At Ayoub’s Dried Fruits and Nuts, you can literally go nuts, over nuts! When I first stumbled across this brightly lit shop on Denman Street, I felt like I was in a glorified version of the bulk food section of IGA. At least 50 round bins textured with middle Eastern detailing, like oversized chalices or trophies, held a variety of roasted nuts and dried fruit mixtures. Along the side of the shop, a vast selection Persian sweets and spices are lined up neatly on shelves.
At Ayoub’s, you can go nuts over dry-roasted hazelnuts, roasted peanuts with a hint of salt and spice and crunchy pistachios. Not only are nuts delicious, they also have health benefits. The “good fat” in nuts helps regulate brain function, build muscle and keep you feeling great. If you’re an athlete, a nutty snack can give you a competitive edge because nuts are an excellent source of energy and perfect before and after a workout.
So who is Ayoub anyway? Ayoub Hosseini is a professional chef with literally 20-plus years of experience and expertise in the fruit and nut business. For Ayoub, it’s more than just a job. It’s a way of life – a passion that’s been driving him to perfect all of his recipes and methods since he first learned his craft back in the early 1980’s.
The notion behind his dried fruits and nuts shop is based on a simple concept: to select only the highest quality raw ingredients from trusted suppliers around the world, and combine those quality ingredients with a variety of sophisticated flavours and textures, resulting in a snack food sensation that’s healthy, satisfying and “nut”ritious. According to Ayoub, the key to great tasting roasted nuts is to eat them right after they come out of the roaster. Ayoub hand-roasts all of his products on site at the store.
In addition to nuts, you can also purchase a variety of unique, delicious and healthy dried seeds including, Chubby Pumpkins and Wonderful Watermelons. Chewy and delicious, these seeds are a mainstay of a healthy diet and are very high in fibre.
Meanwhile, for Ayoub’s dried fruit, they remain “wonderfully moist and chewy” because “dried fruit should not be dried-out fruit”. Ayoub features a wide variety of family-recipe dried fruits and nuts. A must try is Ayoub’s Dried Fruit Mix which features kiwis, plums, mangos, figs, dates, lemons, oranges, apples, bananas and persimmon fruit.
Lastly, in addition to nuts, seeds and dried-fruit, you can purchase a range of specialty Middle Eastern treats from Ayoub’s. Turkish coffees, candy, tea and chocolate are just a few of the many specialties available. These are great as a sweet treat for yourself, or as a gift.
As you can see, there is an incredibly wide selection of snacks available at Ayoub’s. For the bulk items, you pay by the gram, so you can mix and match at an affordable price and find your favourite.
Ayoub’s Dried Fruits and Nuts has two retail locations – in the Downtown Vancouver West End at 986 Denman Street and also in North Vancouver at 1332 Lonsdale Avenue.
