STEVEN KING
in 1991, specializes in Lebanese/Syrian bread. First of its kind in New England, Bay State Bakery owner Ayman Jaber opened his unique bakery on Millbury Street in Worcester. After years of quality goods and service, the bakery now resides in a new home located at 54 Rockdale St., which contains the stateof-the-art machinery used in baking enough bread to deliver to restaurants and chains of supermarkets all over New England. In addition to the bakery, in 2001, Jaber partnered with his cousin to start a store to sell a variety of Lebanese food, beyond the grain, and Baystate Shawarma and Grill was born at 86 Water Street. Outside the delicious, but accustomed to, breads, Baystate Shawarma can offer Lebanese tastes to those hailing from the Mediterranean and those who may find the Lebanese fare unusual. Shawarma, the obvious inspiration for the store’s name, is a gyro with shaved meat (typically lamb, beef or a mixture of the two), is just one of the many traditional items Baystate Shawarma and Grill offer. Falafel (fried balls/ patties made from ground chickpeas), stuffed grape leaves, hummus, shish kabob and grilled chicken all make an appearance as well. Jaber’s unique cooking also boasts a fatoosh salad (popular Lebanese salad of mixed greens, lemon vinaigrette dressing and pita bread), fried kibi (a fried roll stuffed with ground meat and spices), baba ghanouj (a spread made from ground eggplant, sesame seeds, olive oil, lemon and garlic) and tabouli (made of bulgur, finely chopped parsley, mint, onion and garlic, tomatoes, olive oil and lemon juice). To round off the vast menu, Baystate Shawarma and
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Ayman Jaber (pictured) and his cousin Ahman Jaber dish out Lebanese dishes such as Beef Shawarma plates (pictured here).
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LET US CATER YOUR HOLIDAY EVENT! IT’S A GREAT DAY FOR ICE CREAM
Cold Stone Creamery of Millbury Shoppes at Blackstone Valley 508.865.8165 OCTOBER 18, 2012 • WORCESTERMAG.COM
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