Eating For Good in Merrylands
What kind of music do a certain generation in the Arab world like to listen to in the morning? Why, the songs of the beautiful Lebanese-born Fairuz of course. Check out her “morning songs” playlist on YouTube if you want to hear for yourself, or, better still, book in to a Taste of Syria and Afghanistan Tour in Merrylands and listen to Fairuz while eating the special breakfast of Damascus.
Al Shami restaurant in Merrylands
That’s what I’m lucky enough to be doing at al Shami restaurant, with 2 friends and 9 strangers, at 11am on a recent Sunday morning. We tuck in to fatteh, ful (fava bean salad) and falafel, all so delicious I’m relieved I had only a cup of tea prior. What is fatteh you might ask? “Hummus on steroids”, according to the cooking website gitanjaliroche.com, which I think is pretty accurate.
fatteh, ful and falafel at al Shami
Our young and amiable Syrian guide for the tour, Alaa, says that the texture of fatteh is so silky because of the warm chickpea water that is added to the mix. She arrived in Australia only 5 years ago, and has her mother to thank for her impeccable English.
Alaa explains that the taste tours were originally the idea of the Benevolent Society, as a way of supporting refugee communities. About twelve years ago, they handed the business model over to Lesley Unsworth, a self-confessed chilli addict and social justice advocate. Taste Cultural Food Tours Inc today is a “charity and social enterprise providing training to Australian migrants and refugees and local youth”. Eat for Good is their motto, which I take to heart.
the fountain centrepiece at al Shami
Al Shami used to be a tiny café with long queues, now it’s very grand with imported Syrian fittings, a fountain and room enough for a crowd. They serve us a wedge of mastic ice cream, which is perfect with cardamom-flavoured Arabic coffee. It’s possibly even good for you, as mastic is the resin of a particular tree that grows on the Greek island of Chios and is said to have anti-bacterial properties.
mastic ice cream
Next stop is Ryyan Persian grocery where me and my pals swoon over the spices, rose petals and tiny dried figs, and I want to buy just about everything, but then it’s on to “Kabul” where we sit down for Afghan dumplings. Aashak are stuffed with chives and topped with lentils and yoghurt, which makes it an ideal stop for veggos, though there’s also Mantu, dumplings stuffed with lamb mince and onions. It’s a basic kind of joint where the food does all the talking. If only I had space for Chalaw Gosht, lamb shanks with barberries. By now you might be surmising what we were beginning to ponder: of course, those ancient trade routes; did someone mention the Silk Road? Mongolia, India and Persia have all left their mark on Afghan cuisine. It is wildly diverse.
aashak
At Green Wheat Bakery we admire the long flat loaves of bread made in the fire-powered oven, and Alaa puts on plastic gloves to tear off chunks so she can give us a taste of carrot jam from Ryyan’s. This is enough to propel us all in to the bread queue where we each buy a loaf for $1.50. Our families are going to be very pleased. Mine in particular because, afterward, I buy 4 of the amazingly succulent chicken kebabs from Al Hojat Kebab to take home. The secret, Alaa says, is that they marinate the meat overnight in onion juice. The busy chef wears a flameproof mask to cook the kebabs on a brazier over coals. I wish my neighbourhood had a place like this.
Alaa with Afghan bread from Green Wheat Bakery
The twelve of us are staggering a little by now under the weight of our full bellies, and my shopping bag is full of slivered pistachios, hibiscus tea, rose petals, dried orange peel, cardamon seeds, rose water, labneh, sumac and dried dill, some of it from another stop at a different grocery store, the amazing Walli-Asr. Yet, there is still more to come: we eat a flat and spicy kebab from Avasana Afghan street food and drink fragrant saffron tea with a selection of Syrian biscuits from Assal Sweets. And, finally, it’s the end of the road.
Alaa asks each of us to name our favourite thing from the tour, and we all agree that it was Alaa herself, which brings out her dimples. Apart from Alaa, it’s impossible to choose. Everything is a taste sensation. I’m also very taken with the beautiful singer Fairuz, whose pictures adorn al Shami restaurant. She is now in her 80s, but is still revered as a symbol of unity by people over 50 across the Arab world. I had never set foot in the Western Sydney suburb of Merrylands, yet it’s only a half-hour drive from the Inner West. A Taste Cultural Food Tour is like a taste of international travel and, in these Covid-restricted days, that makes the outing even more of a pleasure. Eat for Good, I say, and spread the word.
EXTRA
Taste Cultural Tours Inc operate all over Sydney, from Chinatown to Chatswood and Bankstown to Cabramatta. They take a maximum number of 12 people. Prices vary: our tour cost $109pp. Check out all their tours on www.tastetours.com.au