Spice up your life

It's now easy to cook ethnic food in a city like Helsinki, as long as you know where to go to buy the right ingredients. There are 2 main areas (and surely more, but we don't know them, yet) where you can find specialized groceries: Hakaniemi & Itis. Itis is probably the best bet, as most newer immigrants from the middle east live in the eastern part of the city. Indeed, there's a large choice among the many restaurants, bakeries or groceries in the area, mainly from Syria, Irak, Turkey, and a few other countries. And when we are there, we always go to Alanya grocery, to re-supply in spices. They probably have the largest choice of spices form all over the world (they have 2 shops: one in the Itis mall basement, the other one 200m away in Puhos, where most bakeries are located - and boy, the smell there!). So, to make a (little) middle eastern feast at home is easy peasy. 

Inside Alanya shop, with a whole wall full of spices in all shapes and forms.

So, to make Köfte (or Kofta, depending the country), we used organic minced lamb and beef 50/50, lots of finely chopped yellow onions and fresh coriander, a few table spoons of Köfte Baharati spice mix, a bit of lemon juice, salt and black pepper. Once mixed well, to the fridge for an hour or so to rest.

The Köfte are grilled on charcoal with specially designed turkish flat skewers.

And here we are. A little middle eastern feast at home.

The Köfte are served on a freshly baked bed of flat bread bought in a syrian bakery, with a thick turkish yogurt (seasoned with shredded cucumber, garlic, mint, lemon, bit of cayenne red pepper, and olive oil), sliced red onions, fresh coriander and pieces of lemon. On a side note, when you buy breads (there are lots of different varieties) in a bakery in Puhos, they're most of the time oven hot and ready to be eaten on the spot if you want to. A true delish to be experienced.

A taboule salad rich in herbs completes the menu. The wine (Tavel Rosé) is from France. This kind of wine is a great match for spicy food. Alternately, you can enjoy a turkish yogurt drink "Ayran", natural or mint flavored (a bit like piimä), sold as well in Alanya shop.

Turkish breakfast delight - Cafe Sabich

Back in october 2022, we ventured in Kontula to try a Syrian restaurant (see message below "Real Deal"). After that lunch, while strolling among the many ethnic restaurants, cafe and shops in the subway area, we did notice a turkish cafe -  "Cafe Sabich", who looked particulary interesting because 1. it was full of customers, which is always a good sign, and 2. because it does turkish breakfast. So, a few weeks ago, we decided to have a go and try it. For 9,50€ you get an omelette with turkish spicy sausage, turkish yogurt seasoned with spices, 3 different kind of cheeses, boiled egg, turkish cold cuts (beef salami & chicken kinda mortadella), tomatoes, cucumber, olives, butter, jams, turkish bread and tea. We did finnish the breakfast with a strong turkish coffee. At that price, you get an incredible value for money as the meal was full of flavors with fresh ingredients, a very friendly service and a super clean place. Easily on par with most breakfast you can find in city center and/or hotels, and at a fraction of a price. One last thing, they do breakfast all day long!

Real deal - Restaurant Tikke

We never go to Kontula as we have no business there. Sometimes when shopping in Itis mall, we venture outside to Puhos to buy middle eastern food, or eat in the many Syrian/Iraki/Turkish restaurants around. And that's all. Back in October, we were tipped by a friend about a restaurant near the Kontula metro station, as being probably one of the very best Syrian/Iraki grill house in town. Restaurant "Tikke" is less than 100m away from the metro exit, in what can be described as not the best looking area. The place itself is quite small - less than 10 tables. The interior is not specially good looking, with tables and chairs showing lots of wears and tears and not super clean. BUT, if you're brave enough and overlook all the flaws, you're in for a real treat. The food - mainly char-grilled meat on skewer - is to die for, at a price so ridiculous that it's almost on par with a meal at Burger King or Taco Bell (avoid the later like the plague as it's a pale imitation of what you can find in the US of A). They even baked flat bread in front of us the day we were there. As a sure sign of quality and authenticity, 99,99% of the customers were middle eastern people and families. So, if for you the food is more important than the setting, have a go and try restaurant Tikke. It's really that good. Real deal.

Taboule, hummus, spicy sauce & preserved peppers (as well as soup and tea) are included in the price.

And everything is homemade, including the bread.

2 types of skewers: spicy minced beef and marinated chicken, served on a bed of flat bread, with char-grilled tomatoes, chopped onions, fresh coriander and pieces of lemon. For around 12€/pers.

Turkish delight

 

When in the Puhos shopping center area, we visit regularly middle-eastern grocery "Alanya", where one can find all kind of products and ingredients from Turkey, Irak, Syria, Lebanon, and some other countries. Last time we were there, we found this turkish spice mix ideal for meat, döner, and above all for "kofte".

These turkish kokftes are made with minced lamb, chopped onions, a bit of  bred crumbs, a generous amount of "Et Baharati Tuzlu", chopped fresh coriander & parsley, ground cayenne for a bit of heat, a few drops of lemon juice and salt. When all ingredients are mixed together, the meat paste is put to rest in the fridge for a couple of hours. Koftes can be cooked on char grill which is the traditional way, or in a pan. We chose the 2nd option. The koftes are served the french way - yes it's possible: with fries. When sold in the Paris streets, they are stuffed in a half baguette with fries and spicy sauce on top (and the same goes for shawarma, döner kebab, gyros or merguez sausages). Absolute street food delish.

While in Puhos, we took the opportunity to make a stop at kurdish restaurant Kirkuk to buy a chicken shawarma to bring home. We've been a few times there, and their char grilled meat and skewers are quite tasty.

To go along, we had sliced tomatoes & onions, harissa sauce (which is not from Turkey but what the hell), fresh libanese hummus from Alanya (and it's made on site in the grocery itself) and pieces of lemon. Flat bread from an iraki bakery, and a few beers completed the meal. Yummi.