RAMADAN - Part II

Last week, the families from the Jerusalem Center were invited to the home of Omar, a vendor who has a wood carving shop in Jerusalem in celebration of Ramadan. We were invited to enjoy the evening for iftar dinner after his family broke their daily fast. 






We have purchased some of Omar's beautiful olive wood carvings and he is a friend to all of those who serve here. Omar is a very engaging man and has a great family who all live close to each other. Twenty-two of us piled into 5 cars and ventured to his home which overlooked Jerusalem.

Photo:  Looking out from the entrance of Omar's home.

Before dinner was served, the family's  tradition 

was to plug in the outside lights.  

Omer's grandchildren and also the professor's children were excited to "plug in the lights!"

When we entered Omar's home, we were greeted by his entire family (daughters and husbands and children) and saw a very long table set beautifully for everyone.  Since dinner was not quite ready, we were invited to join Omar in his living room where he proudly showed us his collection of artifacts.

His home was lovely and we were fascinated with not only the design of the furniture but also the many interesting framed artifacts on the walls. The center frame on the wall is a bedouin necklace and the smaller side frames showcase bedouin earrings.

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Photo: The Christensens and Rosemary Lind.  Carol and Reg C. lead the tours at the Jerusalem Canter and head up the humanitarian and outreach programs. Rosemary's husband, Brent, is an MD and they take care of the students and housing. Each service couple has a very specific assignment. Everyone works hard with many responsibilities and because we have very little free time, we were delighted we were able to arrange our schedules so we could share the evening together.  

Omar's wife and daughters helped prepare the dinner.

Omar shows Janna C. a very old clay oil lamp dating back centuries.  I love the blue lapis necklace she is wearing.  (Doug bought it for her birthday)

Items in a cabinet in the living room.  

This is an ancient sword used in battle. The vile on the side would contain poison in which the sword would be dipped prior to battle. Omar said the poison would cause almost immediate death to the victim.

This very large wooden plaque has verses from the Qu'ran.  

On the shelf below the wooden plaque was an ancient copy of the Qu'ran.  Notice that the book opens from right to left.  All books in Israel are printed this way and for an American, it is difficult to get used to reading a book the opposite direction and after 16 months, I am still not used to it.  

Bedouin necklaces.

There were several little stools like this in Omar's living room. 

The Palestinian design and tapestry was beautiful.

Photo below:  Omar explained that when the fast is broken and dinner is served, their family always begins the meal with a delicious vegetable soup to help with hydration. Some Muslims break their fast by eating dates.  

In the photo below, you will see Omar's son turning the upside-down rice dish on the plate. This is called maqloubeh and is a traditional Palestinian dish. Every time I see a cook prepare to turn this dish upside-down, it is a moment of suspense . . . a moment of truth, and I find myself holding my breath hoping it will invert as a perfectly layered entree. This is a dish layered with meat, rice and vegetables and spiced with special seasonings of cinnamon, cardamon, cloves and nutmeg. We were served two types: one was layered with chicken and carrots and another with lamb, cauliflower and eggplant. When I return home, I am going to make this dish. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
1lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs or lamb

1/2 fresh cauliflower, cut in medium-sized florets (or, 1 large eggplant, sliced thinly lengthwise, sliced carrots and/or quartered tomatoes)

2 cups rice (basmati or long grain white are best), rinsed

Generous sprinkling of spices: garlic powder, salt, pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves (or the first three + pre-mixed Arabic baharat)

2-1/2 or 2-3/4 cups chicken stock or water. 

pinch of saffron or turmeric for color

Cook about 25 minutes, invert and top with toasted pine nuts of slivered almonds

(or browned in olive oil)

The prince charming of Israeli food is always hummus which was originally Lebanese. Hummus is a kind of dip or spread made from crushed chickpeas and mixed with tehina sauce, lemon, olive oil, salt and garlic. 

It can be served in many ways, including as a main dish accompanied by ful (fava beans) and a hard boiled egg, as well as a side dish at a big meal. Hummus has become a very popular side dish because of its high nutritional value and is served in many cafes and restaurants in Israel. You can also find an amazing varieties in small containers at every supermarket. It is delicious to eat with flat bread.  And . . . it’s also very accepted if you wipe clean your hummus plate with a chunk of pita bread. The humus, flatbread and pickled veggies were served along with the soup. 

Everything served was delicious.  The cut up tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers and parsley salad was seasoned with lime juice.  

In the photo, above we have falafels and stuffed eggplant.  

Another entree was mahshi (pictured below), a dish of stuffed zucchinis with rice and meat.  The mahshi was delicious and was one of my favorite entrees. It was made from zucchinis stuffed with flavored rice, tomatoes, red peppers.  I am going to make this recipe soon and if you want to try, here is the recipe.

Step 1: Cut the end stalks of zucchini squash then with an apple corer, hollow out the center and seeds. 

Step 2: Fill a bowl with water and add 1 tsp salt. Wash the zucchini in the salted water (this helps to keep them firm when cooking), then drain.

Step 3:  Fill each zucchini with the stuffing, leaving room at the top to allow the filling to expand. It’s easiest to fill the zucchini by hand, tapping them on the bench every now to settle the stuffing down. If you have any leftover stuffing, shape into meatballs.

Step 4: Stuffing
1 cup long-grain rice, washed
1/2 lb. ground beef or turkey
1 medium tomato, finely diced
½ onion, finely diced
⅓ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
⅓ cup chopped mint
⅓ cup chopped coriander
¼ tsp chili powder
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp salt
a little butter, softened
2 tbs olive oil

Step 5: Fill a large saucepan with water and add 2 tbsp salt and the tomato paste. Add the stuffed zucchini and any meatballs and bring to the boil. Simmer over low heat for about 1 hour, allowing the sauce to reduce. Serve the stuffed zucchini with a little of the sauce and a dollop of yogurt.

Pictured above is the other maqloubeh dish cooked with lamb, cauliflower  and thinly sliced eggplant topped with toasted almonds and pine nuts.

Omar's wife was adding toasted almonds to the rice casserole dish.

It was especially nice to sit leisurely and chat with Omar and his family in his own environment. He had a son and also a nephew who attend BYU in Rexburg, Idaho. 

These are falafels, a staple in Israel.  Falafels are a Middle Eastern food that Israelis have found their own way to eat the fried chickpea balls. They are usually served in a pita bread and may also include Arab salad, hummus, German sauerkraut, fried eggplant, pickled mango sauce, Yemeni hot sauce and y last by not least, French fries which seemed SO unusual! When eaten all together, it is quite delicious and was the favorite food when our grandchildren visited Israel.

Here is a step-by-step recipe for making the best authentic vegetarian falafel.

Ingredients:
1 baby arugula
2 cups Chickpeas, dried
3/4 cup Cilantro, fresh leaves
1 tbsp Coriander, ground
1/2 cup Dill, fresh
1 English cucumbers
7 Garlic cloves
1 cup Parsley, fresh leaves
1 Tomatoes

Condiments: 
1 Pickles
1 Tahini sauce

Baking & Spices: 
1 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1 tbsp Black pepper, ground
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
1 Salt
2 tbsp Sesame seeds, toasted

Oils & Vinegars: 
Vegetable or canola oil
Nuts & Seeds
1 tbsp Cumin, ground

I felt so guilty seeing all the dishes stacking up in the kitchen after dinner so I went to help and found Omar's daughters preparing one of the desserts. If you recall in my last blog entry, I mentioned qatayef pancakes that people were buying in the Old City. The pancakes are folded and filled with cheese and nuts. I watched as Omar's daughter carefully drenched each on in corn oil (then rolled them again in the oil before turning them over) before warming them in the oven.  After seeing all that oil, this was one dessert I couldn't bring myself to eat one.

Kataif are the thin, lacy vegan stuffed Arabic pancakes mentioned in my last blog entry. What sets these pancakes apart is that they are cooked only on one side.  The other side is velvety because it is covered with bubbles and apparently this allows the flavors of the filling to permeate the kataif.  Kataif are also called atayef. 

There are two types of atayef: regular and mini atayef. The regular ones are usually stuffed with a cheese or nut filling then are sealed and baked or fried. Regular atayef are served drizzled with simple syrup. The mini atayef are served without cooking. They are usually filled with cream then are dipped in ground pistachios and served with a drizzle of syrup. 

You can also make the atayef without stuffing them. They are served the way you would serve pancakes but with butter and your favorite syrup. 

Omar's daughter was preparing to fry another one of the desserts. 

Fruit was also served for dessert but we were all so full, I don't 

know how anyone had room to eat anything more!

The black berries in the dish above were "thimble berries" and sugar-sweet!  

Omar's sweet little granddaughter couldn't stay awake and crawled

 under the table as there was no other place she could lie down.

We had a little more friendly conversation after dinner until it was time to go home. We spent a very memorable evening and greatly appreciated the hospitality of Omar and his family. Upon leaving, I asked how often he serves a dinner this big for so many and he said, "Just once during Ramadan when we invite friends." I was greatly relieved to know this was not what the tradition every night of Ramadan or they would need another 30 days to fast just to lose the weight!

This was an experience we will never forget!
Ramadan ends Sunday, June 25.

The last Friday of Ramadan, half a million people are 
expected to pray at the Temple Mount.