By Melanie Arriaga, staff writer
During a worldwide pandemic, Covid-19 has blessed me with the opportunity to make deeper relations with individuals besides my family, I am thankful to have befriended my significant other in a time of complete isolation. I have been able to learn so much from this individual, his hobbies, his passions, his pet peeves, and his dreams, however, the most important one is his cultural identity. Since he is Iraqui and Palestinian it is complete 360 from being a Hispanic individual especially when you consider the fact my family is fully Hispanic and only hang around other Hispanic individuals because they don’t speak English. I am grateful to have been given the chance to learn about his culture through food and desserts, something so foreign to my taste buds until now. ( tried these foods based on his recommendations)
To embark on this food adventure I decided to start with middle eastern food from Mazra. It is grilled salmon, with yellow jasmine rice, which is commonly served with Arabic dishes as opposed to plain white rice. The grilled purple onions and tomato are paired with beets. There is also a side of Arabic salad which consists of thin slices of cucumbers, tomatoes, and lemon. And finally with a paste that is garlic butter. As I picked apart the salmon and ate the rice with a few slathers of garlic butter I was in heaven, the delicate flavors and savory salmon took me to another world. The Arabic salad also helped me cleanse my palate and within a few minutes, I was finished. I love the fragrance of the rice and the taste, the spices made the food so yummy.
This traditional Arabic dessert is called Knafeh, originating from Palestine, it consists of sweet cheese wrapped in shredded filo dough topped with green pistachios for a nutty flavor. Usually, this dessert can be eaten with the tea of your choice, on the side, there is clear sweet syrup which is made from lemon juice, rose water, water, and sugar and you pour on top if you want your Knafeh to taste sweatier. As soon as I took a bite from this dessert an overload of sweetness overcame my taste buds, there’s a perfect crunch to this dessert and the sweet cheese on the inside just melted the dessert. These desserts are for the people with an immense sweet tooth, paired with tea elevated the desserts taste.
This dish is called Mensaf made of fermented dry yogurt and lamb cooked in said yogurt with yellow rice garnished with a nut-like substance and a ferment. I ate this dish back when I ate meat and but I thought it was an honorable mention seeing as I had not eaten another dish like this before, my favorite is the sauce and the way the lamb is tender and rips apart smoothly. It’s a hearty meal and I recommended it to get it from Mazatlan or any middle eastern eatery.
Another dessert that needs to be out on the spotlight is Loukoum or more commonly known in the US Turkish delight. Consisting of starch, gel, sugar, and sometimes dates. This one was covered in coconut shreds and some type of nut. The consistency was chewy, to say the least, but had a very sweet touch and the coconut gave it a natural taste.
To summarize my food adventure, I came out of this experience even more appreciative towards middle eastern culture. Trying middle eastern cuisine was a complete 360 from the food I normally consume, which consists of avocado toast, bagels, and Mexican cuisine. The flavors for middle eastern cuisine are much stronger, daring, and bold, they don’t mess around. When I eat Mexican cuisine the flavors are very spicy, and tomatoey as opposed to middle eastern food that has an array of spices, unique taste, and lots of garlic which I love. As of now, I am an active consumer of middle eastern food and I’m still trying new things every day.
