Dallas Morning News - Takeout: The Med on the move

03/19/2003

By Susan Taylor / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

Shine's Mediterranean Market is a gem of homemade comfort foods to go.

The combination grocery, deli and bakery opened on Preston Road at the end of October and keeps adding items to its takeout menu.

Many of the homemade foods are from Turkish recipes, but Armenians, Greeks and Lebanese will find similarities to their native foods, with some variation in spices.

Diana Maraslioglu; her husband, Sahin; and their two teenagers moved here last year from Argentina.

Although Ms. Maraslioglu learned to cook from her Turkish mother, she went to cooking school in Argentina for two years. She specializes in Mediterranean foods.

The take-home offerings include appetizers, unusual main courses, savory meat sandwiches wrapped in pita, and made-on-the-premises pastries – sweet and savory.

Many of the appetizers are exceptional, such as the homemade dolmas, or stuffed grape leaves ($8 per pound; about 12). The vegetarian version can be eaten cold, but the meat dolmas are best served hot.

Also try the cheese borek ($1.40), made with handmade pastry; meat pies filled with beef, currants and pine nuts ($1.40); and spinach pies ($1.60). Smooth hummus ($2.70 for 8 ounces) and thick baba ghanoush ($2.90 for 8 ounces) are satisfying without leaving you reeking of garlic as other versions do.

Meat sandwiches wrapped in pita bread with sauce and chopped vegetables stand up well to travel.

The kofte kebab (grilled spiced ground beef, $4.49) and chicken shawarma (marinated pieces of rotisserie chicken, $4.99) are excellent.

Take home a bottle of cherry juice for your meal. Shine's has bottles of individual servings in the refrigerator and large bottles on the grocery shelf.

Ms. Maraslioglu also makes main-course specialties that are difficultto find in this area, such as souborag ($14 to $17; feeds 8 to 10), a multilayered pasta-and-meat casserole, and manti ($7.50 per pound; feeds 4), tiny tortellini-like beef-filled dumplings served in broth.s

"The food is so good I'm not cooking anymore," says Susan Kirazian, who has lived in North Dallas for 20 years. She used to prepare her native Armenian foods but now finds many of her favorite dishes at Shine's.

The souborag is available frozen, layered with either meat or cheese. It takes 20 to 30 minutes to bake at 350 F.

Manti, which are sautéed in olive oil before being frozen, traditionally are served in chicken broth with a spoonful of tomato paste, a dollop of yogurt, some crushed garlic and a dash of sumac seasoning, says Ms. Maraslioglu. They're excellent in plain broth, too.

Be sure to bring home fresh pastries (50 to 75 cents each). Ms. Maraslioglu bakes baklava in different shapes with pistachios or walnuts. There's also a variety of other pastries.

The shop has a full selection of Mediterranean groceries such as bulk nuts, fruits, legumes, olive oils and canned goods.

Exceptionally friendly service makes it easy to shop at this wonderful new addition to the takeout scene in Dallas.

- Susan Taylor is a Dallas free-lance writer

Photocredit: EVANS CAGLAGE/DMN Staff Photographer; styling by JAMES FORREST/DMN Staff Designer; food styling by KAREN ELIZABETH WATTS/DMN Special Contributor

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