In the kitchen with Evan Lang

Evan Lang and his wife started Dishon Gluten-Free Bakery in New Jersey in 2022, tapping into the farmers market scene in a cottage capacity. Their business quickly outgrew what they could produce from their home, and they moved to a commercial baking space in Philadelphia, continuing with farmers markets, selling their bread wholesale and shipping online. As it turned out, unsliced bread ships well, and the business continued to grow. After moving to New Hampshire, the couple decided to devote their energy to a brick-and-mortar bakery instead of wholesale baking. Lang is the face of their new storefront, Dishon Bakery (915 Elm St. in Manchester, 600-1773, dishonbakery.com), handles day-to-day operations, and does all the baking. Dishon, named after a river in Israel, sells exclusively gluten-free bread and bagels.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

Definitely a bench scraper. It is not only a must-have for baking bread, but it is a great universal tool for all sorts of things like cleaning your workspace and transferring chopped ingredients from the cutting board to a pan or bowl. It makes working in the kitchen more efficient, and I love how it simplifies so many tasks.

What would you have for your last meal?

If it was my very last meal, I would eat things full of gluten. Since I have celiac disease and have been on a gluten-free diet for over 12 years, I would indulge in all of the things I haven’t been able to eat. Most likely I’d get a pizza and a hoppy beer.

What is your favorite local eatery?

We only recently moved to Manchester and don’t eat out often, but we did have a really good experience at the Foundry recently — I love the way the decor reflects the history of the city and the food was great. I’m sure we have lots of places to try, so I’m open to any suggestions.

Who is a celebrity you would like to see eating your bread?

Larry David. I just find him hilarious, and his candid, no-nonsense approach to life would make for a great conversation. I think it would be fun to see him enjoy something I’ve baked.

What is your favorite thing you bake in the shop?

I love baking breads that have seeds on them. Not only is the process of seeding the dough really fun (spraying down the dough balls with water and then rolling them in seeds) but I think bread that is covered with seeds bakes up really nicely and looks beautiful at the end of the process.

What is the biggest food trend you see in New Hampshire right now?

Tough for me to answer this one as well since we just moved to Manchester, but my first impressions were that there is a big push to use local ingredients here. I see local eggs, meat, dairy and beer in a lot of eateries. I think that’s really commendable.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

I love slow-roasted chicken — whether it’s a full chicken or chicken quarters, with simple seasoning, then slow roasted for three or four hours makes the meat so tender it just falls off the bone. It’s comforting and delicious, making it my favorite home-cooked meal.

Gluten-Free Financiers
From Evan Lang, Dishon Bakery.

1/3 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2/3 cup almond flour
4 egg whites
1/3 cup melted butter

Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a mixing bowl, combine the gluten-free all-purpose flour, powdered sugar, and almond flour, mixing until well-blended.
Add the egg whites to the dry mixture one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.
Pour in the melted butter and mix until the batter is smooth.
Lightly butter a muffin tin and spoon the batter evenly into the cups.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Allow the financiers to cool in the tin for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!


Loukanikos, souvlaki and gyros

Assumption Greek Orthodox Church in Manchester holds its annual Greekfest

If this weekend’s Greekfest has a theme, it is hospitality.

It is time for Assumption Greek Orthodox Church in Manchester to hold its annual festival of Greek food and culture. According to Costa Georgopoulos, President of the Parish Council and chairperson of the festival, the timing for the event has been carefully worked out. There are three main Greek church food festivals in the area each year, he said.

“In our Manchester community, we have St. Nicholas Church, which does their festival in June. And then there’s Glendi of St. George. They do theirs in September. And then we do ours in the middle of it. So it’s kind of special, because St. Nicholas does a one-day festival, we do a two-day festival, then Glendi wraps up the events with a three-day festival.”

“We coordinate with the churches,” Georgopoulos continued, “and it worked out really well for everybody. We don’t want to interfere with other churches. We do communicate with one another and make sure that each event is successful. We support them and they support us.”

The Assumption Greekfest follows a familiar tradition, sharing with the community.

“We serve Greek food,” Georgopoulos said, “our traditional Greek food and pastries and many, many other items for our locals and all our visitors that come in for our festival. It’s a showcase of our traditional Greek food, our Greek hospitality, and our multicultural event for our community.”

This Greekfest will feature several aspects of Greek culture, such as dancing, religious iconography, and Greek music played by a Greek DJ, but Georgopoulos said the big draw is the food.

“We provide a little bit of taste of [a Greek] experience,” he said. “But it’s really to enjoy our food. That’s kind of the main reason people come: to enjoy our traditional Greek dishes.”

It goes without saying that a centerpiece of any Greek food festival is lamb — in this case, lamb kabobs cooked on a rotisserie.

“We have a couple of machines that cook it on skewers and we serve it with rice and a Greek salad,” Georgopoulos said. “Then we have our roasted chicken with Mediterranean seasoning. We have stuffed grape leaves. And we have meatballs. We have our Greek meatballs that we make ourselves.”

Another Greek dish that guests can expect is pastichio, which Georgopoulos described as a sort of Greek lasagna. “That is ground beef with the Greek macaroni and our bechamel sauce. It’s like a creamy sauce that goes on top and it’s one of our specialties that goes very well.” There will also be loukanikos, a type of Greek sausage, souvlaki (marinated pork), and, of course, gyros — Georgopoulos’ personal favorite. “We have a gyro station,” he said. We have our gyro cones and we put it on a rotisserie and we slice off the gyro and serve it in pita bread. It’s a combination of beef and lamb. It’s a very hot item that goes very well during the festival.”

When Greek Americans talk about “pita” it isn’t always clear whether they are talking about pita bread, or a dish made with dozens of layers of crispy filo dough. The most familiar pita is spanakopita, made with spinach, feta cheese and eggs, but there will be a second pita at this Greekfest. “We also have a cheese pita without the spinach,” said Georgopoulos. “Some people don’t like spinach, so we have a little bit of a variety of that as well.’

For many Greek food fans, though, the highlight of any festival is the sweets.

“We make our rice pudding at the church,” Georgopoulos said. “We have loukoumades, which is the fried dough balls. We have a station for that as well. We have a big machine that drops the dough and people can see them cook as they order. They’re very popular. It’s funny because every town has their own little spin on them, depending on which part of Greece that you visit.” Other desserts will include baklava, finikia (Greek honey cookies soaked in syrup), kourabiedes (butter cookies) and kataifi (pastries made with shredded filo and honey).

According to Georgopoulos, it’s all part of the Greek tradition of hospitality.

“The Greek foods, the Greek religious items and hospitality, we provide a little bit of taste of that experience.”

Greekfest
Assumption Greek Orthodox Church, 111 Island Pond Road, Manchester
Saturday, Aug. 24, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday, Aug. 25, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission and parking are free. Visit assumptionnh.org.

Brews & eats

Breweries get the spotlight at Gate City BrewFest

The Gate City BrewFest, slated for Saturday, Aug. 24, at Nashua’s Holman Stadium, is Chelsea Davis’ brainchild.

Davis, the marketing manager for Bellavance Beverage Co. in Londonderry, used to travel to other beer festivals and discovered that it was a lot of work.

“What we realized,” Davis said, “is when we attended brewfests, it felt like we did a lot of the work with them — getting our different breweries there and just really trying to go above and beyond. So we thought to ourselves, ‘Why don’t we do our own?,’ which is how this came about, really. It’s really a showcase of all the Bellevance beverage products, plus some out-of-state breweries, some other breweries that are local that maybe self-distribute.”

“This is like my baby,” Davis said. ”The idea I had was 12 years ago, and now that it’s Year 10, it’s crazy — it’s older than all of my actual babies.”

“Each brewery needs to submit special paperwork, Davis said. “If you are a vendor and you want to sell food, there’s different paperwork to submit. … There are definitely a lot of moving parts, a lot of paperwork, and just making sure that everything is done by the book so that we can have a successful event and follow all the rules.”

Which is why she was so happy to turn that side of the BrewFest over to PAL. The Nashua Police Athletic League, or PAL, is the organization that benefits from the BrewFest. According to Jen Miller from the Nashua PAL, it is worth some work to be part of the festival.

“The Gate City Brewfest is in its 10th year,” Miller said. “We’re very excited, bringing out some special things specifically to help us celebrate this event. We have just close to 100 breweries, serving several brews each. So there will be lots of different samples available. The majority of the brewers are all from New Hampshire, so they are all locally sourced. And we have a lot of other really interesting beverages. We have hard cider, spirit-based seltzer, as well as a good selection of our non-alcoholic drinks for our DDs [designated drivers] and to stay hydrated on the field.”

603 Brewery of Londonderry is one of the local breweries. Parker Wheeler is the Director of Distribution and Sales for 603. He said the BrewFest is a good time for the brewers who attend.

“When they [Bellavance Beverages] come to us every year, we frequently say around the brewery that it’s one of the best beer festivals that’s put on every year,” Wheeler said.

He is looking forward to taking a variety of drinks to GateCity.

“We’ll bring two of our flagship beers,” he said, “which is the 603 IPA and the 603 double IPA. We’ll also be featuring our new non-alcoholic hop water, which is called Fizzy Hop. It’s essentially a sparkling water infused with hops and just a good opportunity for people to try out something if they’re looking to stay away from some alcohol and just get some refreshing hydration. We will also have a couple of our hard seltzer flavors. And then we have a VIP beer as well. That’s actually going to be one of our strawberry wheat beers that we just released recently.”

The Brewfest, which runs from 1 to 5 p.m., will also feature music (Bradley Copper Kettle and Friends, Slack Tide and Sippin’ Whiskey), kid-friendly activities (the Nashua PAL Kid Zone, face-painting, bounce houses and games), food and other vendors. The scheduled food line up includes Creative Cones, Crumbl Cookie, Donali’s Food Truck, Poor House BBQ and more, according to the website.

Folks only there for the food can get designated driver tickets for $15; children 12 and under get in for free. A VIP ticket, which runs $70, allows for a noon admission, a special seating area and light snacks.

Gate City BrewFest
Saturday, Aug. 24, from 1 to 5 p.m.
Holman Stadium, 67 Amherst St, Nashua, 718-8883
General admission tickets are $35 in advance or $50 at the gate. Designated Driver and Teen tickets are $15. Children under 12 are free. Proceeds support the Nashua Police Athletic League. Visit gatecitybrewfestnh.com.

The Weekly Dish 24/08/22

News from the local food scene

Dube Dogs bow-wows out: Dube Dogs, the hot dog cart near the Mill Girl statue on Commercial Street, has closed after 15 years. According to stories in the Union Leader and in Manchester Ink Link, owner Marc Dube held a final day of hot dog sales on Thursday, Aug. 15.

White tea tasting: The Cozy Tea Cart (104A Route 13, Brookline, 249-9111, thecozyteacart.com) will host a tea-cupping class and white tea tastingonThursday, Aug. 22, at 5 p.m. The cost is $30 per person. Registration is required.

Pig roast: New England Tap House Grille (1292 Hooksett Road, Store No. I, Hooksett, 782-5137, taphousenh.com) will hold its Annual Aloha Patio Party and Pig Roast Friday, Aug. 23, from 5 to 10 p.m. The whole pig on a spit will be ready to serve starting at about 5 p.m. Visit the Tap House’s Facebook page.

Happy birthday to brew: Great North Aleworks (1050 Holt Ave., Manchester, 858-5789, greatnorthaleworks.com) will celebrate its ninth birthday on Saturday, Aug. 24, from 1 to 7 p.m. with a birthday bash featuring a food truck, new beer releases and live music from the Upright Dogs.

The thrill of the grill: Chef Jarrett Parizo-Kellerman will serve a three-course tasting cooked outdoors in the Tuscan Courtyard (Tuscan Village, 9 Via Toscana, Salem, 912-5467, tuscanbrands.com) Sunday, Aug. 25, from 2 to 4 p.m. Tickets are $85.

Tiki for Two

Clearly, there is never a bad time for a tiki drink, but late summer might be the best time for brightly colored drinks with umbrellas. It takes almost no effort to throw together a tiki party. All you really need are the drink ingredients and a tropical shirt. Invite three or four other aging hipster couples over, mix the drinks, and the rest will take care of itself. Because the real theme of a tiki party is relaxation, you can go as fancy or laid-back as you want with the food. Delivery pizza works perfectly well.

(As a side note: I know it’s a contentious issue, but my feeling is that the problem with most pineapple pizzas isn’t with the taste or texture, but the temperature. Nobody in the world likes hot pineapple. Add it just before serving. Don’t bake it in a pizza oven; what did it ever do to you?)

Here are recipes for two classic tiki drinks, served in mason jars instead of tiki mugs, so you can see and admire them.

Suffering Bastard

  • ½ ounce fresh-squeezed lime juice
  • 1 ounce London dry gin
  • 1 ounce apple brandy – I like Laird’s Applejack
  • 2 dashes angostura bitters
  • 4 ounce ginger beer – when possible I use Goya brand, but Fever-Tree makes a good one, too

Fill a mason jar halfway with ice. Add the lime juice, gin, brandy and bitters. Screw the top on and shake for about 30 seconds.

Add the ginger beer and stir gently with a straw. Add ice to top. Garnish with fresh mint leaves.

Sparkling Mai Tai

  • ½ ounce fresh-squeezed lime juice
  • ½ ounce orgeat (almond syrup)
  • ½ ounce orange liqueur – I like curaçao
  • ½ ounce overproof black rum
  • ½ ounce golden rum
  • 4 ounce prosecco

Fill another mason jar halfway with ice, add all the non-prosecco ingredients, screw on the top and shake for 30 seconds. This should seem familiar by now.

Add the prosecco and stir gently with a straw. Add more ice to top. Garnish with mint leaves and a slice of lime.

You know how sometimes you go down a rabbit hole on the internet? One link leads to another, and before you know it you find yourself reading Ten Secrets Meghan Markle’s Chiropractor Doesn’t Want You to Know (Number Eight will shock you!). This happens to me fairly frequently. One story that I find myself reading again and again is the one of twin sisters who look completely different from each other. My memory of the details is fuzzy, but, the point of the piece is that despite being made from the same genetic recipe, the twins are surprisingly different. Think of these cocktails as the Internet Twins of Tiki Drinks. Although the method used to make them is more or less identical, the resulting drinks are worlds apart.

The Suffering Bastard is sweet and spicy. The lime ties the gin and brandy together, and the bitters pull the drink back from being too sweet. The ginger beer adds a kick of spiciness and some light carbonization.

The prosecco in the Sparkling Mai Tai adds sparkle, of course, but also a background fruitiness that plays well with the rum and almond flavors. It gives a lightness to the drink.

Featured Photo: Photo by John Fladd.

In the kitchen with Omar Abuzaid

Omar Abuzaid, owner of Al Basha Grill (379 S. Willow St., Manchester, 391-5613, albashamedgrill.com)

Surprisingly, Omar Abuzaid’s background isn’t in cooking, but accounting. One day, he got tired of life in a cubicle, so he and his family opened a Mediterranean market, and then a restaurant. Al Basha is his second restaurant. He has been in the restaurant business for six years at this point. Al Basha has been open since October 2023, and the restaurant has been busy. His goal is to introduce customers to a type of food that they probably did not grow up eating, with simple ingredients, and made with care, to order.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

As an ingredient, definitely good olive oil. With Mediterranean food, olive oil goes on everything. … If I don’t have good olive oil, it screws up a lot of my seasonings

What would you have for your last meal?

It’s something that unfortunately we don’t have in the menu. It’s a Moroccan specialty called pastilla. It’s a really nice dish that my mom perfected. We make it with both seafood or with chicken and it’s really amazing. It’s something we are definitely thinking to add to our menu. It’s very complex to make, but it’s a really nice meal.

What is your favorite place to eat in the area?

I love going to Fratello’s. I like Italian and I like their flavors, it’s really very nice.

Who is somebody you would like to see eating in your restaurant?

Donald Trump when he’s in town. We had Rudy Giuliani last year. He came with the whole group. And I missed him! … My assistant called me. He said, ‘You’ll never guess who was here.’ I looked at my phone and it was Rudy Giuliani.

What is your favorite dish on your menu?

Definitely the lamb leg. It’s a really nice meal, and our customers have been enjoying it. It’s been selling a lot.

What is the biggest food trend you’ve been noticing in New Hampshire recently?

In the last few years — not only Manchester, but Portsmouth, Manchester, Nashua — this area has become like a foodie destination. I used to literally wake up while I used to work as an accountant, and be so tired of the same old food. I would call a friend and say, ‘Hey, listen, you want to go to New York? I’m driving, I’m paying,’ and we’ll drive all the way to New York just to get something really authentic and nice. But now, over the last few years, I’m amazed by the selection of food in Manchester.

What is your favorite food to cook at home?

Tajine — it’s a Moroccan dish. It’s cooked very slowly and it’s something we enjoy cooking. We make it Berber-style. The Berbers are the indigenous people in Morocco. … They cook it in such a beautiful way. It’s so tender and so flavorful. Ours has lamb, and saffron, and couscous.

Tabouli with Quinoa
We make our tabouli with a little twist. We make it with quinoa instead of bulgar wheat, just because a lot of our customers either have gluten allergies or they have a gluten-free diet. So when we introduced the quinoa, people loved it.

1 cup quinoa, rinsed well
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt plus more
2 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
¼ to ½ cup thinly sliced red onion
1½ to 2 fresh tomatoes, cored, seeded, and coarsely chopped.

Bring quinoa, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 1/4 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until quinoa is tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
Drizzle the olive oil into the lemon juice, whisking until it has combined. Season with salt and pepper. Mix half the dressing with the cooled quinoa. Set aside for half an hour.
Mix the tomatoes, parsley and onion in a bowl with the quinoa, and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with the remaining dressing.

Stay in the loop!

Get FREE weekly briefs on local food, music,

arts, and more across southern New Hampshire!