With a busier work schedule and moving, I haven’t had a chance to try a lot of new places recently. I was fortunate, however, to discover a new favorite appetizer. This is exciting for me because I usually always order an appetizer when I dine out, and I feel that the taste of the appetizer is an indication of how my entrée will turn out. In general, I have found that restaurants that serve well-prepared and tasty appetizers usually also serve delicious entrees. This discovery is no different. Though I had dined at the restaurant previously, and knew that it served delicious foods, this new favorite has solidified it as a go-to restaurant. Let me introduce you to kaddo, a dish of pan-fried then baked baby pumpkin seasoned with sugar and served on yogurt garlic sauce, topped with ground beef sauce.
This appetizer is served at Helmand in Cambridge, MA, an Afghani restaurant and one of my favorites of all time (I will do a more complete review at a later date). If I had the time and money, I would eat here at least once to twice a week. The times I have gone, I’ve always been sure to order the banjan , a pan-fried eggplant seasoned with spices, then baked with fresh tomatoes, served on yogurt garlic mint sauce, as my appetizer. The banjan is absolutely delicious. It goes excellently with the flatbread that is served, or alone. It’s so good that I wouldn’t mind just drinking it.
Now, thanks to one of my managers, I have discovered kaddo. We were having a conversation one day about Helmand, and she mentioned an appetizer to which she was absolutely addicted. My mind immediately went to the banjan, and I said, “the eggplant one?” She didn’t even know what I was talking about. She said, “no, it’s one that has pumpkin and some type of meat sauce. It’s amazing. My husband and I are addicted to it. When we go eat at the restaurant, we each order our own, and even take one to go. That’s how good it is.” She then pulled up the menu online and showed me the one she was talking about. I decided I had to try it.
I finally got the chance when my manager took me out to dinner. She immediately ordered the kaddo, two of them to be precise. When it came, I can honestly say that it did not look appetizing. It looked like mashed squash with a brown sauce on which someone decided to add a dollop of yogurt on top to try to make it look a little cheerier. However, my manager was really excited about it, so I dug right in. I was hooked after the first bite. It was delicious. The tastiness of the combination of flavors was unexpected. The pumpkin tasted like sweet potatoes. The meatiness of the meat sauce did not overpower the sweetness of the pumpkin, but created a flavor that’s hard to describe – I couldn’t decide if the meat sauce increased the tastiness of the pumpkin or if it was the other way around. Either way, it was a winning combination. The yogurt added an overall cooling effect, making it easier to take bigger bites, and bigger bites I did take. It was easy to eat, went down smoothly, and didn’t fill me up, leaving me plenty of room to consume my entrée, though I think I would have been happy just eating multiple orders of this dish for my entire meal, including dessert. Absolutely fabulous! I regret not taking an order home, but I now have more of a reason to dine at Helmand. I think on my next visit, I will just consume the banjan and kaddo as my meal.
Until next time, go get some kaddo!! =)
No comments:
Post a Comment