Zeugma, Sheffield

Zeugma is a proper ocakbaşı, a Turkish grill house. It's a small, basic but welcoming restaurant where people come to feast on meat. There are other bits and pieces; salads, dips, stews and pide, but these are really just an overture to the thrill of the grill, which sits in pride of place in full view at the heart of the restaurant.

Our snacky things were an excellent precursor to the kebabs. A generous basket of fresh bread arrived with a dish of little salty olives and gherkin slices, all complimentary and sufficient enough to comprise a starter if you're not being greedy.

We were being greedy, so plates of halloumi and hummous were added to the mix. I can't quite put my finger on why halloumi is such a good thing, but it is. On paper chewy cheese conjures up thoughts of cheese strings or some other horrible, processed muck. In practice halloumi manages to be chewy yet delicious. This had a really more-ish salty sweet flavour to complement that satisfying but slightly strange texture, and worked a treat with the pickles.

Hummous was the best I've eaten in a while, a bit grainy but otherwise creamy and nutty and essential scooping and mopping goodness for the bread.

Iskender kebab was a dreamily calorific concoction of buttery bread smothered in tomato sauce, charred minced lamb kebab slices, smoky grilled peppers and tomatoes, and yoghurt as good as any I've had in a long time. Yoghurt so smooth, creamy, tart and fresh I'm seriously considering calling the restaurant to find out who their supplier is.

The Iskender was a winning combination, but a very rich one, so sharing something a little less full on made sense. Chicken shish was a more staid proposition but still a very accomplished plate of food. Standard Turkish plating of rice, bread, grilled veg and salad, but done well and with wonderful generosity. 

We finished with tea, Turkish for me and apple for A, which was served with a couple of cubes of Turkish delight, a nice touch to end the meal.

Service was swift but we weren't in the least bit rushed even though the place was full. £45 including service for all of the food and a couple of beers. Highly recommended.


9/10

146 London Road
Sheffield
S2 4LT

http://www.zeugmaiki.co.uk

Good things to eat [Volume 12]

Here are a few more things I've been eating lately, including some particularly fine bread and cheese that's worth seeking out.

Ogleshield cheese

Let's kick things off with the cheese. Ogleshield is a washed rind cow's cheese, and it's an absolute bobby-dazzler. It's got that penetrating, lasting intensity of flavour you only get from cheese made with unpasteurised milk. Very smooth and quite dense in texture, it melts slowly on the tongue releasing wave after wave of tangy, almost wine-like flavour.

I've eaten it with apples, on bread and toast, and grated into a mushroom risotto as an adjunct to the parmesan. Every which way was a winner.

A quick google search told me that it's made by the Montgomery family in Somerset, the same people who make my beloved Montgomery's cheddar. I have no doubt that they are among the finest cheese makers in the land. Marvellous stuff.

The Lincolnshire Poacher stall at Sharrowvale market sells Ogleshield, as will any Neal's Yard Dairy stockist. If you're in the North-West (or Ilkley) give Booth's a try.

http://www.nealsyarddairy.co.uk/cheeses/Ogleshield.pdf

http://www.lincolnshirepoachercheese.com/


Sabra Hummous

I finally found a good brand of hummous that's readily available in the supermarket. Spend any time in the Middle East and British supermarket hummous will forever be a disappointment. But it's just mashed up chickpeas, oil and tahini you say. No, no, no. The really good stuff is smooth and light, and lemony and nutty, and delicious and really, really bloody more-ish. The rubbish stuff is dull and dense and grainy and boring.

You can get this in Sainsbury's and while it's not absolutely top notch it's a far better effort than the norm. Having looked at the ingredients I think the key to good hummous is probably more tahini and oil, and fewer chickpeas. We all know fat equals flavour after all.


Seven Hills Bakery bread

Alongside the aforementioned cheese, bread from the Seven Hills Bakery stall was the best thing I bought at the Sharrowvale market on Sunday. A quick word on the market: it's excellent, with a good range of stalls on the food front (cheese, meat and especially cakes are well represented) covering all bases the only exception being a complete lack of fruit and veg. It was busy without being overbearing and the atmosphere was fantastic. Highly recommended.

Seven Hills Bakery have a shop on Sharrow Vale Road, but also set up a stall out front on market days. Their Sharrow sourdough is the best bread I've eaten in ages. I can't find the words to describe precisely what makes it so good, it's just got that magical combination of taste and texture. You'll have to try it for yourself to see what I mean. It's pictured at the top of the post with the cheese, and above, toasted with my porky beans.

Although way past its best for eating as it is, five days on it's still toasting beautifully. I will be back for more.

376 Sharrow Vale Road, Sheffield
http://www.sevenhillsbakery.co.uk/


Watkins Mushroom Ketchup

I'd like to continue the Sheffield love-in here and talk about Henderson's relish, but the truth is I'm not a big fan of the stuff. It's touted locally as some sort of magical elixir, a wonder condiment far superior to Worcestershire sauce to be applied liberally on all manner of foodstuffs. Sorry, to me it's the other way round, Henderson's just tastes like a crapper version of Lea and Perrin's.

A new and exciting sauce I have discovered however is mushroom ketchup, which is rather like a super-mushroomy Worcestershire sauce. Adding fungal depth to whatever you put it in (having just read what I've written I'm not sure 'fungal depth' is really an appropriate descriptive, but never mind) I really like this stuff. So far it's gone in a mushroom risotto and the porky beans I've just had for tea. There will be many more uses for it.

Widely available in supermarkets.