Chefs spice up food tours

Moving through the tightly packed Sevan's Bakery here in Watertown - home to a large Armenian population - chef Ana Sortun holds up a small bag of dried mint, explaining its many uses - such as sprinkling on just-roasted meats, or folding it into thick, creamy Middle Eastern yogurt, commonly used in a variety of Mediterranean dishes.

The tour group soaks up every word uttered by Ms. Sortun, nominated for a James Beard Award. They move as a pack as she steps deeper into the store, past the displays of olives, dried fruits, and nuts, and into the bakery's stainless steel kitchen, where they sample three varieties of feta cheeses - French, Bulgarian, and the newly arrived Turkish feta, all with slightly different tastes and textures.

Margaret Chavushian, the bakery's owner, swings through the door with a tray of soft mounds of red lentil kofte. Hard bagel-like breads and flat crackers with spread Za'atar - a dry mixture of summer savory and sesame seeds - are passed hand to hand. Murmurs and nods of approval travel through the group. Quickly, the tray is bare and smiles abound.

This Saturday morning lesson in yufka pastry, lamejun, kibbeh, and haloumi cheese is an example of the latest way for chefs to connect with clientele clamoring to get up close and personal. Unlike traditional walking tours, which are often led-to-a-chef, Sortun's version is chef-led.

Moving out of the kitchen and back into the shop, Sortun, who is of Norwegian descent, stops at the display of frozen goods and points out a number of delights such as Egyptian mantee - tiny baked ravioli-style dumplings that are traditionally cooked in chicken broth; boxes of lamejun - delicious pizzalike snacks that can be warmed in the oven or on a griddle; and yufka pastry, which can be wrapped around cheese and then fried.

Serious about her passion for Middle Eastern food, Sortun, chef-owner of the award-winning Oleana Restaurant in Cambridge, Mass., exudes both confidence in her knowledge of this cuisine and appreciation for the goods displayed in this tiny corner market.

"I think sometimes there's a curiosity that people have about how chefs find their ingredients," says Sortun. "People think there's some kind of secret, when really, we're shopping the same way [as home cooks]. We're just looking for something that inspires us, that looks good that day.

"For me, Watertown is really a special place," she adds. "I can't get the ingredients they have there anywhere else. I can't find the labne or the yufka pastry at a lot of different places, so I rely on them for the kind of food I use [in the restaurant]."

The students file out of Sevan's and cross the street to Arax Market, a Lebanese and Armenian grocer, where the sights and smells change dramatically.

An earthy, sweet aroma prevails, wafting from the piles of fresh produce displayed in cardboard boxes stacked on the floor. To one side is a wall filled with clear bags of exotic spices, to the other side are open bins of pickled vegetables and cured olives.

In the back corner of Arax are piles of flour, grains, rice, lentils, and couscous, shelved near stacks of immense pita breads, which are routinely prodded and tested for freshness by the store's regulars.

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