Terri Dunbar-Curran
THINK Middle Eastern cuisine and the mind conjures images of baskets of spices and mouth-watering flavour combinations. Often people assume that an abundance of spice has to mean heat, but Bedouin Café and Deli in Woodstock is introducing diners to authentic desert dishes, placing the emphasis on taste.
The brainchild of Rachel Irvine, the stylish space in Woodstock is not only a deli but also a production hub for labneh, a desert cream cheese made to a traditional recipe.
Words emblazoned on the cafe wall tell the story of Bedouin’s origins. “Somewhere between the dry, cracked earth and the relentless sun there’s a land blessed with plenty.
“A timeless Bedouin town where traditions and tastes have stayed the same for centuries. It was here that local tribes taught one South African woman, under the shelter of the Qarmishli tents, to craft ancient preserves, cheeses and spreads as tasty and nourishing over generations.”
While there are myriad recipes for labneh, which is popular in countries like Lebanon and Israel, Irvine believes theirs is something special. The recipe was passed on to her and a lot of trial and error went into working out how to mimic the night time desert temperature changes that are imperative to the cheese’s creation. The only changes they’ve made to the recipe itself is that they roll some of it in pepper, chilli, mint or garlic to give it exciting variations.
“The culture of middle eastern-style eating, with its platters, is so conducive to our lifestyle in South Africa,” says Irvine, adding that we’re used to eating outside and with our hands. She has tried to bring a small piece of the Middle East to Woodstock.
With huge communal tables and coffee served in large mugs, the idea is for people to linger.
“We don’t want to rush anybody,” she says as we tuck into a platter of flat bread, hummus, tsatziki, labneh and dolmades.
The menu is short, because Irvine says nothing irks her more than 12 pages of options.
“My entire life I have suffered from food envy. If someone else orders stale dry toast and I order the seafood platter with added unicorn’s tears, I’ll still look at theirs and want that instead. Mezze eating just makes sense.” So order a couple of dishes and feel free to share.
One of the most popular dishes on the menu is the Bedouin wrap with sumac chicken, hummus, chilli labneh, carrot, lettuce and cucumber. The succulent wrap is a perfect example of how spice can have so many dimensions above heat. The sumac introduces a moreish flavour and the labneh lends a creaminess to the whole dish.
Popular among Woodstock’s student population is the toasted bagel or croissant with smoked salmon, labneh and rocket. There’s also a fattoush salad tossed in a mint dressing and topped with labneh, or grilled vegetables in a pita.
“What you’re tasting is the lack of preservatives,” says Irvine, adding that the labneh, which is made with cow’s milk and stored in oil, is a long-lasting product that doesn’t need to be kept in the fridge. “But it doesn’t like sunlight, because it’s still a cheese. The flavours deepen and get richer the longer you have it. The intensity changes. And I keep the oil and use it on salads.”
In addition to the different flavoured labneh, Bedouin also produces chilli jam and addictive Labnehdews – piquant peppers stuffed with cream cheese.
“There are too many ‘payday’ restaurants opening in Woodstock,” says Irvine. “People forget that the community needs a place they can also go. I want the people who live here to be my customers, not just people who come on Saturdays.”
With that in mind she’s tried to keep her prices as low as possible, so that everyone, from residents who have been living in the area for years to the “trustafarians slumming it”, can enjoy a taste of the Middle East.
l For information, see www.bedouinfoods.co.za