Traditional Turkish coffee with cardamom and iced Turkish delight sweets
We started outside with the chilled Turkish coffee. I really liked the flavour of the coffee with the sweets and the spices and thought it was a great way to kick off the meal. It was also a good opportunity to have a chat and get to know the other diners.
Tomato festival galette with garlicky goat’s cheese
Lavash (crackers; cumin, fennel and sesame), pistachio and feta dip, beetroot dip with za’atar, goat’s cheese and hazelnuts, homemade labneh
After this we had various different crackers in all sorts of shapes and they were so good. These came with three fantastic dips, I don’t think I could choose a favourite, very different to your normal ‘chips and dips’!
Roasted vegetables and salad with hummus and kuku sabzi (a Persian fritter with fresh herbs and walnuts)
A short while later a big bowl of roasted vegetables, including heritage carrots and beetroot, and salad arrived with the best hummus I have ever tasted. The kuku sabzi was sort of like an omelette; so full of fresh herbs and flavour it was almost entirely green.
Pistachio and turkey meatballs with pomegranate molasses
Shakshuka; traditional Israeli breakfast (onions caramelised in cinnamon butter with mint and fried soft yolk eggs)
After all this was cleared away we were served the shakshuka. I was a bit sceptical of eggs and cinnamon but this was probably my favourite dish of the meal; not like anything I’ve ever had before.
Unfortunately at this point I had to abandon the dinner and rush off for a family emergency (all ok now) but I’m told the next courses were aubergine parcels with pepper sauce followed by three different flavours of ice cream.
I really enjoyed this meal. Laura and Anu are so enthusiastic about what they do and I loved trying so many new things. They were so generous with their food, time and stories and have such a rich background of family and countries between them it’s no wonder they can cook such interesting food. They also try to use as many local ingredients as possible and use the farmers’ market meaning they can showcase great local food in a new light. The cost of the meal I had (including the courses I didn’t have!) is £25 per person.
You can find out more about Laura and Anu and what they do on their website.
Laura and Anu got in touch to let me know about what they were doing but I paid for the meal myself and was not asked to write a review. All opinions and words expressed are my own.
The trend of such a dining experience is fast catching up. I did once before and not too bad though I was the one who was talking the most compared to the quiet host. Nice spread of Isreali dishes and yes, good to goodness and truly authentic.
This sounds like a perfect meal for an intimate supperclub! I’m glad to hear that your family situation was resolved.
I think the success of arrangements like this depends on the personality of the host(s).
P.S. Sounds like you need to get hold of a copy of “Jerusalem” by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi!
Sounds wonderful. Such excellent looking food.
Pop up dinners are great! Such a fun idea. This one sounds wonderful — thanks for sharing with us.
Oh that is such a cool idea! Love pop up dinners 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
all this food looks so good and I bet it was delicious!!
What a great idea! Caroline… something I’d like to try.
wow fun and it looks delicious
i just love this kind of cuisine, everything about it! i’ve heard a lot about turkish coffee and really want to try it, and soon!
I love the idea of this kind of dining out, you get to try some amazing new foods and often get to make new friends its a real win win situation!
Except for shakshooka (which looks nothing like what is suppose to be) is Israeli.. By then, who is going to know