At Aladdin Cafe, it’s common to have difficulty choosing a meal to eat. After all, all of our dishes use only premium quality fresh ingredients for recipes crafted by the top chefs in San Diego, with each meal igniting your palette thanks to our bold flavors. To make your meal choice a bit easier the next time you stop in for a bite, check out these three flavorful dishes that our customers can’t stop raving about.
It’s safe to say you haven’t experienced real pizza until you’ve tried Aladdin’s Pizza. Our signature pizza starts with our homemade dough that we lather in a sauce that includes over 12 flavor profiles. Our sauce features a blend of herbs and spices that include thyme, oregano, sesame seeds and a helping of extra virgin oil. We finish off this artisan pizza with a topping of fresh Roma tomatoes and some feta cheese. The result is a scrumptious pizza that has a satisfying crunch while also melting in your mouth. If you’re looking for an extra boost of flavor, add some marinated chicken or beef pepperoni. Whether it’s for a table of one or an entire family, Aladdin’s Pizza will leave your whole party with a full belly and a warm smile.
Shawerma finally hit the big time in 2012 thanks to a hilarious post-credits scene in Disney’s “The Avengers.” Whether you’ve been wanting to try shawarma since seeing that scene in the theaters or you’re just looking for a delicious piece of meat, our lamb shawarma is one of the best. The star of this dish is the marinated strips of lamb and beef, grilled to perfection on a vertical spit. We serve our shawarma with an array of sides that compliment the meat, including our homemade tahini sauce. Alongside the tahini sauce is a side of hummus, a delicious mixture made of garbanzo beans, tahini sauce, fresh garlic, lemon and olive oil. We top off the meal with a plate of Lebanese salad along with a delicious slice of piping hot pita bread fresh from our oven. Not to mention lamb shawarma calories are low and healthy.
With two skewers of mouth-watering food with each order of the koufta kabob, this meal makes the perfect dish for a date night. However, it’s also an ideal choice for one famished customer! On each koufta kabob is a delicious tower comprised of ground beef and grilled onions which are both smothered in parsley and our signature seven spices. While these kabobs are delicious enough on their own, we also add in a generous serving of basmati rice. Basmati rice differs from your average rice thanks to its slender and long grains, which give it a unique look and texture. You’ll want to save some room for the rest of the sides that come with this meal such as hummus, tomatoes and Lebanese salad. Like the majority of our entrees at the Aladdin Cafe, you’ll also receive a fresh piece of delicious pita bread with your koufta kabob dish.
It’s possible to trace the history of a region through its food. Every culture in the world has started with the foods that are native to their homeland, but their diet expands every time that they meet another culture. The two cultures mix, they take the best things from each other’s cuisines, and they create things that are entirely new. Middle Eastern food is no exception that that rule, and it reflects that area’s history as both the birthplace of civilization and the point where European and Asian culture met.
The Fertile Crescent
The history of the Middle Eastern diet starts with the great cities of the Bronze Age that rose between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The area’s cuisine has changed a lot since then, but many of the core elements were already in place. The region’s farmers were the first to grow wheat and barley, but they also grew figs and dates. Legumes, such as lentils and garbanzo beans were popular as a source of protein. They had a reasonably healthy diet, which was dominated by vegetarian food due to the economics of the time, and that diet forms the basis for modern Middle Eastern Food.
Crossroads of the World
The Middle East is in a unique position, since anybody who wants to travel between Europe and East Asia on foot needs to cross through it. That turned the region into a center of trade and cultural exchange, and it was that cultural exchange that allowed the Bronze Age diet to transition into modern cuisine.
Rice and many of the fruits that are popular in the Middle East came about as a result of trade and war with Asia. In particular, many of the spices that became associated with Middle Eastern food came from India. European contact introduced several vegetables into the region, and native agricultural innovations made meat such as chicken and lamb cheaper and more popular. Vegan food was still popular and a major part of most people’s diets, but most of the area’s popular meat dishes can be traced back to the periods of trade during the Classical and Medieval periods.
The Modern Middle East
Food never stops changing. Modern technology makes it easier than ever for people to travel and communicate, and that has helped to spread Middle Eastern cuisine all over the world. Hybrid cuisine, like pizza that includes traditionally Middle Eastern foods as toppings, are available now, but they would have been impossible even a century ago. The diversity of Middle Eastern food has made it popular with corporate catering services as well as catering for individual parties, and its adaptability means that even though this cuisine has been around for thousands of years, it will be popular for thousands more to come.