Friends. Just a quick message before I hop on the plane to Qatar and Malaysia. It's Monday morning now, my suitcase is open beside me and I'm quickly eating a bowl of yoghurt while writing this article. Anyone who thinks I start every morning with shakshuka, manakeesh za'atar or idli and masala chai is – unfortunately – mistaken. Much more often I'm just hard at work grinding away.

Don't forget to follow me on Instagram, which you can do via this link. That's actually where it sort of really happens. I'm going to bore you lot with stories from paradise!!!

And, so as not to just leave you with nothing, here in this lovely country, I am going to share something with you...

Syrian shawarma in Amsterdam

You can't have missed the Syrian eatery in Rotterdam... You can find the video here and the article Here.

But what do you do if you live in Amsterdam and also really fancy Syrian shawarma with toum, salted gherkin and many other flavours? Do you catch the IC Direct? I wouldn't consider that over the top, but then again, sometimes you don't have the time or energy.

And from now on you just hobble over to Tigris & Eufraat at Javastraat 20 in Oost. Because. This:

Do you see those juices? You could already get tasty falafel and batata chap here (tasssssty – read here more) but now a super tasty chicken shawarma roll...

With this included:

A dollop of toum (= garlic + lemon + oil and a pinch of salt) :

Toum & lemon

The wrap is lovely and crispy; it’s cooked over the flame of the shawarma grill, then filled with juicy chicken shawarma, topped with salty gherkins, served with toum and a squeeze of lemon. And it’s absolutely divine!!!

In any case, Tigris & Eufraat has been spruced up even further since a group of Syrian men took charge, so you now have a never-ending counter full of all sorts of tasty treats:

The energy in the air on a typical Saturday is infectious. All those young lads promoting their wares and always letting you have a taste of something. You can tell from everything they do that they’re here to make the most of it and are giving it their all. Fantastic.

Halawat el jibn

Whether as a dessert, starter or between-course treat, they serve homemade Syrian sweets; below you can see halawat el jibn, cheese rolls filled with cream and pistachios:

We didn't have that yet in the Javastraat…

But also basbousa with lots of pistachio:

Apple turnovers, but with lots of layers of crispy filo pastry, cream and pistachios:

Or packed with walnuts:

Spinach and sumac fatayer

And then there’s a bakery section where the fatayer are flying off the shelves. With spinach, pomegranate, sumac and lemon – I love these:

You really shouldn’t skip the poem either:

And there are za’atar & muhammarah manakeesh:

And whilst you’re there, don’t forget to pop into the frozen foods section. And pick up some falafel and batata chap to take home.

Right, that's it. I have to go. Enjoy your meal and follow me here.