I wouldn’t claim to be any kind of expert, but I really don’t
understand the business model of this place. That’s the first thing I love
about it. This little shop is the eastern side of Blackstock Road, which, as my
pedantic friends at Hungry Hackney have pointed out, is actually in Hackney (but
I’m not having it ... you’re not telling me that Blackstock Road is not
Islington, even if it isn't). The shop sells one thing – naan breads. It sells them dirt cheap
too – four plain naan for a pound. I’m struggling to think of anything of any
value which is available for 25p these days. They also do garlic naan and
something called a cheese naan.
I started trying to figure out how many naan breads they would have to
sell in a day to turn any kind of profit, then I remembered that I had left my
tedious city job to become a food blogger precisely so that I didn’t have to
worry about such things. Whatever the economics, budget foodism is to be
celebrated wherever we find it. A good, fresh naan bread will transform a meal
of, say dhal, or potato curry, into something more than satisfying.
Some chef in a Sunday supplement also pointed out that these kind of
breads make handy impromptu pizza bases. I have been known to spread leftover Amatriciana
sauce onto one of these 25p babies, whack some cheapo mozzarella on top and
shove it in the oven for a pizza that will rival any you can buy or even have
delivered in these parts. (I might even have stuck a basil leaf on top.)
Despite
calling these breads 'naan' the place is actually run by Turkish people. Not
sure of the correct nomenclature but for me this blurs the flatbread lines
further. I have used them as flatbreads with middle-eastern mezze-type food,
with no one noticing the difference. So if like me you love places that don’t seem to make sense, and places
that concentrate on doing one thing well, drop in for a bargain next time you
are patrolling dangerously along this stretch of the Islington/Hackney border.
Bakhtiar’s Naan
51A Blackstock Road
London N4 2JW
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