Category: what I’m eating

  • Coffee Zone’s Baklava

    Coffee Zone’s Baklava

    These baked goods are worth the mess

    Baklava is a traditional Middle Eastern pastry made of thin phyllo dough, honey and walnuts. Coffee Zone Manager Issan Yanis says the restaurant used to make homemade baklava until it got too time-consuming to make on site, but he continues to make it at home for his family. He describes it as a “crunchy, sweet dessert filled with nuts.”

    The standard recipe Yanis uses requires individually stacked layers of phyllo dough, each brushed with melted butter. Then a filling mixture of finely crushed nuts, sugar and cinnamon is added before repeating the process on top. Baklava is pre-sliced before going into the oven at 350 degrees and baked until golden brown. A honey drizzle tops the dish to create a sweet, sticky finish.

    When baked, the phyllo dough puffs up and becomes delicate and crispy. Honey and crushed nuts add a candy-like sweetness similar to peanut brittle or toffee. Make sure to sit down and enjoy your baklava, as each bite comes with a sea of phyllo flakes. You’ll want to keep some napkins on hand.

    Osama Yanis, Coffee Zone owner and Issan’s brother, says he likes to eat baklava in the morning with a cup of coffee.

    — Claire Lardizabal

    Walnut Baklava | Coffee Zone | 449-8215 | 11 N. 9th St. | $2.80

    Source: Sticky treats in Columbia

  • Eat This: bleu’s Pork Belly Latte

    Eat This: bleu’s Pork Belly Latte

    The new fall menu at bleu includes a dish reminiscent of a Starbucks order

    Source: Eat This: bleu’s Pork Belly Latte

  • Make way for the Miami Bites and Big Cheeze food trucks

    Make way for the Miami Bites and Big Cheeze food trucks

    Whether you’re craving a grilled cheese or looking to step it up a notch with Cuban-inspired fare, Big Cheeze and Miami Bites food trucks have you covered.

    In the past two weeks, two new food trucks have entered the food scene in Columbia. Cuban-inspired Miami Bites and Big Cheeze’s traditional grilled cheese with a twist can be found on a corner near you.

    Source: Make way for the Miami Bites and Big Cheeze food trucks

  • Do the lampredotto

    Do the lampredotto

    Nina Mukerjee Furstenau's avatarPlated

    By Claire Lardizabal
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    FLORENCE, Italy—I took a deep breath and looked at the hot sandwich in my hands. Between a golden brown panino bun, smothered in parsley sauce, were the cooked innards of a cow stomach. I was about to take a bite of Tuscan street food, lampredotto.

    Beatrice Trambusti asked me if I wanted it spicy. Beatrice, along with her mother and brother, opened the Lupen E Margo food stall 30 years ago near Mercato Centrale. I said yes, but only a little, as she added a teaspoon of green chili sauce. Beatrice handed me my lampredotto in a convenient plastic wrap with extra napkins.

    Eating lampredotto standing up requires a certain grace. The local Tuscans stared at me as I tried to take a bite, then another, as chunky pieces fell to the ground for the pigeons to devour. I had to sit down to enjoy it.

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  • Granitas beat the heat

    Granitas beat the heat

    Nina Mukerjee Furstenau's avatarPlated

    By Claire Lardizabal
    image1 (2)

    FLORENCE, Italy— At the Mercato Centrale, stalls of purses, scarves and various trinkets surround the massive complex while inside local meat and produce vendors thrive. Upstairs, tourists and locals alike can also find the Arà: è Sicilia granita stand for a refreshing, sweet treat. The Sicilian granita is Italy’s own rendition of the slushy, made of sugar, ice and many flavors, but it holds its weight like a sorbet. Granitas can be found all over Italy, but are more popular in southern regions such as Campania because of warmer climates.

    The festive Arà stall can be found by the market’s interior stairway. The flavored shaved ice is made every morning and is stored in deep silver cylinders.

    Granitas can be served with a brioche or cream for an extra charge. Generous samples of coffee, lemon, almond, strawberry or cherry granita are given on neon plastic spoons. I…

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