2013

‘Cooking Along the Silk Route’ in Washington, DC

Friday, May 10, 2013 By shayma 3 Comments

Tahchin, Persian rice timbale with saffron-poached chicken

*NO SPACES LEFT*

IF YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR NAME PLACED ON THE WAIT-LIST, PLEASE E-MAIL ME, (ADDRESS AT THE END OF THE POST).

On Saturday, June 22nd, I will be hosting a lunch which is themed ‘Cooking Along the Silk Route‘. As such, we will prepare dishes from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan and then share a meal together, family-style, in a beautiful home in the Washington, DC suburbs, (near Tyson’s Galleria).

While we cook together, we will :

Learn how to prepare a mocktail, appetiser and main dish. I will provide my homemade dessert for the meal.
Prepare and assemble the dishes in groups of 3-4.
Enjoy a lovely Saturday chatting and eating with others who adore food from my part of the world!

Sample Menu:
Pakistani Sekenjabeen – Sweet & Sour Sparkling Lime Mocktail with Mint
Afghan Aushak* – Leek pâté dumplings, served atop yoghurt and crowned with savoury mince
Persian Tahchin (see photo above) – Rice timbale with saffron-poached chicken
Pakistani Kheer aur morabba – Rosewater-fragranced rice pudding with seasonal fruit compote

Timing:
10am-1.30pm
Lunch will be served between 1.30 and 2.00pm.

If you would like to join us:
Please e-mail me at shayma (at) thespicespoon (dot) com.

*We are using store-bought wonton wrappers.

Filed Under: Afghan, events, Irani/Persian, Pakistani, Silk Route, workshop

My Express Tribune Magazine Cover – ‘Shayma Saadat, Mistress of Spices’

Monday, April 22, 2013 By shayma 8 Comments

Shayma Saadat Cover Story

My interview appeared in The Express Tribune Magazine, (which works in partnership with the International Herald Tribune), this Sunday. Many thanks to the editorial team at the Express Tribune.

Here is the link to the magazine pages – Shayma Saadat Mistress of Spices. It is also available online here.

Filed Under: Interviews / Features, Magazine Cover, Press

Baingan Bharta – Roasted Eggplant / Aubergine Dip in the Pakistani Manner

Saturday, April 20, 2013 By shayma 12 Comments

Baingan Bharta

I don’t remember Amma Subraayi. Our family’s seamstress, she died a few years after I was born, and by that time we had already moved to Washington, DC. My Nani Ami bought the jewel-toned fabrics for our razais, (winter quilts) and Amma Subraayi would stitch them painstakingly, by hand, with a curved upholstery needle. Sitting under the winter sun on my grandparents’ rear terrace, she laid the fabric out on a woven bed called a charpai and nimbly stitched the fabric together, stuffing it with cotton for weeks on end. Each razai was stitched in its own geometric pattern and with special fabric. Ami’s was a plaid burgundy and my Khala’s (aunt’s), was a candy-coloured orange with a floral design. [Read more...]

Filed Under: appetiser, borani (yoghurt-based cold salad), Pakistani, vegetables/vegetarian

My Workshop – How to Make Aushak, Afghan Dumplings

Wednesday, April 17, 2013 By shayma 3 Comments

Shayma Saadat workshop

*SOLD OUT*

Crisis. That’s the face of a punctilious cook who can’t use a certain oil over another one for shallow-frying. When you’re teaching participants to make blinis in your first ever workshop, you unnecessarily stress over such trivial matters. To make matters trickier, you feel nauseous and soporific because you are expecting Tiny Spoon, unbeknownst to everyone at the workshop.

I was invited to host my first workshop last year in February, which turned out to be a lovely experience – we finally settled on olive oil (as the picture depicts) – and all the participants went home happy after having a few sips of Pomegranate & Rosewater Essence Sparkling Wine Cocktails.

I am in the kitchen again, (this time, stress-free) – teaching another workshop. I will be over at The Depanneur showing you how to make aushak – dumplings which hail from the Afghan kitchen.

The cost is $40+HST – more information on the workshop and how to sign up for it is available here.

Filed Under: Afghan, events

My Pop-up Event – Nowruz Supperclub at The Depanneur

Monday, March 18, 2013 By shayma 6 Comments

I am on instagram – follow me here.

Here are some pictures from our pop-up – sold out this past Saturday! A huge thank you to all the lovely guests.

*SOLD OUT* [Read more...]

Filed Under: events

Speaking at TEDx

Saturday, February 16, 2013 By shayma 16 Comments

Dear readers, I am honoured to have been invited to speak at TEDxWaterloo on March 27, 2013 in my capacity as a food writer and photographer. I hope to see many of you there. For those of you who won’t be able to attend, the event will be live-streamed. My talk will also be on the TEDxWaterloo site soon after the event. Here is the link to my bio on the TEDx page.

Filed Under: Press, Speaking Engagements, TEDx