Food Glorious Food....

Each week here offers so much to share, it is sometimes difficult to pick the topic. Over the last two months (yes, it is hard to believe that I have been here this long!) I have been archiving pictures of interesting and/or special foods to share with you. Ramadan has finished and we have now completed the first of two Eid breaks. Although not really comparable, many would consider this holiday as their Christmas. Lots of time is spent with family, and after a month of fasting, the next week is full of eating and enjoying more time with family. I successfully mastered fasting for about 25 of the 30 Ramadan days (fasting sun up to sun down). It was a good experience and I am thankful for it. Since Ramadan is about fasting, and Eid is about eating and enjoying meals with family, I thought I would share some of my favorite or interesting food items. I think this entry might be more of a photo montage than journal entry.

One of the most important things about fasting, is how one breaks the fast. After fasting all day, folks wait for the call to prayer or check the official sunset time. Then, they eat a few dates. There are a variety of ways to prepare dates. First off, raw Dates from the Date Palm tree are one way to eat them. My colleague Mohammed brought pressed dates (that are super yummy and gooey sweet) from Saudi Arabia and shared packs of them with each of us before the holiday. My friend Denny brought me a special one, a date stuffed with an almond. Yum! I ate the dates (2-5 and somedays 10 a day!) When celebrating an Iftar, the feast following the fast, bowls are available on the table with dates. One for the dates, and one for the pits.



Dates, Before



Dates, After

 Buying groceries is a breeze. There is a Lulu Express (the smaller version of the Lulu Grocery chain). I can walk to the store which is about 10 minutes from my house. I take my back pack and fill it full of goodies. I try to strategically plan how many heavy and light items for each trip. It has been working beautifully and I have no complaints! The Lulu is very nice and offers lots of items. Here are a few pictures of the store.


Just in case you are picky about your bananas, you can get them from India or the Philippines



All of the juices...so many choices, so little time!

Juices are very popular here. Have you tried Guava juice?

I tried Bitter gourd this week....verdict: Bitter.

Floor cleaning machine at the grocery.

Fish section at the large grocery store.

Lamb is very popular here. I was surprised to find these little ones hanging in the grocery. You can get them with heads...

or without.

Diet Coke is available...

and so is Pepsi!

For several days during Ramadan, I walked to the Club House (about a 10 minute walk) for their Ramadan Iftar. Eight dollars purchased fantastic international buffet full of great food and speciality juices! One night I took a few of these pictures to share!

Yummy, Yummy Lamb. So soft and tender!

Roasted vegetable salad. I enjoyed it so much, I made it for myself this week!

 
Lemon mint is my new drink of choice. It is delightfully refreshing Lemonade with mint crushed inside it! I am a fan!

Iftars for the student events were also fantastic! Salads, Dips and Rolls on giant platters.

With so much attention to food, it is fun to see all of the different creations. Check out this picture of a dog made in the top of a cup of coffee...How do they do that?



My first lunch after Ramadan fasting was a seafood salad from Dean and Deluca. Prawns, Hammour, Squid, and others in a citrus glaze.

Desserts are lovely here. I don't know how to categorize them. Lots of pistachio nuts, rose water, nuts, and fruit. Everything seems to be over-the-top well executed.

Candy covered in dried roses.

The souq or local market is another place to get groceries. The souq has lots of things besides food, but I will leave that for another post. Many people purchase their spices and local speciality items here. It is a fantastic experience and I can't wait until the weather is less humid so I can enjoy evenings there.

Inside one of the souq shops. Spices, candy and most importantly air conditioning!

The Souq also has some familiar places to eat as well. Can you guess what this one is?



How about this one?

With all of these exciting food experiences, I haven't cooked much at home. In fact, I didn't really cook until my 27th day here. I haven't taken too many pictures of my creations, but i do have a few things that I have enjoyed here.

This has been my drink of choice - Cran, Orange, 7up. Refreshing!

This salad could be one of the best things I've made in a long time! Bean, Cucumber, Tomato with peppers, cashews and fish sauce dressing. FANTASTIC! Thank goodness for Masterchef, Australia's reality cooking show!

To start making some exciting food, I recently purchased my first real appliance. It is a blender, food processor. Clever design and helpful to do all the things I need it to do. So far it made split pea soup, chopped onions and almost made almond butter (good enough to make a gritty raw peanut dip!)

I have a feeling that this will be first of many blogs about food. I will continue taking pictures along the way to share them with you. In the meantime, happy eating! (I will do the same!)