Memories of Ramadhan in Tripoli - Lebanon

Allah -o-akbar Allah-o-akbar. The sound of the azan caller is echoing form all Tripoli mosques' minarets all over the city. It's the first day of Ramadhan. It's just like any other ordinary working day except that more shoppers and people are found in the aswaks (inside markets) doing some of their day-to-day shopping to prepare their food for breaking-fast time. Here is Hassan the grocer shouting and calling the passing-by pedestrians to come and buy. There you see this shop owner helping this lady to pick her corjets for (koussa mehshi). There you have another man talking to Abu Salem the 'attar' wanting some special spices for a meal of 'jaaj -w- rizz' etc. Another woman waiting at haj Raheef the butcher's to get some 'lahmeh habra', he goes: what's for tonight ya hajjeh, she goes: 'kibbeh bil- sayneyyeh' ya hajj. Of course not to mention the chatting and bickering between the old ladies about how expensive things are getting and so on, what a sight!…And a smell that makes you hungrier and hungrier..

As you walk further down the sook you find all these go-carts mobile sellers showing their goods such as parsley, coriander, kharnoob, traditional sweets etc. You find all below average-class people gathering round the go-carts picking and choosing what they require. Here is this lady talking to this mobile seller: how much is a bunch of parsley? He goes a quarter. She says:- 'no I'll only give you those 15 piastres for it. He goes take two for 35 piastres then she agrees. Bargaining and haggling for concessions can be found in any place in Tripoli.

As we are in souk el-attareen one might fancy some 'moghrabeyyeh' and so you can always pay a visit to el-dabboussi's shop in this souk. 'Mograbeyyeh' is a very old traditional recipe originated from Morocco (Maghreb) hence the name moghrabeeyeh. It's made off little wheat balls; chickpeas and whole onions sprinkled with cinnamon powder and hot fried in large flat pans before your eyes so you can buy while you wait on the spot. You can have this recipe with traditional pickle (Mokhallal/kabeess), hot green pickled pepper (arn flayfleh) or Ewe Yoghurt (laban ghanam).

If you fancy some halawet eljibbn el-traboulseeyeh or halawet el-rizz you can turn back to haret al-awaynat near ahwet el-hitteh to pay a visit to mahal el-haj Rifa'at Elmaweyeeh who's probably the best and foremost in producing both kinds in Tripoli, if not in the whole of Lebanon. People come from all over 'bilad el-sham' to buy his special and very tasty kind of tripolitan traditional sweet. In fact, great many sweet makers in Tripoli and Lebanon unsuccessfully tried to imitate its heavenly unforgettable and very distinguished taste. Now how to make it needs a specialist to tell the tales of boiling, stirring, pouring and melting, not to mention of course el-kashta which is a traditionally made double whipped cream.

If you fancy to buy some traditional drinks to bring home with you for 'iftar' you can always find those pushcart mobile sellers selling traditional drinks like lamonada, kharnoob and sooss. You could still hear the caller saying (karnooooob assaaaaaaaaL). I remember there was a place in the Bab elramal side of el-nijmeh street called mahal abou rabii who sells (sharab el sooss). He wrote on the front of the shop (ajibto likowmin ymradoon wa fi biladihim irqo-soos), I wander why people get sick while they have the liquorice drink in their country, that is!

Some more novelties will surely come later in the remaining parts.

Without a doubt, having some ideas about the nothing but fantastic Tripoli cuisine during Ramadhan is a must and since Tripolitans excel in the provision of cooking, eating, entertaining, dancing and singing, 'Fann el-tabakh wa-nnafakh' that is cooking and eating would be a precondition. Tripolitan cuisine excels in the provision of food during this holy month and most housewives would surely come first and foremost with super distinction had a regional competition taken place in the Middle East. For instance, as starters, a typical ramadhanian table would have hommos, fatteh, baba ghannouj, tabbouleh, Fattouch, kibbeh nayyeh etc, etc, the list is endless. As we may all be aware of that the Ramadhanian table is distinctively full and exceptionally rich of different varieties of recipes. For example, a table wouldn't be complete without a little plate of dates, plate of fattouch sometimes tesekkieh (or fatteh) and shoorbah (soup etc) for starters. Talking of tesekkieh, it's always a good idea to explain what it is but this can be spared for later. Tripolitan housewives are nothing but experts in koussa mehshi, batenjan mehshi, kibbeh bilfirin, kibbet raheb, kibbeh bilsayneyyeh, sheikh el-mehshi, abawat, fatteh, touskeiyyeh, makloubeh, etc., you name it they have it. The cuisine really has all sorts when it comes to stuffing the mouths and stomachs.

On the negative side, however, one of the 'over the top' habits is having many varieties of food on the ramadhanian table and excessive eating in ramadhan. By doing so, most Tripolians defeat the whole objective of the fasting exercise, which is really self-explanatory.

Some more treasures will come in the next part, until then keep well.