Merci Beau Coup, El Dayaa!!

I write with a lag. Always. I don't sit at a restaurant taking notes in the middle of a meal. And I don’t rush back from dinner or a trip and write about the blogworthy experience immediately. It’s all stored as a memory in the head and I typically take one or two months to finally get down to writing about it.

But 3 1/2 years is a huge lag. One that owes an apology followed by a good post. So here goes...

During my 3 months in Europe, I was based in Toulouse, France, a great place to eat no doubt. Its home to French classic Cassoulet, has a Sausage named after it, and is also the birthplace of the Entrecote steak. But being on a tight budget, I had to restrict my culinary adventures to times when I was travelling to different parts of Europe. When in Toulouse, my batchmates and I mostly cooked at home. Which is why all my posts from Europe were about the stuff I ate in Italy or Spain or Portugal. Maybe that’s how this one was missed out.

El Daaya is a Lebanese Cafe on Boulevard Lascrosses in Toulouse, right opposite ESC Toulouse, where I studied for a 3 month term, five minutes from where I lived. But this was not just any Lebanese restaurant. It was run by Lebanese immigrants and was frequented by Toulouse's sizable North African/Middle-Eastern community. The owners/cooks were a cheerful lot, knew a lot of their patrons by name and were always eager to entertain. We used to drop in for a mid-day snack and whenever we were too bored to cook.

The spread at El Dayaa was pretty huge. From the standard Shawarma to Keftaa and Kibbeh to the ubiquitous Hummus and Falafel and a never-ending list of salads, dressings and other accompaniments including the ever present Baba Ghanoush. But a favorite with the crowd were their sandwiches. These were wrapped in Durum Bread which resembled a large but thin Roti, like in between a Chapati and a Roomali Roti. And the fillings were....onions, Lettuce, tomato, Sauce Blanche (White Sauce), a spicy red Lebanese sauce called Harissa and your choice from the following: Shwarma/Keftaa/Kibbeh/Chicken Kebab/Falafel. And that’s not all. The sandwich always came with fries and you could choose to either have them put inside the sandwich or served by the side. An El Dayaa sandwich filled with fries could set you up for a day's hard work. What's more it was really, really good.

Shawarma/Doner Kebab places are everywhere in Europe and are probably the most common street food joints on the continent. So, it’s no surprise that I ate a lot of these sandwiches on my travels. Especially after I'd spent a bit too much on the last meal. I can remember Paris, Amsterdam, Munich, Barcelona and Rome, but I'm sure there were more. But none were as good or as elaborate as the ones at El Dayaa. During my last few days in Toulouse, I was bored of cooking and ate almost every meal there. No wonder, an ode was long overdue.

So, Merci Beau Coup El Dayaa, et je suis très désolé pour le retard!!