Correct Arabic is obviously the goal, but since most of us here are not at an adequate level, we get by on a hilarious blending of Arabiy and Ingleeziy that is affectionately known as "Arabeeziy." Even for the earliest beginner, there are some Arabic words that are just BETTER than any English translation (and vice versa, of course), and they are usually the first set of words to become second nature. I imagine that they will also be the stickiest words, the ones we continue to use even after we come back to the States. Disclaimer: most of these words are "3amiyya" or slang, and are not technically "correct".
1) Ah -- "ah" does not mean "I understand," it actually means "yes." This was one of the first words I picked up on, probably because it's monosyllabic!
2) "clicking your teeth" -- I know this isn't a word, but it's ubiquitous. When someone clicks their teeth, they are saying "no." It's not rude, and they're not "tsk"ing you, they're just saying no. So don't get mad at me if I ever do this to you.
3) The Allah expressions -- like the use of "God" in English, they are often not religious
a. Yallah! -- Let's go! Or sometimes, Go ahead!
b. Mashallah! -- Literally, "God protect", but people use it as "OMG!"
c. Al hamdulillah -- "By the grace of God" or "thanks be to god." People sometimes use it just as an affirmative answer to a question (Do you have children? Al hamdulillah.), or as a response to "how are you?", which is amazing because it evades the question entirely. Whether you're amazing or terrible, it's all thanks to God. People also say it whenever something good happens.
d. Bismillah -- "in the name of God." This phrase starts all prayers, but people also use it kind of like OMG or maybe even like "oh God, really?" It usually signals some level of exasperation, like bismillah I really cannot believe what you're doing right now.
e. Inshallah -- "If God wills." ALWAYS used to talk about anything (positive or desirable) in the future, no matter how certain it seems. It is a constant reminder of the unpredictability of life and the inadequacy of human planning. My classmate said to me 5 MINUTES before class "I'll see you in class, inshallah." Literally.
4) Ya Salaam!! -- "Ya" is a particle used to address someone directly, kind of like "hey" but not informal, and "salaam" of course means "peace." People use it as a positive exclamation, sometimes like "OMG" but more often like "awww yeah!" The last syllable is almost always drawn out -- ya salaaaaaaam!
5) y3ani -- Literally "it means", but is used as THE filler word ("like" or "you know"). It can be put anywhere and everywhere in a sentence, and unlike English, it is often the last word in a sentence. "I don't know, y3ani. Maybe tomorrow, inshallah."
6) khalas -- Either "finished" or "enough," but again, not rude on its own (only made rude by intonation). People also verb-ify it: khalastu as in "I'm finished" or khalasna as in "we're finished". A server coming to clear your plates will ask you "khalas?" Or, if someone's talking too much and you want to shut them up: "KHALAS Y3ANI!"
7) Tfadl/ tfadli -- I'm really not sure how to translate this one. It means (kinda) "at your pleasure/ preference", but is used to sort of invite or welcome someone to do something. It is very polite. If you're in a store or restaurant, it means "how can I help you?" Someone would also say it while opening a door for you or offering you something -- inviting you to accept the favor, the cookie, the turn in a game, the seat at the table, whatever it may be. It's like "you're welcome to this." I really wish we had an English equivalent.
8) Adding Arabic prefixes and suffixes to English words -- especially "al" to make something definite (replacing "the") or adding "ee" to the end of a word to make it possessive (my). e.g. I went to al-concert but when I got there I couldn't find ticketsee!
There are so many more but they should probably come in installments. I hope you found this list mumtastic (mumtaz + fantastic)!
Saturday, November 23, 2013
A Day at Ajloun Castle
Sorry for the hiatus -- our internet is so terrible we can barely check email, and blogger apparently requires a lot of bandwidth or whatever. Anyway, I think 3 weekends ago we took a little day trip to one of Jordan's historic Northern towns, Ajloun. I think we intended to do more exploring, but the 12th c. castle was so amazing we ended up spending the whole afternoon there. Unlike in the US or Europe, there were no rules, no monitoring, no roped off sections or "no entry" signs; everything was open for walking around, leaning over, sitting on or even climbing on. It was spectacularly beautiful (we both commented how ironic it was that often the most beautiful ancient ruins were those originally built for the purpose of war), and the view from the top was insane. We were told we were looking all the way across Palestine to Lebanon. To top it off, it had drizzled while were inside the castle, and when we got to the roof there was a huge rainbow in perfect view. What does it mean!?!?
The most green we'd seen in Jordan
A little girl comes up to investigate Abe
I think this picture is sufficient to start a new religion around Abe as a Messiah figure
ya salaaaaaaaam!
Some guys decide to just scale the castle
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Recipe #2: Rabiya's Yemeni Foul
It is always a bit of a mystery to me how some foods migrate across vast distances and become popular in foreign lands, while other, equally delicious foods, do not. Hommos is now practically a staple food in the U.S. (at least in California), and yet its best friend and fellow bean-dip, foul, has not enjoyed the same global notoriety. May this recipe help to change that!
Foul is a staple food and breakfast of champions all across the Middle East (see bottom for tangent), but each region has its own twist. Foul literally means "beans," and in the Arab world there really is only one kind of widely available bean: fava beans. Jordanians, Palestinians, Lebanese, and Syrians (the Levantine countries) typically make their foul just like hommos except substituting fava beans for chick peas and serving warm. This can be pretty good. But it is Yemeni-style foul, piping hot, tomato-y and somewhat chili-like, that has captured my heart. It is super easy and fun to make, cheap, healthy, sensationally tasty, gluten-free and vegan. Top that, I dare you. Yalla.
1) Chop 1 onion (or half, your choice), 1 green pepper, 1 hot pepper (or more, to your taste), 2-3 cloves garlic, and 1 ripe tomato. I diced the garlic and hot pepper finely and together, while the rest I left somewhat chunky. Peeling tomatoes is a pain, but if you do it you'll avoid some of the sourness that tomatoes sometimes have, and you won't have annoying little skins drifting around the finished product. I advise it.
2) Sautee onions in a good amount of olive oil in a large frying pan with raised sides until softened, then add the garlic and hot pepper and sautee for another minute or so.
3) Add a dash of cumin, a dash of black pepper, and a dash of coriander, and stir well until the onions seem stained yellowish (probably a minute).
4) Add the green pepper and cook another minute or 2, then add the tomato and a heaping tablespoon or 2 of tomato puree. Make this judgment based on how juicy the fresh tomato is. If it looks a little undernourished help it along with the canned stuff. Add a couple pinches of salt, stir well, and let simmer on medium low heat for about 5 or more minutes, until the tomato is complete mush and the oil has turned red.
5) While that's cooking, open and drain a can of fava beans, and rinse well. Spread the beans on your used cutting board and squeeze half a lemon over them, and add a bit of water as well. Mash the beans roughly with the bottom of the can, adding a little water as you go if it seems difficult. Don't smash them into oblivion, just flatten them kinda haphazardly.
6) When the oil has turned red, add the mashed beans and one cup of water, and stir until well mixed.
7) Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the foul has reached a scoopable consistency. Taste and add seasoning if needed. Serve in the pan you cooked it in (it tastes best when very hot!) with fresh bread of any kind, and if you like garnish with white cheese, chopped hot pepper, chopped onion, cilantro, or any combination thereof.
Excuse the flash. I know it looks kinda gnarly but TRUST me it is amazing.
Tangent: There's actually a great commercial here for canned fava beans -- a little boy comes into the kitchen in the morning and is sooo excited because he smells foul cooking so it MUST be Friday; when else would his mom have time to soak and cook dried beans? He goes on and on about how much he loves Fridays and how foul is his favorite breakfast as the whole family sits to eat together. Then his mom holds up his backpack -- "time for school son, it's Tuesday!" WAHHAH!?!? With canned foul you can have Friday breakfast every day! It's adorable.
Foul is a staple food and breakfast of champions all across the Middle East (see bottom for tangent), but each region has its own twist. Foul literally means "beans," and in the Arab world there really is only one kind of widely available bean: fava beans. Jordanians, Palestinians, Lebanese, and Syrians (the Levantine countries) typically make their foul just like hommos except substituting fava beans for chick peas and serving warm. This can be pretty good. But it is Yemeni-style foul, piping hot, tomato-y and somewhat chili-like, that has captured my heart. It is super easy and fun to make, cheap, healthy, sensationally tasty, gluten-free and vegan. Top that, I dare you. Yalla.
1) Chop 1 onion (or half, your choice), 1 green pepper, 1 hot pepper (or more, to your taste), 2-3 cloves garlic, and 1 ripe tomato. I diced the garlic and hot pepper finely and together, while the rest I left somewhat chunky. Peeling tomatoes is a pain, but if you do it you'll avoid some of the sourness that tomatoes sometimes have, and you won't have annoying little skins drifting around the finished product. I advise it.
2) Sautee onions in a good amount of olive oil in a large frying pan with raised sides until softened, then add the garlic and hot pepper and sautee for another minute or so.
3) Add a dash of cumin, a dash of black pepper, and a dash of coriander, and stir well until the onions seem stained yellowish (probably a minute).
4) Add the green pepper and cook another minute or 2, then add the tomato and a heaping tablespoon or 2 of tomato puree. Make this judgment based on how juicy the fresh tomato is. If it looks a little undernourished help it along with the canned stuff. Add a couple pinches of salt, stir well, and let simmer on medium low heat for about 5 or more minutes, until the tomato is complete mush and the oil has turned red.
5) While that's cooking, open and drain a can of fava beans, and rinse well. Spread the beans on your used cutting board and squeeze half a lemon over them, and add a bit of water as well. Mash the beans roughly with the bottom of the can, adding a little water as you go if it seems difficult. Don't smash them into oblivion, just flatten them kinda haphazardly.
6) When the oil has turned red, add the mashed beans and one cup of water, and stir until well mixed.
7) Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the foul has reached a scoopable consistency. Taste and add seasoning if needed. Serve in the pan you cooked it in (it tastes best when very hot!) with fresh bread of any kind, and if you like garnish with white cheese, chopped hot pepper, chopped onion, cilantro, or any combination thereof.
Tangent: There's actually a great commercial here for canned fava beans -- a little boy comes into the kitchen in the morning and is sooo excited because he smells foul cooking so it MUST be Friday; when else would his mom have time to soak and cook dried beans? He goes on and on about how much he loves Fridays and how foul is his favorite breakfast as the whole family sits to eat together. Then his mom holds up his backpack -- "time for school son, it's Tuesday!" WAHHAH!?!? With canned foul you can have Friday breakfast every day! It's adorable.
Friday, October 18, 2013
Auntie Roo's Eid Goat Stew
Our attempts at cooking local cuisine have been hit or miss, but I declare last night a victory! There's a bit of backstory here:
1) Eid Al-Adha is perhaps the most important Muslim holiday. It is certainly in the top 3. It commemorates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son as God commanded. You doubtless know the story -- Abraham is super old, wants a son more than anything, with God's help he ends up with 2: Ismail, the older, born of Hagar, Abraham's Egyptian slave, and Isaac, the younger, born of his elderly wife Sarah (miraculously). Isaac becomes the father from whom all Jews are descended, while Ismail is the father of future Muslims. Christians and Jews believe God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, which he was prepared to do without Isaac's knowledge. Muslims believe it was Ismail who was to be sacrificed, and that Abraham, fraught with worry, told Ismail what God had asked him to do and asked for his advice. Ismail told him that if God commanded it then it had to be done and he consented to be sacrificed. In both stories, at the last minute God calls off the sacrifice and gives Abraham a lamb instead. (If I fucked any of that up please forgive me, I am no authority on Biblical stories). SO, now, Muslim families that can afford it slaughter a lamb or goat or whatever they have (or, more often these days, have it slaughtered) on Eid and donate the meat to poorer families. The mascot of this holiday is, somewhat morbidly, a smiling cartoon lamb. Very reminiscent of Thanksgiving and all the happy turkey pictures . . .
2) Meat at the supermarket is RAUNCHY. We went veg for awhile after some bad experiences, but vowed to someday try going to a local butcher. There are 3 in our neighborhood. The way the butcher works is they kill an animal every day and butcher it and sell it -- if they have lamb they have lamb, if they have goat they have goat, and if they have beef it is a very special occasion indeed. In other words, you don't choose what meat you want, you either take what they have or leave it -- but it is always incredibly fresh. People here don't usually distinguish between sheep and goats, so you can't always be sure what you're getting. But yesterday we went to the butcher, and with a little inquiring we learned that the meat that day was goat meat -- being that it's Eid, goat and sheep are ubiquitous.
Being undaunted by the prospect of cooking goat meat, unfamiliar territory, we bought a half kilo and headed home.
Many hours later, this is what we had:
If you're feeling adventurous (by US standards; goat is a staple food in most places in the world), go buy some goat. Our Arabic is terrible, so I'm really not sure what cut we got. The butcher chopped it up for us, but I think if I were to do it again I'd cut it into smaller pieces. If you want to be a wimp about it, get some lamb, or even beef. Here we go!
1) Wash meat thoroughly with lemon or lime juice, then rinse with water. Our extensive internet research told us that goat meat smells bad if you don't citrus-ize it first. Judging by the smell in the butcher's I'm inclined to agree.
2) Heat a few Tbs olive oil (side note: this should be GREEN. Not greenish, not yellow-green, GREEN. If your olive oil is yellow that means it's diluted with corn oil and that is not ok) in a pot on medium heat. Stir in some spices, enough to make it a little pasty. We used mansaf seasoning (which is kinda curry-esque? kinda?), cumin, chili powder, and a little cinnamon, plus salt and pepper. Cook the spices for a minute or so until they smell really good and turn a little darker.
3) Brown the meat on all sides in the spice oil and then remove, leaving the juice in the pot.
4) Add one chopped onion, two minced garlic cloves, and one minced hot pepper to the pot and sautee until the onion is clear.
5) Add the meat back to the pot and add water until everything is about 3/4 covered. You may need more later.
6) Bring to gentle simmer and cover. The heat should be quite low. Check often to make sure it's simmering but not boiling.
7) When meat is tender-ish (for us it was about 2 hours), add chopped potato and carrot to your liking. I used 2 of each. At this point you might want to try the broth and add seasoning if it needs it.
8) Cover and continue to cook until potatoes are soft and meat is very tender.
tips: If I'd had flour I probably would've put some in to thicken the broth. As it was it was fine, and gluten-free too! Also, start early because it really does take hours. We ate at 10pm . . . We had it plain but it would be really good over rice methinks. Oh, and maybe some of you Northern-dwelling family could try it with venison! Any really lean meat I think would work great. Finally, for those of you who work or are lazy or are otherwise not in a position to devote 4 hours to a meal, I'm pretty sure a crock pot would do the trick.
Yum yum yum, goaty! If anyone tries this please let me know!
1) Eid Al-Adha is perhaps the most important Muslim holiday. It is certainly in the top 3. It commemorates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son as God commanded. You doubtless know the story -- Abraham is super old, wants a son more than anything, with God's help he ends up with 2: Ismail, the older, born of Hagar, Abraham's Egyptian slave, and Isaac, the younger, born of his elderly wife Sarah (miraculously). Isaac becomes the father from whom all Jews are descended, while Ismail is the father of future Muslims. Christians and Jews believe God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, which he was prepared to do without Isaac's knowledge. Muslims believe it was Ismail who was to be sacrificed, and that Abraham, fraught with worry, told Ismail what God had asked him to do and asked for his advice. Ismail told him that if God commanded it then it had to be done and he consented to be sacrificed. In both stories, at the last minute God calls off the sacrifice and gives Abraham a lamb instead. (If I fucked any of that up please forgive me, I am no authority on Biblical stories). SO, now, Muslim families that can afford it slaughter a lamb or goat or whatever they have (or, more often these days, have it slaughtered) on Eid and donate the meat to poorer families. The mascot of this holiday is, somewhat morbidly, a smiling cartoon lamb. Very reminiscent of Thanksgiving and all the happy turkey pictures . . .
2) Meat at the supermarket is RAUNCHY. We went veg for awhile after some bad experiences, but vowed to someday try going to a local butcher. There are 3 in our neighborhood. The way the butcher works is they kill an animal every day and butcher it and sell it -- if they have lamb they have lamb, if they have goat they have goat, and if they have beef it is a very special occasion indeed. In other words, you don't choose what meat you want, you either take what they have or leave it -- but it is always incredibly fresh. People here don't usually distinguish between sheep and goats, so you can't always be sure what you're getting. But yesterday we went to the butcher, and with a little inquiring we learned that the meat that day was goat meat -- being that it's Eid, goat and sheep are ubiquitous.
Being undaunted by the prospect of cooking goat meat, unfamiliar territory, we bought a half kilo and headed home.
Many hours later, this is what we had:
1) Wash meat thoroughly with lemon or lime juice, then rinse with water. Our extensive internet research told us that goat meat smells bad if you don't citrus-ize it first. Judging by the smell in the butcher's I'm inclined to agree.
2) Heat a few Tbs olive oil (side note: this should be GREEN. Not greenish, not yellow-green, GREEN. If your olive oil is yellow that means it's diluted with corn oil and that is not ok) in a pot on medium heat. Stir in some spices, enough to make it a little pasty. We used mansaf seasoning (which is kinda curry-esque? kinda?), cumin, chili powder, and a little cinnamon, plus salt and pepper. Cook the spices for a minute or so until they smell really good and turn a little darker.
3) Brown the meat on all sides in the spice oil and then remove, leaving the juice in the pot.
4) Add one chopped onion, two minced garlic cloves, and one minced hot pepper to the pot and sautee until the onion is clear.
5) Add the meat back to the pot and add water until everything is about 3/4 covered. You may need more later.
6) Bring to gentle simmer and cover. The heat should be quite low. Check often to make sure it's simmering but not boiling.
7) When meat is tender-ish (for us it was about 2 hours), add chopped potato and carrot to your liking. I used 2 of each. At this point you might want to try the broth and add seasoning if it needs it.
8) Cover and continue to cook until potatoes are soft and meat is very tender.
tips: If I'd had flour I probably would've put some in to thicken the broth. As it was it was fine, and gluten-free too! Also, start early because it really does take hours. We ate at 10pm . . . We had it plain but it would be really good over rice methinks. Oh, and maybe some of you Northern-dwelling family could try it with venison! Any really lean meat I think would work great. Finally, for those of you who work or are lazy or are otherwise not in a position to devote 4 hours to a meal, I'm pretty sure a crock pot would do the trick.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
The Shebab Embark on a Seaside Retreat
The sea itself is gorgeous, though the beach left something to be desired (oh look honey, sea glass! Wait, ACTUAL GLASS. Watch out for that camel turd!). The water was insanely clear, and actually a bit cold. The narrowness of the sea was also surprising. Looking out over the water you see (very, very close) the stark rocky hills of the Sinai and the twinkling skyscrapers of Eilat, Israel. Looking South along the coast you see the thick black smoke pouring out of Saudi Arabia's oil refineries. A very strange site/sight indeed. The people on the beach were just as randomly assorted: white, bikini-clad Westerners; local men swimming or smoking argeela on the shore; groups of giggling, hijab-wearing teenage girls splashing in the water, wetting their jeans up to the knee; whole families having tea and elaborate meals inside tents or blanket forts. It seemed like all of Jordan was on the beach for the holiday. After taking a walk down the shore, we realized much of Syria was, too. UN-issued refugee tents had been set up all over the beach, the floors lined with stones, the insides decorated -- made into semi-permanent homes. As usual, that's about all I want to say on that matter.
All-in-all it was a highly relaxing respite from city-life. We swam, we lounged, we read, we enjoyed the availability of public outdoor space which is unheard-of in Amman, we ate the best meal we've had so far at a Syrian restaurant across from that glorious mosque, we played with the hostel kittens, and we did a lot of wistful gazing. Now we're recharged for more Arabic!
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