Arabic Food and Arab Hospitality

beef, wrapped in pita bread. Another popular Arabic recipe that can also be found in a deli is taboula which is a finely chopped salad of tomatoes, parsley, fresh mint, and crushed wheat. Stuffed grapevine leaves, called warak dawali, is another relatively well known Arabic food. The Greek version of this recipe is called dolmas. The Arabic recipe contains rice with beef or lamb, and lemon wrapped in grapevine leaves and cooked. Grapevine leaves used in this recipe can be found in speciality food stores. Unusual as this recipe may sound, this dish is especially flavorful. One last Arabic food that is popular to Arabs and non-Arabs alike is the pastry baklawa. No self-respecting host would forget to offer a tray of a variety of pastries to their guests with piping hot Arabic coffee or mint tea. Baklawa, the quintessential Arab pastry, is almost always among the pastries Arabs prefer. Baklawa is made from walnuts or pistachios, cinnamon, and orange blossom wrapped in a thin pastry shell and soaked in syrup. According to one cook book (From the Lands of Figs and Olives), it used to be said that in the Arab East, no young lady would make a good wife unless she could make baklawa dough. Today, that dough or pastry shell used in the recipe can be found in many grocery and speciality stores.

With the variety, robust flavor and exoticness of Arabic cooking, it is a shame that it is still relatively unknown to the majority of people. Good Arabic food, combined with traditional Arab hospitality, can be a wonderful dining experience.

(Some information was borrowed from the following three cook books: A Taste of Lebanon, by Mary Salloum; Lebanese Cuisine, by Madelain Farah; and From the Lands of Figs and Olives, by Habeeb Salloum and James Peters which I highly recommend.)

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