Heddy`s

Thirty-Five Manchester Branch members and guests enjoyed an informative and entertaining Sunday lunch and demonstration at

Heddy's  Middle Eastern  and Mediterranean restaurant in Wilmslow, Cheshire.

This well established Mezzeh Bar and restaurant has won high accolades for its authentic cooking influenced by Armenian cuisine. Specialising in Mezzeh, fish, charcoaled meats and couscous dishes it has a wide range of dishes on the menu coupled with an interesting and extensive wine list.

The Middle East includes the region formally known as the Fertile Crescent, which is the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, where wheat was first cultivated followed by barley, pistachios and dates. Here fermentation was first used to leven bread. A crossroad between Europe  and Africa, it is no wonder that we have so many different foods from the area. During the Persian Empire the foundation was laid for modern Middle Eastern food, which is due to the population being  predominantly muslim, is usually based on lamb and vegetable dishes.

Our host and Chef at Heddy's  is appropriately from Tehran.I  spent a number of years living in the area and experienced a great deal of Middle eastern dishes at a time when the majority in Europe generally knew little about the range and delicacy of the dishes available. I wasn't an immediate fan of the food in the Middle East but got 'hooked' eventually.A favourite was Masgouf a traditional fish dish cooked on an open fire eaten on the banks of the Tigris river in Bagdad. Travelling for several years across every Middle Eastern country, while sampling the cuisine, was not the main objective of my travel but experiencing the food was obviously unavoidable. I mention this because I have gained some experience of Middle eastern dishes and the food served at Heddy's is by design simple to prepare compared with some Eastern dishes, but the menu is excellent and a good example of the style and taste of Middle Eastern cooking.

On arrival at Heddy's a glass of Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Casa Vittorini  was very welcome on a late October afternoon.

Our host Haidar (Heddy) Ghazizadeh, the owner and Chef, prepared 'before our very eyes' the dishes for lunch.

To begin we had two aubergine dishes cooked in different ways. Mutabel...Grilled, lightly smoked aubergines, tahini, spices and olive oil, then Baba Ganoush...Smoked aubergine, pepper, onion. tomato and garlic, dressed in olive oil, lemon juice and a touch of paprika. Plenty of questions came from the group.

Next came Devilled chicken livers cooked with paprika, Worcestershire sauce and served with mixed salad and pitta bread. These were accompanied by a glass of Fuente Milano Verdigo esp. 2014.

The main dish was Chavourma, a lamb fillet marinated in spices, simply grilled and served with rice. This was served with Chateau Musar Hochar 2009 and we finished with Valpolicello Classico, 'Campoliete' Ripasso, Luigi Righetti 2011.

Sadly during my years of travelling. an accompanying glass of wine with the food was not possible!

Ron Cowley

Chairman