I’d trade my birthright for mujaddara!

The class made the classic Syrian-Lebanese-Palestinian comfort food dish, mujaddarah, today. Rice and lentils, lentil pilaf, call it what you will.

The dish is academically important for many reasons. Lentils are native to the regions and are a great example of the cultural diffusion that occurs when one realized the extent of economic and cultural trade between South Asia, Central Asia, Southwest Asian, North Africa, Subsaharan Africa and Europe. While we are studying classical, mostly Abbasid agriculture and trade as well as the relation between resource management (mostly water) and grain agriculture Ottoman- Mamluk  Egypt these past couple of weeks, it is important to note two features about mujaddara. One is that it is rice based and would depend in the cultivation of rice in the region largely expanded by Abbasid care for public and agricultural infrastructure (e.g. dams, water wheels, irrigation canals, trade roots, storage facilities, etc.).  Ironically, the key spice, Allspice, in fact, was imported into the  Ottoman Empire, I believe, from the “New World.”

Using organic lentils and fair trade basmati, the class learned to make this simple but classic dish and, scandalously, ate it with pickled stuffed eggplants for breakfast (and without yoghurt at that!)!

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Manqushah ‘ala al-saj: Flat bread on the Saj

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The students experienced a rare treat. We made manqushah on a saj. Manqushah is flat bread with z’atar (dried thyme,  sesame seeds and sumac) and olive oil cooked on a saj, an inverted iron dome put on an open fire.

To enhance this experience, the students learned to make their own dough, using genuine heirloom durum wheat. Durum wheat, a progeny of the first domesticated wheat (emmer), is the original wheat that Arabo-Islamic civilization cultivated and disseminated throughout the classical period. It was introduced to Spain and Italy and is the basis for pasta.

This past week and over the next two weeks the students will be reading about Abbasid “Green Revolution,” “medieval Arab food,” and agriculture and cuisine between the ninth and sixteenth centuries.

We are also fortunate that this durum wheat was grown in the Carolinas and milled by Anson Mills (ansonmills.com) here in Columbia!

The students did a fantastic job making their dough at home and rolling it out in class.

Labneh, Labneh, Labneh I am a USC Arab Food Student!

The Arab food class is back for another semester of knowledge, critical thinking, historical materialism, political economy, farming, cooking and communal work!

We started the semester by readings and discussing several articles about the revolutions in the Arab world and their relation to food security, the global market, neo-liberalism and social issues.

To cap off our first two weeks, the students each made *labnah* لبنة  (pronounced lab-nee in Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian and Jordanian).

They learned how to make yoghurt by boiling milk and adding a yoghurt culture, then straining it to make a very thick yoghurt (labnan), which has the consistency of very thick sour cream or a very smooth cream cheese.

They brought the product of their labor to class, sharing it with their classmates. I am proud to say that there were a high percentage of successful attempts. We boiled the less successful attempts in a demonstration on how to make “ashtah,” the curd separated from the whey, which can be pressed into a farmers cheese or feta. Or, in the Arab world, it is eaten with honey and almonds or put in pastries

We ate the labnah with Arab bread, green olives from Lebanon, stuffed eggplant pickles (makdous), and “zaatar” (dried thyme and sesame seeds) and oil from Palestine.

The students also ate “Shoufan,” yoghurt, oats and honey. I brought in my own yoghurt, which is made from a culture that has been continuously used for several weeks, honey (courtesy of my own bees) and organic oats.

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THANK YOU GUIDE TO CULINARY SCHOOLS

Our blog has been listed by the Guide of Culinary Schools as among the best “Middle Eastern Cuisine Blogs.” I really think this is very flattering and very exciting especially as most of the other top blogs are by folks seriously into Middle Eastern food and not academic, egg-head foodies like some folk who will remain nameless!

Here is the link:

http://www.guidetoculinaryschools.com/library/best-middle-eastern-cuisine-blogs

That said, this blog will be periodically updated as Prof. Sheehi will replant a summer and fall garden for the Green Quad but also a Winter garden for the next Culture of Arab Food class, which will be in the SPRING 2012.

Spring Time Update

The garden flourished throughout the winter and has been giving its bounty for some time. Many of the winter crops were not  indigenous to Southwest Asia or North Africa. For example, the boc choy and broccoli were planted b/c they did fantastically well and can act as a spinach replacement for  Mediterranean spinach dishes. Currently the two kinds of broccoli and the boc choy are bolting. I will be harvesting their seeds soon for next winter. They produced A LOT  of greens this winter as well as feeding the class in the late Fall. The kale is still a superstar. We experimented with plant density in planting the kale and we thinned it out periodically throughout the winter and early spring. These harvests provided many good meals for members of the Green Quad, faculty and students of the class.

A picture of kale mixed with mustard green is below.

That said, other plants indigenous to Southwest Asia and North Africa were quite loyal and very successful. The beats did famously and I harvested them today! In the Arab world, we boil them and eat them with sugar but we will just boil them and eat them without anything as they are so sweet. (Easter’s coming so we’ll have some egg dye too! Any one have a borscht recipe?)

The garlic are cooking away. They look fantastic and will be ready to harvest in late June probably. The herbs (oregano, thyme, mint, and  rosemary) are doing very well although the oregano certainly has stolen the show (a picture below is just a small sampling of a handful of oregano that I am drying).

The fava beans are king however. Just as last year, they looked gnarly after getting beans kicked out of them in the harsh winter. But as soon as the weather turned, they exploded with their beautiful black and white snapper like flowers and have been giving great amounts of fava beans. The beans are eaten raw, right off the stalk as a snack in the Arab world. But they have to be perfectly ripe, not too early or too late when they start to become woody. We also blanch them, then sautee them in oil, garlic and cilantro. Of course, we also dry them. In Egypt, especially, we make “foul,” the best peasant home dish, comfort food.

Where’s the Hummus?

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I think that someone might have accidently deleted the hummus/balilah (chick peas dish) entry!

But here are the images once again! It was a fantastic semester. Thanks to all of you and don’t forget to visit the garden!

Wrapping Up the Garden

As weather turns crisp and leaves begin to fall, USC is bringing an end to the Fall 2010 semester.  Students and professors alike are bustling around, busy meeting deadlines as we soon approach the holiday season.

Gardening held the same tasks that any other student has performed: weeding, watering, making sure the plants don’t drown from crazy thunderstorms.  The temperature was one big difference though.  Unlike earlier in the semester, the concern of our garden wilting and withering away in the Carolina heat and humidity wasn’t as big of a concern this late in the semester.  In fact, there was more of a problem with low temperatures, especially at night, freezing our humble garden.  Despite dramatic changes in temperature along with torrential winds and downpour, the garden remained in tact and continues to flourish with some much deserved rain.

I am sure that everyone, certainly myself, learned something from this class and our garden duties.  Boc choy, thyme, and keel are certainly not items I am used to planting in my own garden.  I still have a hard time remembering which plant is which, but no matter what the name of the plant is, I do know how delicious they taste!  It was wonderful being able to have a cooking component of the class that coincided so well with our gardening.  Preparing and cooking dishes with fresh ingredients from our garden was, well, re-“fresh”-ing.

This course provided all of us students an amazing opportunity to give back to the community, grow organically, learn about the unique history and culture of the Middle Eastern region, and be adventurous with food.  It was exciting and invigorating to have an enlightening academic course use outside material to enhance the course itself and engage the students.

For the next class, my best advice is to get excited, take notes (outlines ARE a good idea…), don’t be afraid to get dirty, and be adventurous!

Last Week of Duty

So I somehow got roped into doing garden duty for a second week, because the date I signed-up for coffee duty was a date we didn’t have class.  Instead of making coffee one morning, I ended up having to take care of the garden for a week, and that week just happened to be the last week of classes for this semester.  Perfect timing, right?

I was not at all pleased with the state I found the garden in Monday afternoon.  The soil was dried-out and there were little weeds and grass popping up everywhere.  So I spent about 45 minutes weeding half of the garden and then watering it.

I went back Wednesday and weeded the other half of the garden.  Since it rained Tuesday, I didn’t water the garden again.  But I did try to thin-out some of the plants (the kale, I think?).  They are twice as big now as they were two weeks ago, and they still need a lot more thinning-out.  Since the fierce winds of Tuesday and Wednesday had blown down some of the stakes protecting our garden from drunks, I had to do my best to prop them back up alone, which I assure you was not an easy task.  It seems as if we have lazy poles that just want to lay around all day instead of standing guard duty.

I had an easy time of watering, since it rained again Saturday.  But as far as having a partner, I think I was taking care of the garden solo.  Perhaps my partner forgot, or perhaps I just couldn’t tell what she had done.  Communication was certainly lacking, which makes me appreciate the ease of garden duty with Tyler as my co-worker.  At least now I can officially say I posted to a blog all on my own!

I would like to see how our garden fares through-out this colder weather, but now the semester is over, and the neglect of the garden in the past two weeks does not make me hopeful of its survival until next semester.  It’s a shame, because it is such a grand garden!

How Could I Forget the Lentils!?

I can’t believe that I forgot the lentil soup post! I am so sorry! The reason that I was so surprised that the students loved the Shoufan the most is that they flipped over the Lebanese (Arab) comfort food, ‘ads bil-hammud (Lentils with lemon). Ironically, the real start of that dish is neither lentils nor lemon but chard! This is the only chard dish that I know although I would not be surprised to find that it is used in other dishes with greens.

I took liberties with this recipe. While we usually engage in Arab-Carolina fusion in an attempt to maximize locally grown and seasonal produce, this dish calls for sumac. I have been contributing my own stash but this time, in place of the tart taste it provides, we improvised with pomegranates. They were not local (although a smaller yellow variety can be found in Rosewood Market from Georgia) but we used them as a tasty garnish and compliment to the soup. Another pot, we experimented. Instead of pomegranate, we put  freshly grated parmigiano. This one ingredient completely changed the dish and our ‘ads bil-hammud turned into sort of Arabo-ministrone!

 

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Simplicity is Elegance: Shoufan

Our last “cooking day” started out of the Green Quad kitchen as I gave the students instructions on how to make yoghurt. The students came in on Wednesday with mixed results. Lesson number one: never cry over 1/2 acculturated milk, curdled milk or sour milk! I had planned for some of the students to “fail.” With the pots of milk that did not successfully turn into yoghurt, I showed the students how to boil it and drain to get whey and curd.

Those who did have successful yoghurt were generous enough to share with the class to make the dish of the day: SHOUFAN. Shoufan is eaten in Egypt and is the emblem of simplicity and taste. Simply it is yoghurt with oats (shufan) and honey. (I will brag that the dark amber honey, which the students loved, was provided by my own bees.) This is eaten for breakfast. Despite our many culinary successes, the complex and time consuming dishes we made before, many of the students said this was their favorite dish.

With the curd from the “failed” yoghurt, we sprinkled some oats on it along with honey. It was a bit dry and would have made for great feta had we pressed it. However, the students saw how ricotta and cottage cheese are basically made in the process.

Many of the students had an aversion (grrr) but Amanda M was brave in overcoming her aversion and led the group in tasting the dish! Good on ya’ Amanda!

This class has been a wonderful experience. Teaching it in the Fall (as opposed to the Spring) really allowed us to take full advantage of the garden, learn from it, eat from it and become close to it understanding more intimately the relationship between humans and their food source. Thanks class! You were a joy to teach.

(photos will be posted)