This is Toronto’s destination for all things Iranian food stuffs

Khorak Supermarket opened its doors in 1989 as a modest grocery store and hot counter.

It quickly gained status as the neighbourhood grocer. And not just for the Persian community in North York — cooks from across Toronto would stop by to stock up their pantries with bottles of pomegranate molasses.

Over the years the store has expanded and undergone a dramatic makeover.

Today, it’s a destination for all things Iranian food stuffs. It is a bakery, a butcher shop, a grocer and a lunch counter.

The Pantry

Take your time browsing through the grocery and pantry aisles, between seasonality and niche ingredients, there’s a lot to take in.

Enter the pantry aisles and a world of ingredients are presented — you’ll find varieties of pomegranate and grape molasses, an assortment of spiced pickles and so much more.

Khorak’s fruit section changes with the season: quince, small red plums and guavas from the Middle East.

And there’s an entire section dedicated to dry nuts, a whole aisle to varieties of pistachios (flavoured, roasted, salted) from Iran.

The Bakery

Fifteen years ago, the owners added a bakery wing to the market. If you only shop in the grocery section, you wouldn’t even know it exists.

Walk to the back of the market where there are two open bakery stations. You’ll spot regular lineups for the daily-made sangak, barbari and taftoon breads.

“Sangak is our most popular bread, we make about 6,000 loaves a week,” said Sam Fayaz, who runs Khorak Supermarket.

Bakers start their prep at 5 a.m. daily, preparing the “pebbles” bread. The long sheet bread is dotted with sesame and nigella seeds.

It is traditionally cooked over hot stones, at Khorak, the bakers use a specialty rotating oven to sling 800 loaves a day.

The Hot Counter / Dip Bar

One of the highlights of Khorak is the hot counter, notably the dip bar — home to no less than a dozen different types of Iranian dips.

Meant to be enjoyed as sides, these dips complement a large Iranian feast of rice and grilled meat and vegetable stews.