What is arayes? The Levantine dish your office lunch is missing

If you've ordered catering on the North Shore more than a few times, you've seen the same rotation: sandwiches, wraps, sushi, maybe a risotto if someone's feeling adventurous. Arayes is the dish that tends to stop that pattern, and it's the one people ask us about most.

So what is it?

Arayes is a Levantine dish — you'll find versions across Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine. Spiced minced lamb is pressed inside flatbread, then grilled until the bread crisps and the fat from the lamb soaks into it from the inside. The name comes from the Arabic for 'bride', a reference to the bread and filling being married together.

Done properly, the outside shatters slightly when you bite it and the inside is still juicy. Done badly, it's dry — which is why it's worth ordering from somewhere that grills to order rather than reheating.

Why it works for catering

• It's eaten with your hands, so no cutlery and no plates needed.
• It travels better than most hot food — the bread protects the filling.
• It cuts into fingers, so one order feeds a table rather than one person.
• It's substantial enough to be lunch without being heavy.
• It isn't another sandwich platter, which is the actual point.

What we serve it with

We serve ours with homemade tzatziki, a lemon wedge and pomegranate molasses — the acid cuts the richness of the lamb. On the catering menu it comes paired with musakhan rolls: slow-cooked chicken with sumac and caramelised onion, wrapped and cut the same way. Between them you get two quite different things on one platter.

Arayes & Musakhan Rolls are on our office catering menu at $150 for a platter serving 8–10. It's the one people order when they want the catering to be the thing everyone talks about.