It's October and you know what that means:
Peacock unlocks all that good good shit. All those Universal Monsters, all those Hitchcocks, all those Chuckies, all those... Well, I've heard only one person say anything good about the new Halloween, but... And then you've got OG Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Tremors. It's straight up fun time over here at Bully HQ.
But sometimes, it gets a little late to watch a movie and you scroll through what's out there and you come across Easy-Bake Blast-Off or whatever the fuck, a cooking competition show hosted by Antoni from Queer Eye, which is OK, I guess. I mean, I liked Ted. He was my food guy. He's from Ohio. Nothing wrong with Antoni, I'm just a bigger fan of Ted.
Anyway, we wind up watching that and this woman, Eman, comes on to compete and she's talking about her Kurdish culture and her dishes look...
... and I get curious and I look up Kurdish food and I find a place over in the Concord-Robert neighborhood of Saint Paul (marking our first Concord-Robert entry) called Babani's and it's the first Kurdish restaurant in the United States and for the last fucking week, Kath has been on the verge of a nervous breakdown because I won't stop talking about fucking Babani's. I even made this poor woman sit through a video about Little Kurdistan in Nashville.
... and I get curious and I look up Kurdish food and I find a place over in the Concord-Robert neighborhood of Saint Paul (marking our first Concord-Robert entry) called Babani's and it's the first Kurdish restaurant in the United States and for the last fucking week, Kath has been on the verge of a nervous breakdown because I won't stop talking about fucking Babani's. I even made this poor woman sit through a video about Little Kurdistan in Nashville.
And then there's today.
The day.
We're going to fucking Babani's.
I just have to do my Russian homework - forty one years old and I have homework again - while I do the laundry and watch Psycho II.
Why Psycho II? Because Meg Tilly.
Not really the only reason but a very good reason.
We're a two-Tilly household. There's no conflict. It's not even a controversy. Kath crushes on Jennifer Tilly in Seed of Chucky and I crush on Meg Tilly in Psycho II.Anyway, we finish up our respective chores and head out for one errand and then? Babani's for lunch. A lunch I'm still full from.
We get in there and the woman who just unlocked the doors - we showed up fifteen minutes before opening but that was actually just circumstantial, not because I'm nuts - took our order. I got us a large hummus appetizer and Kath ordered the Kubay Brinj with a side of Dowjic and I ordered the Kubay Sawar with the side of Jaajic and, yeah, I know you want to know what that's about, hold your fucking horses, I'm getting there.
Starting with the hummus... The hummus came beautifully arranged on a plate with whole chickpeas in the middle topped with olive oil and paprika and garnished with cucumber and tomato. There was a plate of (had to be) oven-fresh (had to be) bread with it that was so airy, fluffy, and spongy on the inside that, on the way home, I said the dorkiest thing I've said yet this week: "It was like heaven with a crust on it."
Kath was confused by her - looking at the menu now, it turns out she got soup instead of salad - and thought for a minute that my Jaajic was her Dowjic. Hers was a blend of chicken, yogurt, rice, basil, and lemon juice which, while it tasted great (I tried a spoonful), did look just like a cup of miso. Maybe there was more to it than that. My Jaajic was cucumber, dill, and garlic in yogurt, which yes, is essentially tzatzki.
My favorite condiment. You know I'm going to fight my partner to keep a bowl of this.
As I'm eating it, I come across the realization that, hold up, jaajic - pronounced "zha-zhíc"... that's...
Oh, my god.
Oh, my god, it's real!
I've found it!
I have found my justification for eating tzatziki as its own stand-alone dish! I have found the cultural justification for eating it out of the tub with a spoon! To the Kurds, this isn't a dip! This is a salad! Finally! Sandwich Bully can go out on a happy ending! (Aside from the one or two left I probably have left in the tank.) I can eat tzatziki with a spoon and none of you unloved bastard children of penniless whores can stop me! I'm ALLOWED!
But, you know, getting serious again...
Kubay Sawar is a beef dumpling using wheat flower and Kubay Brinj is the same thing but with rice flour. Each order came in six pieces. Kath tried one of mine and I tried one of hers. The fried rice dough had a popcorn shrimp texture to it but otherwise it tasted just as sweet and savory as mine, though mine I felt had a more pronounced cardamom taste. I couldn't taste every little thing in the spices they used - which gave my dumplings a well-balanced sweet & savory flavor but I could definitely detect the peppery citrus of cardamom.
Each order of dumplings was six-a-piece and Kath and I remarked afterward how full we were for how small the serving size appeared. We ate like two hours ago and I'm still full.
Also, just a heads up, this place is pop-u-lar. As I said above, we got there fifteen minutes before the doors opened. Within twenty minutes of opening, there was a five-top and two two-tops so, if you're going to go (and I'm telling you to go) go early. And give them your money. The price tag wasn't unreasonable. Two entrées (US$15 each) that come with soup or salad, one large app (US$8), and a twenty five percent tip (based on both the exquisite food and the attentive service) set me back fifty one beans. When you can spare it (because I know times are tough for everybody right now), go drop some money on Babani's.
Honorable Mention: Tono, 23 October 2022
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