A friend of mine introduced me to a Lebanese fast food, called Lahem Bi Ajeen (or Lahm bi'ajeen), earlier this year. Lahem Bi Ajeen are essentially open-face meat pies. They are made with a yeast leavened bread dough and topped with a spiced ground lamb mixture. It can be likened to a pizza, but the crust is much thinner and these meat pies are usually served folded in two. Condiments include cheese, lemon juice, and/or a hot sauce.

According to several reputable source, there are two really good places to purchase Lebanese Pies in the National Capital Region. One of them is Aladdin Bakery at 1020 St. Laurent Boulevard in Ottawa South. The other escapes me at the moment.

Aladdin Bakery is nestled in a strip mall with other takeout ethnic restaurants, but it seems to be the one doing the most business (translated: VERY popular). It also has a west end location at 1801 Carling Avenue. However, I've never frequented that location. Since it is closer to home, I'll have to rectify that sometime soon.

This said, the Aladdin Bakery on St. Laurent is a rather unassuming establishment. It has a very large gas-fired oven where pies are baked to order. In front of the oven is the sales counter with a cash and till. Facing the sales counter, on the right are refrigerated cased, filled with drinks and some Lebanese groceries like labne, which is a traditional yogurt cheese. On the left are palettes of fresh Lebanese pita bread, which is a staple for Lebanese meals. I've heard it said that no meal in a Lebanese household is complete without pita bread.

Trust me on this one, avoid pita bread from the mega-mart. Firstly, it's not the right size. It's far too small. Pita bread is meant to be torn (hence breaking bread), and used to envelop bite sized pieces of meat or vegetable. Secondly, Lebanese pita bread is softer, fresher, and tastes better. You won't get the same texture or flavor from "Mr. Pita." Though, I've been known to drizzle olive oil and sprinkle salt on mega-mart pita bread to make pita chips, but that's a whole other matter. Don't even try to make fatouch, a bread salad, with mega-mart pita bread. Though it bakes up crisp, it doesn't taste the same.

Aladdin specializes in pies. It serves several pies besides Lahem Bi Ajeen. These include spinach filled pies, vegetable filled pies, meat and potato filled pies, and Zaatar topped pies. The spinach filled pie is a sealed pie. Its dough looks a little thicker than the one used to make Lahem Bi Ajeen. Zaatar topped pies, on the other hand, use the same dough as Lahem Bi Ajeen.

Zaatar is a Lebanese spice mix. The word zaatar means "thyme" in Arabic. "Red zaatar" consists of thyme and sumac. "Green zaatar" consist of thyme, toasted white sesame seed, and salt. Though other additions can include savory, hyssop, oregano, cumin, and fennel seed. I'm not sure which is used on the pies.

I usually purchase two meat and cheese pies; three if I'm really hungry. The magic is the balance of meat to starch with every bite. The lamb mixture tastes of aromatics, spices, and a slight sourness from what might be tomatoes. The spices taste distinctly Middle Eastern, floral and warm, but not hot. The dough is crisp and crunchy from being freshly baked and served from an incredibly hot oven. The flavors and textures are incredible. My better half now insists on visiting the Alladin Bakery anytime we are in possession of a car.

Particulars:
South End Location
Aladdin Bakery
1020 St. Laurent Boulevard
(613)728-5331

West End Location
Aladdin Bakery
1801 Carling Avenue
(613)742-4244

If you want to try to make this at home, please remember that your oven won't get even remotely hot enough, which is why visiting a professional bakery every so often is necessary. Nevertheless, here are several recipes:

• Lahem bi Ajeen from elkhazen.org
• Lahem B'ajeen from Recipzaar.com (this recipe is supposed to be Syrian in origin)
• Lahm bi'ajeen from Suite101.com

If anyone can help me identify both the spices and their proportions for the lamb mixture, I would be very grateful!!! The closest I've come to figuring it out is: 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper, 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon, 1 tsp ground allspice, 1/2 tsp of ground black pepper, 1 tsp salt, and 2 tbsp of pine nuts. No pine nuts aren't a spice, but they help season the lamb, providing flavor and texture.