Have you ever noticed that the staff at Ayoub’s Dried Fruits and Nuts is always bundled up in warm layers, irrespective of the season?
Employees do this because the shop is kept deliberately cold at all times. The low temperature helps maintain the integrity of the thousands of nuts that occupy the elegant, handcrafted upright bowls placed throughout the store.
This tight temperature control is just one of many tricks of the trade employed by Ayoub’s and comes from knowledge hard won over the course of more than 30 years in the retail nut business.
Ayoub’s, named after founder Ayoub Hosseini, began in Tehran three decades ago. The small startup eventually grew into a large, thriving institution in Iran’s capital city. A decade ago, with the help of his son Amir, Hosseini set up a North Shore outpost of Ayoub’s, emphasizing the shopper experience as much as the quality of the nuts, constructing a lush and sophisticated atelier-like space on bustling Lonsdale Avenue.
I met up with Amir one recent Saturday and he walked me around his flagship North Shore store, pointing out little details that I would not have spotted myself but that have been integral to Ayoub’s success; the burgeoning nut empire now claims five retail locations and a central warehouse on Old Dollarton Highway. One such detail was the flawless shape of the roasted almonds. Amir betrayed his deep-seated pride as he showed me a plump and pristine nut specimen, pointing out its discernible ridges, even colour and unmarred edges.
“It wasn’t always like this,” he explains. “We have leverage today, bargaining power to secure only the top grade of nuts from our suppliers.”
The volume of nuts purchased by Ayoub’s puts the retailer in prime position to reject inferior products. On average, Amir shared, the shop sells one pallet of almonds, or approximately 1,130 kilograms, per month. As a result, the specimen I inspect, a Californian nonpareil almond in the 18-20 (almonds per ounce) size range (the largest available) is representative of his entire almond inventory.
Nuts are roasted on site at every Ayoub’s location using a traditional gas-fuelled dry roaster located in the back. Looking at the machine, which resembles a miniature cement mixer with its tilted barrel and narrow opening, I was struck by the absence of dials, gauges, screens or blinking doodads of any description. Roasting here is an artisanal affair with success wholly contingent on the experience of the roaster, who must rely on visual and olfactory cues to determine when the nuts are ready; taste is a poor indicator as it is subject to dramatic change upon cooling and drying.
I share these details with you because, for me, the back stories of our local food and beverage businesses are often every bit as interesting as the actual products they sell. Ayoub’s, like a number of other North Shore specialists with a hyper-focus on a single area of expertise (I’d include Olives on Tap, Masa’s Salmon Smokehouse, The Cheese Man, Moja Coffee, Tea Time, and Sons of Vancouver Distillery in this category) are directly responsible for setting the standard for foodstuffs on this side of the water.
As Amir and I walked around the shop, I selected a number of items to sample, focusing on nuts and dried fruits (the shop offers a large selection of Persian specialty confections as well).
A number of roasted nuts at Ayoub’s are finished with a light coating of lime juice, saffron and sea salt, a traditional Persian flavour combination that is the shop’s signature offering. I chose pistachios and cashews finished in this mixture, delighting in the slight bite of citrus that subtly offsets the rich butteriness that is the hallmark of these nut varieties. Saffron, an ingredient that can dominate if not doled out sparingly, is handled deftly at Ayoub’s and offers only the faintest hint of perfumed pungency.
I also tried a new flavour of cashew, Curry Lime, which revealed fragrant notes of fenugreek and turmeric.
One of the most remarkable flavour sensations in the shop can be found in Ayoub’s dried fruit mixture, which includes desiccated pear, apple, melon, orange, mango, banana, persimmon, peach, kiwi and sour red plum. This is a spectacular mixture, brimming with intense, concentrated flavours and has instantly become a new favourite snack in my house. The kiwi and plum components are bracingly, face-contortingly sour but find their antidote in the ripe round melon, persimmon and mango. Rings of tart orange hold the whole combination together, offering welcome structure in their acidity, reserved bitterness and chewy texture.
A Spicy Mix of nuts, featuring finely ground chili powder and paprika, has a nice bite but is not overwhelmingly hot. This mix would make a great beer snack. Ayoub’s dried vegetable mixture, which includes beets, carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, squash and taro, is a crunchy and flavoursome offering but, I must confess, is just a touch too righteous for my taste, especially when sampled in the same sitting as all the indulgent, spicy and salty nuts.
A sweet mixture, a seasonal offering of dried dates, figs, nuts and generous cubes of Turkish Delight (here flavoured with lemon and coconut and topped with a toasted walnut), was my final selection and was a hit with the kids.
My diverse sampling of nuts and dried goods was $56. Ayoub’s Dried Fruits and Nuts is located at 1332 Lonsdale Ave. ayoubs.ca 604-982-9682
Chris Dagenais served as a manager for several restaurants downtown and on the North Shore. A self-described wine fanatic, he earned his sommelier diploma in 2001. He can be reached via email at [email protected].North Shore News dining reviews are conducted anonymously and all meals are paid for by the newspaper.
