12, working at his father’s restaurant in Chicago. He’s come a long way since then, with stints in Toronto, Vancouver, Delhi, Mumbai, and now, Dubai.
During his time in India, Cheung was a favorite of several Bollywood celebrities, and he’s becoming something of a celeb himself, thanks to social-media. His latest venture — Jun’s — is already making waves in Dubai’s culinary scene with its “elevated North American-Asian dining experience.”
If you’re not exactly sure what means, think tempura za’atar chaat — a surprising mélange of za’atar, tempura, tamarind, yogurt, and chaat masala or a lamb koobideh, which includes the traditional koobideh fixings, plus nikiri and egg yolk sauce, with kimchi jam.
Cheung says Jun’s is rooted in his Chinese heritage, North American upbringing, and French culinary training. And he stresses that he tries to source the freshest ingredients from local farms.
Here, Cheung talks discipline, noodles, and learning to lead, and reveals his “perfect Sunday brunch recipe.”
Q. What is your top tip for amateur cooks?
A. Cooking is a difficult skill that you never truly master, but discipline is the key. Expect to be a lifelong student.
Q. What is one ingredient that can instantly improve any dish?
A. Salt. You need to add salt to enhance and taste the rest of the ingredients, as well as balance the dish — particularly, desserts. A lot of inexperienced chefs find it difficult to (get the right amount of salt). It takes experience, muscle memory, and confidence.
Q. What is your favorite cuisine to eat?
A. Japanese. Especially sushi.
Q. When you go out to eat, do you find yourself critiquing the food?
A. Never critiquing, always observing… I love to hear the story of what inspired a dish or how it came about. Being let into the mind of a chef is always so interesting to me.
Q. What’s your favorite dish to cook?
A. I love making noodles. My wife and son are obsessed with noodles, and I make them a bowl from scratch. I take a whole chicken and some beef bones to make a super-rich, power-packed bone broth. It’s nutritionally-dense, hearty, and delicious. Cook the noodles, prepare garnishes and sauces, and serve my loved ones a steaming, hot bowl of delicious noodle soup. It fills my heart.
Q. If you have to cook something quickly, what’s your go-to dish?
A. Eggs. They’re a staple in our house. They’re healthy, convenient, accessible, affordable, and something that we all love.
Q. What’s the most difficult dish on your menu?
A. The Jun’s burger. It’s simple and no-frills, but it has to be precise every single time. We weigh out the exact patty-to-bun ratio. We use four cuts of wagyu beef, which are then hand-diced to make the patty. The execution must be perfect. We cook the patties until the edges are crispy, while making sure the burger remains juicy.
Q. Are you a strict boss?
A. My leadership style has changed dramatically over the years. I was trained in Chinese and French kitchens where there were great expectations and no room for errors. So it took me quite a while to train myself to be a less reactive leader. Becoming a father and reading about parenting styles was a big catalyst for deep change.
While I run a very tight ship in terms of organization and output, I believe in teaching and modeling, rather than barking orders. I’m very proud to say some of my team members have been with me for almost a decade now, moving cities and countries to continue on my team.
Chef Kelvin’s Pumpkin Congee
Serves: 2-4
INGREDIENTS:
1 kg fresh pumpkin — seeded, peeled, and diced
8 cups of water or vegetable stock
1 knob ginger, peeled and sliced
¾ cup jasmine sweet rice, rinsed well
Salt, white pepper, and light soy sauce for seasoning
1 cup pumpkin seeds, roasted
½ cup chili oil (for garnish)
½ cup scallions, chopped
¼ cup fresh coriander, chopped
INSTRUCTIONS:
In a pot, bring the water or vegetable stock to boil. Add the pumpkin and ginger; simmer until the pumpkin is tender.
Remove half of the pumpkin. Mash or purée, and set aside.
In the same pot, add the rice and simmer until fully cooked. Now stir in the pumpkin purée.
Season with salt, white pepper, and light soya sauce. Mix well.
Garnish with roasted pumpkin seeds, chili oil, scallions, and green coriander. Serve.
DUBAI: Dubai-based chef Dilip Kumara is heading to Paris this week for the eighth edition of the World Chocolate Masters, a contest known as the “World Cup” of chocolate.
The event, which starts on Oct. 29, brings together 18 world-class chocolatiers to push the limits of what is possible in design.
A post shared by Salon du Chocolat (@salonduchocolat)
Kumara, who is an assistant pastry chef at Five Hotels and Resorts, said in a released statement: “Qualifying for the world finals of the World Chocolate Masters is a dream come true for any pastry chef, and it is no different for me.”
“While it is a true honor to represent the Middle East in the finals, this is also an opportunity to meet and learn from the best talents in the world and bring back learnings from the experience to help elevate chocolate craft in the region,” added the Middle East finalist.
The contest is an initiative of French chocolate maker Cacao Barry to advance creative artisanship and put new talent on the map. The global competition provides a unique platform for artisan chocolatiers, patissiers and chefs from around the world to showcase their skills.
This year’s theme is symbolized by “TMRW,” where the chefs will be challenged to design the chocolate of tomorrow. The finalists will need to present a clear vision and delectable creations which address these shifts.
Chef Charles Azar, president of the Academie Nationale de Cuisine Lebanon-MEA and Gulf, will represent the Middle East as a jury member, joining some of the industry’s most respected talents.
“The World Chocolate Masters brings together the best pastry chefs from across the world under one roof to compete in a test of talent, focus and grit in creating the finest chocolate craft,” Azar said.
“Following a very exciting Middle East final, I am now delighted to be a jury member at the world finals and look forward to witnessing a new era in chocolate where boundaries are pushed and creativity triumphs in the pursuit of excellence,” he added.
While summer is officially over, one of Riyadh’s newest breakfast spots recreates those crisp vacation morning vibes complete with delicious dishes that will get you out of bed easily for just a taste.
Reminiscent of laid-back eateries straight from Bali, Brekkie All Day Brunch and Cafe carries a tropical feel with its bamboo ceiling, woven-back chairs, and accent greenery wall. The modest restaurant makes you feel as if you’re sitting down for an experience rather than a meal.
The joint offers a wide variety of plates, including Western and Eastern takes on various dishes. For an indulgent meal, they recommend the scrambled mess, a combination of avocado, sweet potatoes, and eggs, nuanced by hints of sweet paprika, or the farmer’s breakfast, a similar concept dish with fried eggs and hash browns, drizzled with date syrup.
The double-layered Brekkie tostada is a fine take on the traditional Mexican breakfast: A crunchy toasted tortilla topped with a sunny-side-up egg, mashed avocado, beans and sour cream, garnished with some fresh coriander. It’s the perfect selection for someone looking for a light but filling meal.
For those born with a morning sweet tooth, their caramelized banana or sticky toffee French toast are the perfect starters to your day, made with sweet and thick brioche bread. The two dishes are perfect for the autumn season, garnished with candied nuts and smooth maple syrup.
Their offerings also include a variety of Middle Eastern-style dishes, like roasted pepper moutabel and foul moudames mezzes as well as types of shakshuka dishes.
Their mid-range prices make it the perfect place to have a weekend brunch with a big group. Whether you need an ambient place to get some solo work done or gather a few friends for some quality time, Brekkie will not disappoint.
While their coffee offerings are not the best in town and the waiting period is quite long on weekends, Brekkie makes up for it with flavorful, exciting and fresh meals and a summer vacation ambience.
Their branch on Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq Road, currently the only one in Riyadh, welcomes diners from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
For more information, visit their Instagram @brekkie.sa.