We were invited for breakfast to Ka’ak Al Manara canteen by the owner Mr. Ziyad Ayass. He was a corporate financial consultant. Two years ago set up a Lebanese pop up street food concept a Ka’ak kiosk at the Ripe Markets, which took place every Friday at Zabeel Park during winter. Upon its huge success, he quit his job over a year ago to pursue his dream and passion to set up the first Lebanese Ka’ak canteen in Dubai.
Whilst having breakfast he took us back into the interesting history of Ka’ak.
The Ottoman Empire at least nominally ruled Lebanon from its conquest in 1516 until the end of World War I in 1918.
The spread of Ottoman empire influenced the countries they ruled, that explains the similarities in Middle Eastern Cuisine. Though each country has its own flavour and technique of cooking.
The Turks brought several dishes and ways of eating to varying countries including in Lebanon. One such dish was the popular Turkish bread Simit.
Simit is a Turkish circular bread, typically encrusted with sesame seeds or, less commonly, poppy, flax or sunflower seeds, found across the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and now in the streets of Turkey.
Simit was modified in Lebanon, and called Ka’ak bread. It is made of dough, shaped to a large ring-shape and is covered with sesame seeds. Fermented chickpeas (known as hummus in Arabic) are used as a leavening agent. Widely sold by street vendors, it is usually eaten as a snack or for breakfast with za’atar. Later people started filling it with cheese and lebneh too.
Ka’ak Al Manara is serving the original versions of the Ka’ak and has also created a special range to suite the choice and palate of the Dubai clientele. Since they don’t want to lose the identity of street food and also want to give their customers a complete meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner, they have included soups, salads, deserts and a few beverages in their menu and they identify themselves as a canteen.
We were served the Lebanese street styled Nescafe to get us completely alert on a lazy Saturday morning.
We had a mix of the original Ka’ak varieties first;
Four Cheese made with Akawi, Mozzarella, Cheddar and Picon cheese mix with added tangy sumac.
Za’atar and Oil made with Traditional thyme, sesame and oil mix
Lebneh made with Traditional creamy yoghurt topped off with olive oil and added vegetables.
Turkey and Cheese made with Turkey melt with Akawi, Mozzarella and Cheddar cheese and added spicy chili paste.
In between we were also served Quinoa Tabboule Salad, Mushroom Soup and Pumpkin Soup
We were then served the special variety of Ka’ak
Chicken Garlic made with Garlic, onion and pepper mix, lettuce, pickles
Beef Shawarma made with Shawarma herb mix, tahina sauce, onion, tomato, parsley, pickles
For drinks we had the fresh Orange Juice, Pomegranate Juice and lemon juice. We also got to taste the popular and one of the oldest brand of Lebanese Bonjus packed juice.
We ended with the desert variants of the Ka’ak
Knafeh – Arabic cheese pie with sweet syrup sauce
Chocolate Halawa – Nutella and halawa spread mix
The food was excellent. I am actually surprised that inspite of so many Lebanese restaurants in Dubai, none of them are actually specialising in serving Ka’ak to a sizable population of Lebanese expatriates in Dubai. I would applaud the attempt of Mr. Ziyad Ayass to, not only to delight the Lebanese and walk them to a lane of nostalgia but to treat diners in Dubai with the tasty yummy dish of Ka’ak.
Web: www.kaakalmanara.com
Tel: 04-2582003
