Why hasn’t this blissfully simple egg-and-cheese concept hatched in Dubai yet?

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To every kind soul who prayed for my friend after reading my plea last week, I cannot thank you enough. It meant the world to me to see wishes flooding in from everywhere. Sadly, life doesn’t always turn out as we’d like. My friend left us last week, for what I pray is a far more peaceful and blessed place than the one she was in. Writing a lighthearted post is contrary to everything I am and should be feeling now, but it also feels therapeutic and comforting to return to something that can momentarily blanket pain with the transient cover of normalcy.

R., I never had the chance to tell you about this hole-in-the-wall joint that I visited in Jordan, but for what it’s worth, I’ll pen the story down anyway. I will never forget how you loved simple and down-to-earth vegetarian food, experimental and fun foodie twists, and places with off-beat character. The place described in this post has all of those ingredients. Here’s to hoping a food-loving angel happens upon this post and whispers to you about a fanatical food blogger who misses you very much.

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Are you thinking of starting a restaurant in Dubai? Looking for an interesting culinary concept to invest in? Com’ere and listen up close. Here’s an idea for you. Heck, if I weren’t so lazy, I’d have done it myself.

So this is the idea: Assemble-it-Yourself egg and cheese sandwiches. But not any old egg and cheese sandwiches. I’m talking of the stuff that blows your mind and then, just when you can piece your blown-out mind bits together again,. you lustily stroke your tummy in preparation for a second serving.

Before I dive into the strategy, a special thanks to Raghda Butros from Amman. She revealed Salahuddin’s egg and cheese sandwiches to me through her appearance on Travel Channel.

Salahuddin Egg and Ka'ak Sandwich - Amman Jordan

Here are the steps to this million-happy-tummies idea:

Make your own bread. Let’s not talk about any old white sliced banality, but something with personality. Like these piping hot and crusty ka’ak studded with nutty sesame seeds. You know you’ve baked success when the ka’ak replies with a  reassuring hollow knock when you tap its shell with your knuckles. Have the baker pull out fresh crunchy rolls right in the face of your customers—make them feel the freshness.

Salahuddin Egg and Ka'ak Sandwich - Amman Jordan

Salahuddin Egg and Ka'ak Sandwich - Amman JordanSalahuddin Egg and Ka'ak Sandwich - Amman Jordan

Let the customer pick the roll that was destined for him. This is critical. When you let someone pick a roll from a mountain of seemingly homogenous rolls, you are hooking them in to the food. There’s a sense of ownership. A sense of attachment. A sense of loyalty to that scalding hot roll that the diner has just picked and is juggling over to the counter. I know it all sounds very profound, but trust me, it is.

Salahuddin Egg and Ka'ak Sandwich - Amman Jordan

Make Mamma Hen proud by going bonkers with the eggs. Skip the scramble because this is where you have the opportunity to get into the mind-blowing category. Here is a two-part winning strategy: (a) Bake the eggs, (b) under wood chips.

If you think I’ve gone off my rails, then here—PROOF:

_MG_0048Salahuddin Egg and Ka'ak Sandwich - Amman Jordan

Salahuddin Egg and Ka'ak Sandwich - Amman JordanThe result? Creamy brown eggs with tender smoky insides that deserve a standing ova-tion (pun intended to that totally not subtle point where I had to hyphenate the word.)

Salahuddin Egg and Ka'ak Sandwich - Amman JordanSalahuddin Egg and Ka'ak Sandwich - Amman Jordan

Restrict yourself to three condiments. Anything more and you end up having a condiment sandwich, not an egg and cheese sandwich. Pick a spreadable cheese—unprocessed is ideally better, but if making your own cheese might break the bank, cave in to the nearest processed pack of something acceptable. Hunt for Za’atar that is alive with the magical fragrance of a traditional Middle Eastern spice souk. And pound red chillies into a paste that might be sour, bitter, spicy or salty, depending on which taste bud it has crept up to as you’re knee-deep in the munching process. Oh, and salt. So make that four.

Salahuddin Egg and Ka'ak Sandwich - Amman Jordan

Salahuddin Egg and Ka'ak Sandwich - Amman JordanSalahuddin Egg and Ka'ak Sandwich - Amman JordanIf you want to win extra foodie brownie points, gently hint to eager customers that they could try holding the egg in one hand, and a crusty condiment-slathered roll in the other. Alternate bites of each. Optimal enjoyment.

Keep it simple. No seriously, REALLY simple. Ditch the tables and chairs, line up everything on a counter, let people pick their own ingredients and create their own sandwiches—maybe 2 eggs and 3 cheese triangles with a hefty pinch of za’atar and good dousing of chili sauce per crusty bread….or 3 eggs, 2 cheese, spoonful of za’atar and a cursory chilli splash…or whatever the customer makes, because he knows his egg and cheese funda the best. Don’t bother with silverware—the sandwich only needs a pair of greedy hands, not a sterile plate.

Salahuddin Egg and Ka'ak Sandwich - Amman Jordan

Sell cheap, sell more. Price by the number of ingredients used. If someone exceeds AED 5.00 for two medium-stuffed sandwiches, then you’re doing it all wrong. You didn’t keep things simple enough.

If it wasn’t blisteringly obvious already: DON’T LOCATE IN A MALL FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE. (concomitant to that – no licensed location, no poshy signage, and no…no gold dust. let’s not bastardize this one, Dubai.)

Seriously, someone needs to recreate this in Dubai. I’d happily give up all the dynamite shrimp in the world for one tiny shop selling this. (Actually, I’d happily give up all the dynamite shrimp in the world. Period.)

Salahuddin Egg and Ka'ak Sandwich - Amman Jordan

Author: InaFryingPan

With a family legacy of ingenious cooks, a nutritionist and chef-extraordinaire mother, and a father who introduced me to steak and caviar when I could barely reach the table, I had no choice but to acquire a keen awareness of food during my childhood years in Dubai. But it was only after I found myself on a college campus in Philadelphia – far away from home, too cheap as a student to spend on anything other than pizza, and with dorm rooms that had little rat-holes of kitchens if they even had them at all – when I developed a heightened appreciation of food. An appreciation of food that I once ate every night at the dinner table in Dubai, but that was now an entire ocean away. I lusted for the culinary treasures that lay outside the stale walls of my college dining hall, hijacked friends’ kitchens to try my hand at something, anything , remotely edible, and greedily raided different websites in search of highly-rated restaurants. With my move to New York to work for a consulting firm that secretly harbored self-professed foodies, my appreciation transformed into a passion, an addicition. I felt like everyone around me in New York was talking about food: where to get the best cupcakes, pizza slices, banh mi, kati rolls, pho, fried chicken, and every other food item out there that is just a plain old dish in some part of the world, but that’s become hyped to unforeseen proportions in New York. What fuelled my addiction over time was travel to different cities, both for work and play, which gave me unfettered access to the culinary havens of not only New York, but also of DC, Virginia, Chicago, Houston, Vegas, Austin, Seattle and even a little city called Bentonville (Arkansas!). After 9 years away from home, I’ve finally taken the leap to come back to Dubai – with not just an awareness, but genuine appreciation and passionate addiction for what I’d taken for granted as a child. Mom, I’m back to reclaim my seat at your dinner table, and to rediscover this city with its ever-expanding menu of international flavors.

16 thoughts on “Why hasn’t this blissfully simple egg-and-cheese concept hatched in Dubai yet?

  1. Nick Rego says:

    Gorgeous post as usual dahlink, I think I may have had this on my travels around Jordan (or something similar) and I don’t think I had just one! And I’m sure R would have loved to hear you ramble on about your egg-cellent find! xo

    Reply
    1. Arva says:

      @theregos:disqus – there were a couple of places doing it, I agree. Which brings me back to the question…why don’t we have this in Dubai?!

  2. DaddyBird says:

    Wow! Looks great! Yep, Dubai need more simple offerings like that!
    Wish we’d had time to root out more cool little places like this when we were in Amman! Next trip!

    Reply
    1. Arva says:

      @DaddyBird:disqus – tell me before you go again, I will share my list with you!

  3. Zeina Moawad says:

    Thank you. I have been misunderstood for yonks with my lack of enthusiasm for dynamite shrimp. This whole concept of baking the eggs in wood chips sounds brilliant. I’m already trying figure out if there is any way I can recreate it in my kitchen and/or balcony to at least try it.

    Reply
    1. Arva says:

      @zeinamoawad:disqus – If you do replicate it, you have your first buyer. I will do a free authenticity taste test for you ;)

    2. Zeina Moawad says:

      Challenge accepted. :-D Expect an invitation in the near future.

  4. Carmen says:

    You are so funny, Arva.
    Sounds like another reason to trek to Jordan.

    Reply
    1. Arva says:

      :) Sure is – A+ on the food in Jordan!

  5. IshitaUnblogged says:

    Good to read a post after a long time in one of my favourite blogs, Sizzler. This is so simple, but what the heck, so interesting! How can we replicate this at home, if going to Jordan is not an option?

    Reply
    1. Arva says:

      @ishitaunblogged:disqus – Great question hun. I need to get my paws on a box of wood chips before I can answer that… :)

  6. Zeina Moawad says:

    @disqus_O5XtJU4AiD:disqus- were the eggs baked with or without the shell? I have been reading that boiling, shelling and then smoking them yields a smokier flavor. I reckon if they’re cooked in the chips then it’s probably with the shell.

    Reply
    1. Arva says:

      Sorry for the late reply @zeinamoawad:disqus, the eggs were baked with the shell on!

  7. guynroh says:

    Hi Everybody,
    Who can assist? I saw a similar “egg” sandwich on foodnetwork.com. I’d love to make the Salahuddin Egg. (Is there another name for this type of cooking?)

    How are these eggs made? Recipes Please! Thank you.

    Guy

    Reply

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