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11 MILE & LAHSER
Phone: 358-0850
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IRRIGATION
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18340 Middlebelt Road • Livonia, MI
(313) 476-1735 or (313) 477-6868
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IHMI1111111
12600 Newburgh Rd.
Livonia, MI 48150
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Till GiANINGRAM 2
3 1 3) 5 9 1 - 1 5 1 5
THE G.A. INGRAM CO.
48
FRIDAY, JULY-29, 1988
COOKING
Everything Is Under
Shlomo's Toronto Roof
GLORIA KAUFER GREENE
Special to The Jewish News
T
he first impression one
gets of Shlomo Izchaki
is that he is a very
friendly and knowledgeable
guy. Shlomo — everyone calls
him that — always seems to
have a warm smile and he ob-
viously loves to kibbutz, in
any one of three or four lan-
guages (or a combination
thereof).
But leave open one of the
hundreds of Plexiglas bins in
his Toronto bulk food empor-
ium, or put a scoop back in
the wrong place, and you
quickly discover another of
Shlomo's attributes — he is
meticulous when it comes to
his food store. In fact, he has
a strict rule for his employees.
"Anything that falls on the
floor must be picked up with-
in ten seconds?' he explains.
"It's important to me and my
customers that this shop be
kept as clean as possible. Ask
anyone who works here. I
can't stand it if I see even one
sunflower seed on the floor."
And sure enough, while
you're having an interesting
discussion with Shlomo about
one of his newest items —
such as the low-fat canned
peanuts that are half the cal-
ories of regular ones or the
sugar-free candy "gummy
worms" — he is absent-mind-
edly closing any open bins, or
adjusting scoops so that they
fit into the bins a little better,
or wiping up stray coffee
grounds around the coffee
bean grinder, or straighten-
ing Saran-wrapped pieces of
handmade pistachio candy on
the countertop. He never
seems to stop, except, per-
haps, for a few moments dur-
ing the conversation when his
eyes light up and he tells you
some incredible fact about his
store.
"I have 1,842 different
items," he proudly points out,
"in only 800 square feet of
space." And, he adds, as if it
isn't perfectly obvious, "I keep
everything very neat and well
organized?'
I met Shlomo last June
when my family and I were
having our third vacation in
Ibronto, Ontario, a city we've
come to love for many rea-
sons. Thronto is strikingly
beautiful, cool and breezy
when it is sizzling in the
states, and full of wonderful
places to take children. And
it also has a very active
Jewish community. When-
ever we go there, we always
visit the Jewish bookstores,
bakeries, grocery stores and
other shops.
We saw Shlomo's small
store for the first time one
evening after it had closed.
The window was emblazoned
with a huge orange and yel-
low plastic sun that had a
three-dimensional face. Un-
derneath were the words:
"Shlomo's Place Has Every-
thing Under the Sun!" Taped
on the door were sheets la-
beled "recipe of the week"
featuring exotic treats such
as "Meatballs Baked with
Sour Apricots and Prunes"
(see below), and a photo of
Shlomo himself, holding one
of his favorite dishes. A card
in the window described the
shop as having "Old County
Style Foods" and "Natural
Foods." I was intrigued.
Bright and early the next
morning I came back, p.nd the
affable Shlomo was there in
person to greet me. He agree-
ably chatted with me about
his store and himself. I was
especially curious about the
origin of the recipes.
Shlomo told me that they
were Jewish-Iraqi, based on
dishes his mother used to
make. "I was born in Iraq 43
years ago, but moved to Israel
with my family when I was
only a child of four;' he ex-
plained. "Even though I grew
up in Israel, I still prefer Iraqi
food. It's really wonderful."
In 1980, he moved to Toron-
to, a second home for many
other relocated Israelis.
If you're ever in Toronto,
you might want to stop at
Shlomo's Place at 975 Eglin-
ton Avenue West — to pick up
some snacks or just to have a
stimulating chat with Shlomo
Izchaki. Meanwhile, here are
some of his favorite "recipes
of the week" that he has
recently begun to give out to
his customers. I have adapted
them slightly, and occasional-
ly reduced the amount of salt.
Basmati rice — which is
eaten with almost all Iraqi
dishes — has a wonderful nut-
ty flavor. It can be found at
specialty stores (such as
Shlomo's), or you can substi-
tute regular long-grain rice.
SHLOMO'S STUFFED
CHICKEN (Tabeet)
This traditional Jewish-
Iraqi dish was a big hit when
Shlomo Izchaki prepared it on
the "Thronto Cooks!" show
last February.
1 medium-sized whole
chickeri
(approximately 4-5
pounds), cleaned
Continued on Page 50