This weekend I got to experience what small town life is like in an Arab village in Israel. It's like any other small town, really, including the central role of food.
Upon our arrival, Maram's parents greeted us with one of my absolute favorite meals, Maqlube (or Ma'lube, depends on the dialect). Earlier that week, I had told Maram my mom knew how to make Arab dishes and Maqlube was one of my faves, so she had her mom prepare it for me- so sweet. Maqlube, by the way, means "upside down" and is a rice-based dish with vegetables and meat all cooked together in a pot. When served, the casserole is inverted, thereby earning its name. The ingredients vary from family to family, but Nazek's Maqlube had chicken, eggplant, tomatoes and cauliflower- delish!
I was really hungry, so I was happy when I got a generous serving of my favorite meal! When I was almost done, and almost full to the max, Nazek made Maram serve me yet another plate-full of Maqlube. This was like flashing back to meals with my Arab side of the family...I should have known better!- The rule is: always ask for a third of what you really want to eat. I think I ate half the casserole myself. I was SO full...
Then we went to visit Maram's grandmother- lovely lady. As soon as we arrived to her house, she offered me fruit and juice. I was able to escape eating anymore, but I drank a little bit of juice. I thought I was going to explode. We arrived back at home only to be welcomed by Maram's mom with tea and some cake.
The next morning, we ate a "light" breakfast consisting of bread, laban (like the middle step between plain yogurt and cheese, I guess would be a way of describing it), olives, scrambled eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, and tea. Only to be followed by some real Arab coffee- it's really strong; like an espresso.
After sightseeing all day with Maram and her best friend Hannan (I'll talk about that in another post), we arrived home and we went to Haifa with Maram's parents and then out to dinner. They took me to a super nice restaurant with amazing views, and we had a very nice an copious meal- it started out with traditional salads and appetizers (fetoush, tabouleh, hummus, babaghanouj, tahine, among others..) and then we had some seafood. They went all out because they wanted me to have the best possible experience.
The next day, we spent it going from house to house visiting all of Maram's relatives and eating at each and every single one of their houses. They're all neighbors, and there's a lot of them, so we kind of did the rounds. I drank tons of tea, coffee and juice, and tasted all sorts of pastries, fruits, and nuts...After a morning of going around people's houses, we went back home and Maram offered me to rest a little, but I offered to help Nazek cook instead. After having had her food, I knew if anyone can teach me real Arab cuisine it is her.
She was stoked that I offered to help and the started telling me recipes for all these different dishes. I learnt some words in Arabic as well, so that was pretty cool. Maram and her mom couldn't believe I offered to help. After stuffing some vegetables, her mom started getting everything ready for dinner, which was something different than what we'd been working on. For dinner that night we had an incredible bbq- Nazek grilled kefta (mixed ground beef and lamb with parsley and onion), chicken, lamb kebabs, and beef...a ton of meat! Well, guess who ate most of it?! It was all delicious, but definitely more than I needed to eat. This huge meal also included side dishes of different salads, hummus (of course), and bread among others. Mind you, this is what I ate after having had something to eat at everyone of the houses I had visited that day...too much!
Before going to bed, of course, we had some tea and pastries...I've definitely already put on a few pounds!
This morning, before we left, Nazek got up even earlier than us (at 6am) to make us breakfast- bless her heart. Not only did she make us coffee and gave us some pastries to go with it (you know, you can't just drink coffee...), but she also started preparing bags of stuff for us to take home with us; she gave us fruits and vegetables from their garden, dried Louisa leaves to put in the tea (she knows I like them), cake, the vegetables we prepared the day before, and some other stuff...we're set for the week!
It's been an amazing culinary experience, but I most definitely need to join a gym, if I want to keep eating like this!
Upon our arrival, Maram's parents greeted us with one of my absolute favorite meals, Maqlube (or Ma'lube, depends on the dialect). Earlier that week, I had told Maram my mom knew how to make Arab dishes and Maqlube was one of my faves, so she had her mom prepare it for me- so sweet. Maqlube, by the way, means "upside down" and is a rice-based dish with vegetables and meat all cooked together in a pot. When served, the casserole is inverted, thereby earning its name. The ingredients vary from family to family, but Nazek's Maqlube had chicken, eggplant, tomatoes and cauliflower- delish!
I was really hungry, so I was happy when I got a generous serving of my favorite meal! When I was almost done, and almost full to the max, Nazek made Maram serve me yet another plate-full of Maqlube. This was like flashing back to meals with my Arab side of the family...I should have known better!- The rule is: always ask for a third of what you really want to eat. I think I ate half the casserole myself. I was SO full...
Then we went to visit Maram's grandmother- lovely lady. As soon as we arrived to her house, she offered me fruit and juice. I was able to escape eating anymore, but I drank a little bit of juice. I thought I was going to explode. We arrived back at home only to be welcomed by Maram's mom with tea and some cake.
The next morning, we ate a "light" breakfast consisting of bread, laban (like the middle step between plain yogurt and cheese, I guess would be a way of describing it), olives, scrambled eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, and tea. Only to be followed by some real Arab coffee- it's really strong; like an espresso.
After sightseeing all day with Maram and her best friend Hannan (I'll talk about that in another post), we arrived home and we went to Haifa with Maram's parents and then out to dinner. They took me to a super nice restaurant with amazing views, and we had a very nice an copious meal- it started out with traditional salads and appetizers (fetoush, tabouleh, hummus, babaghanouj, tahine, among others..) and then we had some seafood. They went all out because they wanted me to have the best possible experience.
The next day, we spent it going from house to house visiting all of Maram's relatives and eating at each and every single one of their houses. They're all neighbors, and there's a lot of them, so we kind of did the rounds. I drank tons of tea, coffee and juice, and tasted all sorts of pastries, fruits, and nuts...After a morning of going around people's houses, we went back home and Maram offered me to rest a little, but I offered to help Nazek cook instead. After having had her food, I knew if anyone can teach me real Arab cuisine it is her.
She was stoked that I offered to help and the started telling me recipes for all these different dishes. I learnt some words in Arabic as well, so that was pretty cool. Maram and her mom couldn't believe I offered to help. After stuffing some vegetables, her mom started getting everything ready for dinner, which was something different than what we'd been working on. For dinner that night we had an incredible bbq- Nazek grilled kefta (mixed ground beef and lamb with parsley and onion), chicken, lamb kebabs, and beef...a ton of meat! Well, guess who ate most of it?! It was all delicious, but definitely more than I needed to eat. This huge meal also included side dishes of different salads, hummus (of course), and bread among others. Mind you, this is what I ate after having had something to eat at everyone of the houses I had visited that day...too much!
Before going to bed, of course, we had some tea and pastries...I've definitely already put on a few pounds!
This morning, before we left, Nazek got up even earlier than us (at 6am) to make us breakfast- bless her heart. Not only did she make us coffee and gave us some pastries to go with it (you know, you can't just drink coffee...), but she also started preparing bags of stuff for us to take home with us; she gave us fruits and vegetables from their garden, dried Louisa leaves to put in the tea (she knows I like them), cake, the vegetables we prepared the day before, and some other stuff...we're set for the week!
It's been an amazing culinary experience, but I most definitely need to join a gym, if I want to keep eating like this!
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