The culinary journey
The pretty market town of Great Ayton might not be the first place you’d think of if you were in the mood for Middle Eastern cuisine, but if you’re up for a Sabrina Ghayour-type feast, this is the place to head for bowls of creamy hummus and baba ganoush, plump flat breads studded with toasted seeds, bowls of bejewelled yoghurt and pots of ruby tea.
Hamideh and Massoud Qafouri have been in the UK for over 20 years. In Tehran, Hamideh worked in the stock market and her husband was a textile engineer, before they sought asylum. They studied catering locally and discovered they had a natural talent in the kitchen - and ended up running a successful supper club in the town. They’d been living in Great Ayton for 15 years when a building came up for rent, set back just off the High Street, and they jumped at the chance.
As you walk in, there’s the warmest welcome, and the aromas coming from the tiny kitchen are tantalising; expect the likes of maast-o-khiar, similar to Greek tzatziki - velvety strained yoghurt with cucumber and mint, topped with dried rose petals served with squares of Sangak, whole wheat, leavened flatbread.
Each day they make a ‘special’, perhaps Gheymeh nesar: lamb stew over rice, shot through with orange zest, pistachios and almonds. The lamb is slow cooked for hours with spices including cardamom, cinnamon and saffron from Iran – the best you can get, according to Hamideh, whose mother sends it regularly from back home. The meltingly tender meat sits on a plate of rice that looks as if it’s had a handful of jewels cast over it, a delight for the eye as well as the taste buds.
Under glass by the counter are piles of homemade scones, brownies and flapjacks but when in Persia, only baklava will do – and here there’s a fabulous selection including cream-filled, chocolate and more traditional almond and pistachio – all soaked in syrup and super-sweet. With a pot of cardamom or ruby tea, they’re the real deal.