Last week this piece dwelled on the numerous eateries where excellent breakfasts can be had. As luck would have it, I set off trying to find the very finest 'hareesa' shop that Lahore was once proud of. In its day it was the only one and was known as the shop at 'Ganda Engine'.

There is a story that goes with this famous shop, for he cooked his 'hareesa' in a style and manner that has never been copied. The taste that he achieved was special and even the Amritsari 'hareesa' shop on Nisbet Road could not come near that very special taste. Genuine Kashmiri cuisine experts who relished this delicacy went only to this shop, and for good reason. The original shop of Sadruddin Butt was located in the 'Bordh Chowk' in Amritsar. His father ran the shop in the late 1800s and it was a special breakfast place in the days when Amritsar was a slightly larger city than Lahore. In the cold winters a few crazy people used to rush the delicacy to Lahore, where let it be said, a sizeable Kashmiri population existed, especially in the Gowalmandi area. Nisbet Road was, and remains, their Mall Road.

In the riots of 1947, Sadruddin Butt and his family moved to Lahore and, naturally, found life much more comfortable in the Gowalmandi area. He found a small shop on the road behind the Dyal Singh College heading towards Gowalmandi, where existed the old waste incinerator, known locally as 'Ganda Engine'. Sadruddin Butt used 'desi' goat meat only, with a marked preference for the mountain goats from Kaghan, for they consumed the juiciest grass on the mountain pastures. The taste of the meat remains, even today, unique. That is why the name of his shop was 'Kaghani Kashmiri Hareesa'.

For 60 years he reigned supreme in the world of top-class 'hareesa' in Lahore. Competition came on Nisbet Road in the shape of Amritsari Hareesa, an eatery set up by a shop assistant. But the old man had his own style. His huge copper 'deg' was buried in the ground and after it was cooked on a very low coal fire, for almost four to five hours he used to work on the special mixture with a huge wooden 'madhanni'. Unlike the use of electric choppers by his main competition, he stuck to his old method. The result was very obvious to those genuinely interested in the product.

After the death of Sadruddin Butt, that master 'hareesa' chef, his sons and nephews closed the shop and have moved to the main Nisbet Road, just before the Amritsari shop. There they have installed that famous 'deg' in the ground and follow to the letter the ways of Sadruddin Butt. In their shop they have a 'tandoor' which produces exquisite 'kulchas'. They cook only one 'deg' a day, and I had the pleasure of meeting Baoo Alam and Shafiq Pappa, nephews who run the 'Kaghani Kashmiri Hareesa' eatery. They have a nice hall for 60 persons, so it is a place where you can have this specialty on winter Sundays.

I was served a small portion with the tradition mini kebabs and rich in 'desi ghee'. The 'kulcha' was amazing. The mouth feel was excellent, for a crushed grains and the delicious meat fibre blend so well. The taste was just like the one my friend Shero treats us to every year thanks to his expert Kashmiri mother. I would mark this food experience as seven out of nine for quality. After this going to any other 'hareesa' shop would be heresy. As the wife is away and I have fully recovered from my bout with 'dengue', I will be there this Sunday so that my immune system improves. Gosh, the excuses one comes up with to eat classic food. — AMSHE