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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 25, 2016)
W Join the Network Connecting Middle Eastern culture through food By Daemion Lee hat you know about Middle Eastern food is probably wrong — at least according to Alaa Albaadani. That’s why she started the Mediterranean Network Restaurant, to share the traditional tastes from her home in Yemen, along with other staples from across the region. “I love American food, but every restaurant that is not American is Americanized,” Albaadani says. “I go to a Middle Eastern restaurant and it tastes totally different than what I’m used to. I get frustrated because people say, ‘This tastes good,’ and I say: ‘That’s not my food; that’s not the real thing.’” The difference, she says, is in the spices. The opening of her restaurant was delayed, in fact, by an extended search for the right spices. Some are more familiar, like cumin and cardamom. Others are more exotic, like saffron, the stigma of the saffron crocus, which gives food a cheerful yellow-red color. Za’atar features heavily in the menu as well, a traditional blend of spices used throughout the Middle East. Even the rice comes well seasoned, carrying a distinctive kick because of the addition of dried lemon. One of her most popular dishes, Albaadani says, is the fattah lamb, a stew served in a bowl lined with chunks of saj, a flat bread flavored with habbah sauda seeds — sometimes called black caraway or nigella in English. The mendi chicken and mendi lamb are LAMB SHAWARMA also popular. For vegetarians, one option is molokia, a green stew made from the leaf of the jute plant and a national dish in Egypt. Served over rice, molokia has a rich, garlicky taste and a distinctive slippery texture. Her interest in cooking started out as a hobby, Albaadani says, something to do when she was bored. “I used to open up the fridge and get whatever ingredients I had and just start making food,” she says. “Then I started learning more and more and I started getting recipes from my family and trying to RESTAURANT OWNER ALAA ALBAADANI AND HER MOTHER PHOTOS BY TODD COOPER IZAKAYA OYAZI EAT DRINK JAPANESE TAPAS & RELAX SAKE @OYAZI 10% OFF (HAPPY HOUR SPECIALS NOT INCLUDED) We are open late! 5:00 PM - 12:00 AM Happy Hour from 9:00 PM - 11:00 PM (starts from 9/15/2016) 259 E 5th Ave., Eugene 8 CHOW FALL 2016 EUGENEWEEKLY.COM/CHOW
