South Street Kitchen Hosts Palestinian Food Night To Raise Money For Medical Aid
South Street Kitchen is a non-profit community cafe and restaurant in the heart of Park Hill, that specialise in Middle Eastern inspired vegetarian and vegan cuisine. On Friday evenings South Street Kitchen open their restaurant for either its weekly Mezze night, or two weeks of a themed food night dedicated to cuisine from a particular Middle Eastern Country.
We’ve wanted to go to one of South Street Kitchen’s themed nights for a while, and recently we had the pleasure of attending their Palestinian night on December 1st. The evening was a little different than their typical themed nights, as South Street wanted to honour Palestinian cuisine and raise money for Gaza in this difficult time. Both evenings were held on the 24th November and 1st December and for every guest, £5 was donated to Medical Aid for Palestinians. We couldn’t resist an opportunity to try South Street Kitchen’s interpretations of traditional Palestinian dishes while also helping a great cause.
We started the night with a side of SSK’s olives to share and then ordered several dishes off the menu. We had the taboon bread with mutabal, herbed labneh and tapenade, the red shakshuka with a poached egg, musaka-roast aubergine, tomato and chickpea stew, savoury cheesecake with caramelised red onions and balsamic cherry tomatoes and finally the mushroom stuffed kibbeh. It was definitely a feast!
The savoury cheesecake was actually the only vegetarian dish we ordered, as everything else was plant-based. It was silky smooth and fluffy, almost like it had been whipped. It was a great deviation from sweet cheesecake, the mild creamy cheese complemented the sharper flavours of the sweetened caramelised onions and tangy balsamic tomatoes well.
In hindsight, I wish we’d chosen the roasted cauliflower shawarma, pine nuts and yeasted tahini over the musaka, simply because the tomato stew was very similar to the shakshuka tomato sauce. It would’ve added a bit more variety to our selection, but both dishes were hearty and rich in flavour, which was perfect for the chilly evening.
Our absolute favourites of the evening were the taboon bread with its dips and the mushroom stuffed kibbeh. Our host told us they’d had to change how they cooked the taboon bread, as it’s usually prepared over hot stones or in a clay oven, but they still managed to keep the soft, slightly puffy and chewy texture of traditional taboon bread.
It was honestly delicious, I’m a big fan of bread, especially when it’s soft and squishy, it went so well with the dips, they all stood out in different ways. Although the herbed labneh was vegan it had an almost buttery taste, while the tapenade was briny and slightly salty and the aubergines in the mutabal were garlicky with a hint of citrus.
The mushroom stuffed kibbeh were like a Middle Eastern mushroom arancini, crisp on the outside but with a more nutty, earthy flavour inside. Kibbeh’s typically made with a combination of spices, bulgar wheat and ground beef, but the chunks of meaty mushrooms were a great replacement.
Overall, everything was amazing, South Street has this way of giving off a homey, relaxed vibe even though it’s decorated quite industrial and minimalist, the delicious food just added to the cosy atmosphere. With regret we were much too full for dessert, but we spotted other tables trying the marzipan almond cake and fried stuffed qatayef, and they looked incredibly tempting.
In the end, South Street Kitchen raised £780 for Medical Aid for Palestinians, if you too would like to donate visit: https://www.map.org.uk
South Street Kitchen’s next themed nights will be in the new year, on Friday 5th and 12th January they’ll host an Egyptian night, creating a menu inspired by Egyptian dishes and flavours. In the meantime, check out their twist on seasonal favourites with their new Winter Feast Menu.
South Street Kitchen is situated on 19-20 South Street in Park Hill, 2 minutes away from Sheffield Train Station and 10 minutes from town.
The cafe is open 8:30am -16:00pm Monday- Thursday and 9:30am - 16:00pm weekends. On Fridays the restaurant is open for the Mezze evening menu and cocktails, 8:30am-23:00pm.
Words: Meisha Garvey