In Arabic Cuisine there are many dishes that have lived through the sands of time, and many of them have the same significance as a turkey on Thanksgiving has for us. However, due to cultural differences, many Americans don’t understand why certain dishes are important.
Asida is a significant Arabic dish. It is cooked wheat dough that is placed over top of a honey or soy sauce. This dish of interest is most commonly related to events such as religious holidays including Mawlid and Eid. It is also served during traditional ceremonies accompanying the birth of a child, such as the aqiqah, or the cutting of the hair of an infant which is seven days after the child’s birth.
The earliest documented recipe for Asida is found in a Muslim cookbook dating back to the 13th century, and despite its extensive age, very little has changed over the centuries. Some ingredients have changed through the years such as the type of flower being used, however, even the fingers you use to consume it have remained unchanged. The dish is eaten by using your pointer finger and your middle finger.
Another dish that has stood the sands of time is Humus. Humus’ main ingredients include chickpeas and sesame, which were both grown throughout the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Chickpeas were common in Rome, Palestine, and many other cities and countries, and were one of the first crops to be found in Mesopotamia. Chickpeas date far back into the Arabic culture, which is why they are so heavily present in Arabic foods today.
Just like the ingredients, the manner in which the family sits down to dine has remained the same. When an Arabic family eats, they eat as a family; they do not start their meals until everyone has arrived at the table to dine. It is considered rude and disrespectful to do so. Also when visiting another Arabic families house, if you are offered a meal, you do not refuse the meal, and you eat what is given to you, as it is considered rude to do otherwise.
Humus is a dish that is served quite frequently in everyday life in different countries, including, and most certainly not limited to, the United States. Because of this frequency, humus can be made in a variety of ways. The way in which the dish is prepared depends on the eater’s palette. It can be made with vinegar, lemon juice, and a plethora of other ingredients that cause each dish to be an original. The first dishes of humus were said to have appeared in Egypt, but it is not clear if the humus that was made then is quite the same as it is made today.
In conclusion, all of the world’s cultures are perfectly represented in their own unique food. Their way of life and their different culture is seen in the history of the ingredients, the way the food was made in the past as opposed to how it is made in the present, even down to how the meal is eaten. People can learn so much about a completely different culture simply by trying that cultures food and the customs attached to the food. Food brings so many different people together and is one of the best ways to learn and assimilate into another culture.
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