ottawa foodies

a middle eastern spice made from dried cherry seeds, sour and nutty, used primarily in breads. So far I'm coming up empty asking in mid east stores.
more @ www.theepicentre.com

If you feel comfortable with ordering online, there is Zamouri spices www.zamourispices.com and they appear to have "Mahleb" among their spice list.

Thanks for the link, Lf. Zamouri is new to me and does have it and a whole lot more, including merquez sausage spice blend, mmm-mmm.
I'll keep looking locally but may have to resort to Zamouri which is 3 or 4 x's the cost locally before shipping for the things I looked at, BUT they have mahlep which may not be found here.

Just wondering if I might find it at a Turkish food store - does anyone know of any store in Ottawa specializing in Turkish foods? I know of restaurants but any foodstores in someone's neighbourhood?

Andy I live downtown but I can't think of anywhere here off the top of my head that can help you out. However have you tried the Sultan's Supermarket in South Keys? Or the Mid East Food Centre on St. Laurent? Good luck with the search.

Sultan doesn't have it; I had hoped to make it to Mid-East on the weekend but didn't - hoping for this weekend as they havv eother stuff I want (like fresh filo).
I'm sure I have heard of a Turkish store in Ottawa but so far no hits w Google.

Would you be thinking of Istanbul Gourmet Foods Istanbul Gourmet Food ?

I didn't know if that was what I was thinking about, Pasta lover, until I checked the location and the bells rang loud & clear - Lincoln Fields - yes! Good work - thanks very much! So a visit to the west is in order asap, including Kettleman's, Rainbow Foods, the Istanbul,....maybe an Indian dinner further west...

Thank you, Pasta lover.

No problem! I had also tried googling it and turned up nothing. So I logged back into ottawafoodies and typed in "turkish" in the search field and there it was. Good luck with the shopping it sounds like you have a fun trip planned.

I wiki Mahleb to see what it was, but I'm curious what you are going to use this for? bread? cookies? are there other uses?

TiaMaria, I've come across recipes that call for it and had never heard of it; it sounds like it might have an interesting flavour and I am curious to know it. As I bake all our bread I am particularly interested in breads and this "Qurban" recipe at desertcandy.blogspot.com is one I want to try. I also have a recipe for Mahlep Cake (at www.yogurtland.com ) that looks quite promising - not real fancy-looking but it might be pretty tasty.
One of the blogs I read - www.turkishcookbook.com/ (by a Turkish Canadian in TO) has a number of recipes using mahlep.
My own roots are firmly planted in western Europe, not Turkey or anywhere in the mid-east, though I seem to have a liking for the flavours of lots of what I eat that originate there. Mahlep is just one of many that I haven't tried.

Have you tried the Iranian grocer, Arya, on Gladstone and Percy? There are a lot of commonalities in food ingredients in Turkish, Armenian, and Iranian cuisines... If you don't find mahlep, at least you can pick up some dried baby figs...they are divine when soaked in milk!

I asked my mom if she had ever heard of Mahleb ( we are Lebanese), she said that to her Mahleb is a spice most common in a yogurt-like drink. I don't know why but I visualized it looking like Kefir. She also said that she may have come across it in Toronto, but not Ottawa though she wouldn't be surprised to find it at the mid-east on Belfast. By the way those recipes look divine, you have inspired me so the hunt is on!

Thanks for that info, schtickyrice - I hadn't heard of Arya so I'm happy to know of them and will check them out.
I did make it to the Istanbul - it may be a little hard to think of it as a gourmet food store as it's pretty small and doesn't have the greatest selection of stuff (no baked goods) but it does have a few cheeses (mostly feta) and some sausages (I bought some spicy sujuk to try) and it does have mahlep, but only the powdered form, which I bought. Also picked up some Greek thyme honey to make some baklava for Xmas, some hot red pepper paste and something else, I forget. They also have ajvar (yum!) and other stuff I'll have to try. Not going to get a whole lot of help from one of the fellas working there I suspect (though he was keen on the pepper paste) as he wondered what the mahlep was used for.
Anyways, gotta try the mahlep soon, not today - gotta get back to making stollen.
Thanks all for the help and tips! And TiaMaria, you are lucky to have your mom as a resource - make good use of what she knows!

I revisited this subject because of a request for mahlepi via twitter.com . It turns out that Mahlab is listed as one of the available products on the Mid-East Food Centre's website!

You're right FF, and they have both the whole and the ground mahlab (the spelling they use).

Andy, I've got a tin of unground mahleb that I picked up at Epices de Cru in Montreal and used once. I'd be happy to pass it on, though it's a couple of years old now...

Thanks for the offer Travelicious, but I have a tub of the mahlab pits that will last me a while. Maybe someone else might be interested in your offer?

Another good place for spices in the west end is the Al Kalaa Mini Market at Claire and Kirkwood. Don't know if they have this one, but it's one place that I would check.

TiaMaria: I am almost sure there is a mix up with sahlep, which is a hot thick winter drink.
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