I was wondering if you were going to write about this new category in the Banchets; I was pretty freaked out by that phrasing. I reached out to them for explanation and got complete radio silence.
it’s ludicrous that this is the third largest city in the country, has such enormous immigrant and just plain-old not-white populations, neighborhoods like Avondale where it’s possible to shop Korean, eat Peruvian, shop (again) Polish, and then maybe Turkish—and that’s in a two-mile range—and still, there are some white folks who lump non-white populations into generalizations like “ethnic” without considering what exactly that means.
there is a possibility that they used the term ethnic to mean “a food belonging to a single national culture.” i’ve seen that done before. but I don’t know, since they didn’t answer questions.
So glad you liked noon-e barbari (noon is just the colloquial way of saying nan in Persian). Sometime you’ll have to try a Persian breakfast: barbari, feta (Bulgarian is closes to Persian breakfast cheese), Persian/Japanese cucumbers, walnuts, and fresh herbs. A sweet version is butter, clotted cream, sour cherry jam, walnuts. And lots of black tea.
Hey Patric! Thanks for always raging against the machine with me. I would have been more likely to give them the benefit of the doubt if it werent for the restaurants that made it into other categories. It’s a bummer, but unfortunately not surprising.
Your barbari is beautiful! And Sara’s got the right idea: warm barbari split open and spread with clotted cream (we call it sarshir in Persian) and sour jerry preserves is the best thing ever. Oh, and totally with you on the ‘ethnic’ nonsense.
I always enjoy your posts, and rarely comment, but thanks for noting the “ethnic” wording. It’s one of my pet peeves! Knowledge of food does not not equal knowledge of a culture, though it’s certainly one way to start, and the squashiness of “ethnic” is just aggravating in this day and age (just as bad when contestants on Top Chef, for example, complain that one chef only cooks “Asian”).
I appreciate your observation about people commenting on things they have minimal or no experience in. I have experience in Southern and Caribbean cooking and a deep and abiding interest in dishes from around the world. Admittedly, I do have several Ottolenghi cookbooks, but I don’t pass myself off as the expert in Mediterranean cooking – though the thoughtful combinations and beautiful pictures in his books inspire me. Your nan-e-barbari looks delicious – and just the thing that would veer me off of a gluten-free diet!
Tim -You made me order this book, but it won’t arrive for several days. In the meantime, I’d like to bake this bread and in reading the ingredients saw “2/14 teaspoons active dry yeast”. Am I right to assume it’s just a typo and should be “2 1/4”?
Tim this was so great! Literally loled/snorted when I read “Guess what, you didn’t discover za’atar, Becky.” Agree with you 100%, although I do appreciate Ottolenghi and his Jerusalem book for putting that type of food and culture more on everyone’s radar…and for helping to shift away from the misconception that hummus is a chickpea health paste to be eaten with pretzel chips ;)
YES! You go on raging with your hot bread. Nice job putting in the work both to learn about other cultures & to call out the Jean Banchet Awards category.
I’ll have to try this! I’m spoiled living in Los Angeles, as I actually buy barbari from one of the smaller grocery chains that carries huge amounts of international foods and it comes from a local bakery. I also just saw this book mentioned elsewhere and now I have to check it out. Thanks Tim!
Has the Washington Post been casing your blog for ideas? I liked Ferdman’s take (as well as yours)…
“The great ‘ethnic food’ lie”
by Roberto A. Ferdman, Washington Post
How Americans pretend to like “ethnic food” http://long.fm/ZZY3cxF
Shared from the Longform app.
I can’t believe I missed this post. First of all your final product looks amazing. I am so impressed!!!!! Second I am dying laughing….that’s right Becky, you didn’t discover zaatar! Just dead. Ily Tim!
Loading ...
Patric King says:
January 29th, 2016 at 11:04 am
I was wondering if you were going to write about this new category in the Banchets; I was pretty freaked out by that phrasing. I reached out to them for explanation and got complete radio silence.
it’s ludicrous that this is the third largest city in the country, has such enormous immigrant and just plain-old not-white populations, neighborhoods like Avondale where it’s possible to shop Korean, eat Peruvian, shop (again) Polish, and then maybe Turkish—and that’s in a two-mile range—and still, there are some white folks who lump non-white populations into generalizations like “ethnic” without considering what exactly that means.
there is a possibility that they used the term ethnic to mean “a food belonging to a single national culture.” i’ve seen that done before. but I don’t know, since they didn’t answer questions.
Sara says:
January 29th, 2016 at 11:42 am
So glad you liked noon-e barbari (noon is just the colloquial way of saying nan in Persian). Sometime you’ll have to try a Persian breakfast: barbari, feta (Bulgarian is closes to Persian breakfast cheese), Persian/Japanese cucumbers, walnuts, and fresh herbs. A sweet version is butter, clotted cream, sour cherry jam, walnuts. And lots of black tea.
Tim says:
January 29th, 2016 at 11:52 am
Hey Patric! Thanks for always raging against the machine with me. I would have been more likely to give them the benefit of the doubt if it werent for the restaurants that made it into other categories. It’s a bummer, but unfortunately not surprising.
Louise says:
January 29th, 2016 at 12:15 pm
I’m with you on defining “ethnic”, and it’s “all good” to me.
Is Nigella Sativa the same as Nigella Seeds? I bought some recently to bake Jewish rye bread so, if it’s the same, I have everything for this recipe.
@Sara – The sweet version of Persian breakfast sounds wonderful. You had me at “sour cherry jam”.
tannaz says:
January 29th, 2016 at 12:17 pm
Your barbari is beautiful! And Sara’s got the right idea: warm barbari split open and spread with clotted cream (we call it sarshir in Persian) and sour jerry preserves is the best thing ever. Oh, and totally with you on the ‘ethnic’ nonsense.
tannaz says:
January 29th, 2016 at 12:19 pm
jerry preserves. ha.
Sage says:
January 29th, 2016 at 12:41 pm
Your bread (and photos)are gorgeous and inspiring! Curious about the book I found this interesting “Hot Bread Kitchen” site / pdf with more recipes and photos from their book http://hotbreadkitchen.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/The-Hot-Bread-Kitchen-Cookbook-Jessamyn-Waldman-Rodriguez-and-Julia-Turshen-Preview.pdf Always love YOUR posts!
alyssa says:
January 29th, 2016 at 1:29 pm
“you didn’t discover za’atar, Becky” i’m dying.
Thanks for being so honest!!
christine says:
January 29th, 2016 at 1:37 pm
I always enjoy your posts, and rarely comment, but thanks for noting the “ethnic” wording. It’s one of my pet peeves! Knowledge of food does not not equal knowledge of a culture, though it’s certainly one way to start, and the squashiness of “ethnic” is just aggravating in this day and age (just as bad when contestants on Top Chef, for example, complain that one chef only cooks “Asian”).
lisa @ garlicandzest.com says:
January 29th, 2016 at 5:06 pm
I appreciate your observation about people commenting on things they have minimal or no experience in. I have experience in Southern and Caribbean cooking and a deep and abiding interest in dishes from around the world. Admittedly, I do have several Ottolenghi cookbooks, but I don’t pass myself off as the expert in Mediterranean cooking – though the thoughtful combinations and beautiful pictures in his books inspire me. Your nan-e-barbari looks delicious – and just the thing that would veer me off of a gluten-free diet!
Vicky Cassidy says:
January 29th, 2016 at 7:42 pm
“Guess what, you didn’t discover za’atar, Becky” may be the greatest line ever written on a blog. A+ to you, Tim.
Dena says:
January 30th, 2016 at 6:13 am
Well done. Great post, fabulous bread. And Vicky C. beat me to it. I agree. “Guess what, you didn’t discover za’atar, Becky.” is an awesome line. D
Louise says:
January 30th, 2016 at 7:07 am
Tim -You made me order this book, but it won’t arrive for several days. In the meantime, I’d like to bake this bread and in reading the ingredients saw “2/14 teaspoons active dry yeast”. Am I right to assume it’s just a typo and should be “2 1/4”?
Tim says:
January 30th, 2016 at 2:23 pm
Yes! Typo! Sorry!
Amy says:
January 31st, 2016 at 10:59 pm
Tim this was so great! Literally loled/snorted when I read “Guess what, you didn’t discover za’atar, Becky.” Agree with you 100%, although I do appreciate Ottolenghi and his Jerusalem book for putting that type of food and culture more on everyone’s radar…and for helping to shift away from the misconception that hummus is a chickpea health paste to be eaten with pretzel chips ;)
Jeffrey C says:
February 2nd, 2016 at 6:59 am
Who is this Becky and has she discovered anything I should know about? :)
Tiffany says:
February 4th, 2016 at 3:10 pm
oh my god, becky.
schneiderluvsdoof says:
February 16th, 2016 at 4:38 pm
YES! You go on raging with your hot bread. Nice job putting in the work both to learn about other cultures & to call out the Jean Banchet Awards category.
Kathy says:
February 28th, 2016 at 9:43 pm
I’ll have to try this! I’m spoiled living in Los Angeles, as I actually buy barbari from one of the smaller grocery chains that carries huge amounts of international foods and it comes from a local bakery. I also just saw this book mentioned elsewhere and now I have to check it out. Thanks Tim!
Sarah says:
May 14th, 2016 at 9:17 am
Hi Tim
Has the Washington Post been casing your blog for ideas? I liked Ferdman’s take (as well as yours)…
“The great ‘ethnic food’ lie”
by Roberto A. Ferdman, Washington Post
How Americans pretend to like “ethnic food”
http://long.fm/ZZY3cxF
Shared from the Longform app.
Love your blog!
Sara says:
January 1st, 2017 at 11:48 am
I can’t believe I missed this post. First of all your final product looks amazing. I am so impressed!!!!! Second I am dying laughing….that’s right Becky, you didn’t discover zaatar! Just dead. Ily Tim!