Gaza gastronomy in a refugee camp

[oberliner]

Among the most common home-cooked dishes are maqluba, meat and vegetables cooked in a spicy broth, served with nuts, herbs and yoghurt; baba ghanoush or muta'abal, a dip of roasted aubergine, garlic, lemon and tahini; mujadara, rice and lentils topped with caramelised onions; and musakhan, chicken roasted with sumac and served with sweet onions on taboon bread.

In Gaza, traditional dishes often revolve around fish and seafood caught off its 25-mile Mediterranean coastline and tend to be fiery, reflecting an Egyptian influence. Recipes include Zibdiyit gambara, spicy shrimps cooked in a clay pot topped with pine nuts; habari ma'daggit il samak, small squid stuffed with dill, coriander and chilli; sayadiyya, a classic dish of spiced rice and fish; fattit ajir, roasted watermelon salad with green chillies and dill.

These dishes are to be found in an enticing new cookbook, The Gaza Kitchen, which combines recipes with stories from Gaza and the political context of the residents' hardships. One of its two authors, Laila el-Haddad, a Palestinian-American, who spent her childhood summers in Gaza, says: "Food was always a way for me to stay connected to my heritage and Palestinian identity.

"Even in such a small place there is remarkable regional distinction which generation after generation holds on to with great pride. In general, it's spicy, piquant, herby, sour and very earthy, relying on fresh herbs, green dill, dill seeds and a love for all things sour – sour plums or pomegranates, or lemon juice – and hot."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2013/may/14/gaza-gastronomy-refugee-camp-food

[azurnoir]

1. here's more from the OP

Islam, who married at 16 and whose husband's brother and sister were both shot dead in the house in Israeli military raids, is learning English so she can deal with foreign visitors without the need for translation. Her husband is unemployed, like most of the men in the camp, where many families depend on food aid. Despite the traditions and skills of home-cooking, Aida children suffer from high rates of calcium deficiency, anaemia and tooth decay.

In Gaza, almost 1 million people – more than half the population – receive basic food assistance from the United Nations. The 13 women of the Zeitun Kitchen co-operative have learned to adapt to the privations of life in Gaza: shortages of power and cooking oil; Israel's ban on many foodstuffs during the three years in which a stringent blockade was in place; the fluctuations in black market supplies through the tunnels to Egypt; the destruction of and restrictions on access to prime agricultural land; the imposition of strict limits on how far from shore Gaza's fishermen can lower their nets.

Olive oil is just one example. An essential ingredient in most Palestinian dishes, the uprooting of olive trees in both Gaza and the West Bank has made the once-abundant oil prohibitively expensive for many families. Now it is often used just to dress a dish, rather than create it.

"We either use a lower quality oil, or we import olive oil from Syria, which adds to the price," says Jamila Daloul, who founded the Zeitun Kitchen eight years ago. "Even when the farmers re-plant the trees, it takes three years for them to bear fruit, and at least 10 years to good olives."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2013/may/14/gaza-gastronomy-refugee-camp-food

[delrem]

2. The war crime denial business is the same everywhere.

I think the deniers are more concerned about denying the clear and obvious truth to themselves, for whatever reason. They'll deny actual substantive documentation in favor of cherry picked "controversies" like "were there actually x number killed", or "was this one person actually murdered", etc. - so if it can be shown, with however thin "evidence" provided by however biased a source that there's some question about e.g. the murder, or whether it was cinnamon or cardamon that was proscribed, so the whole damn war criminal enterprise can be justified.

[oberliner]

3. War crime denial?

This is a post about Palestinian food. It's from The Guardian. And it's very critical of Israel as is clear from the additional excerpt provided by the poster above.

[delrem]

5. yes, oberliner, war crime denial.

[oberliner]

22. There is nothing about "war crime denial" in this article

Can you direct me to what you think references that?

[delrem]

23. Because the article didn't headline itself as being

"war crime denial", that means it isn't. sheeee.

[azurnoir]

24. what is indeed interesting is that the article was written by Harriet Sherwood who just last week

the person who posted this said was an idiot

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1134&pid=41073

the article itself did not deny war crimes however IMO

[oberliner]

26. She is an idiot

That link you provided demonstrates that quite clearly. How she was unable to discern that Intel wasn't an Israeli company boggles the mind.

Maybe The Guardian should stick to assigning her articles about food. A less complex topic that someone of her limited intellect can handle.

[azurnoir]

28. so the article was only about food ? nothing more?

I think that was the lead in for much more

[oberliner]

30. Food and culture

I thought it was pretty interesting.

[oberliner]

25. Can you clarify?

I seriously do not understand your claim here.

[delrem]

27. My judgement was w.r.t. your selective quotation.

Which was coupled immediately with the deprecation of the effects of the Gaza siege in your comment 4.

Also, as you "seriously and sincerely" know this thread Gazan cuisine doesn't stand alone at this time, since just two days before you'd brushed off my reference to the US embassy memo: "Israeli officials have confirmed to (US) Embassy officials on multiple occasions that they intend to keep the Gazan economy functioning at the lowest level possible consistent with avoiding a humanitarian crisis." and a quote from Dov Weisglass that ""The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger."

Though I understand how you will likely forever fail to make the connection, nevertheless my judgement is that there's denial going on, though probably not on the part of the article's author.

[oberliner]

31. OK

Didn't mean it that way. Just thought that was the most interesting part of the piece.

[delrem]

32. I'm always interested in gastronomical delights.

I got proclaimed identical to shira for mentioning that there's a time or place for everything, and the time and place of a siege on Gaza isn't cool for claiming that Gazans are epicures par excellence, indulging in their fine cuisine.

To be sure, as cali mentioned, the cuisine is appetizing.

[pelsar]

11. its called being accurate...

anything wrong with it?

facts and accuracy dont deny anything, they give a better picture of the environment...as opposed to exaggerations, descriptions using terminology has little to do with the actual environment but designed to bring out a strong emotional reaction
____

i have no idea what your "clear and obvious truth is"....because as i see it, your the one is who "cant see the obvious"

the obvious is not the words of politicians, its the way people actually live....

[cali]

18. I'm going to try the recipe

for Krass with spinach. It sounds delicious.

[delrem]

29. Yes, it does.

[oberliner]

4. Thanks for including that

It must be more than a little frustrating for Palestinians not to be able to cook with the essential olive oil required for their favorite dishes.

[delrem]

9. You know that Gazans are a bit more trespassed against than is covered by "frustrated".

It would be an insult to you, to suggest that you didn't know this.

This is something I say about 'denialism', oberliner:
Denialism depends on an ability to lie, straight-faced.
So in the first instance denialism requires an ability to lie to oneself.

Your word "frustrated". As if folk under 100% military siege for years suffer from "frustration", e.g. that they can't cook their gourmet meals traditionally but must use a bit less olive oil. "Frustrating", but nothing that should get a person so fucking peeved about. There's no getting around it, that you who post these things are engaging in a sky to ground form of denialism.

[oberliner]

12. Clearly

But this particular example, I would imagine, is frustrating.

[delrem]

14. no, oberliner, it isn't. it's just another weekday troll.

[oberliner]

20. Huh?

No idea what you are going on about.

It's an interesting article about Palestinian daily life and culture, in the face of the many obstacles they are forced to overcome.

Some of us are actually interested in that sort of thing.

[pelsar]

10. time for some accuracy again.....

whereas the olive trees in the westbank are bring uprooted as punishment by the settlers and the idf its not the case in gaza.

In gaza the olive trees/orange groves were destroyed by bulldozers in areas the kassam shooters used them as cover.

area by area......a direct cause and effect. Infact it was so obvious that sometimes the olive tree owner would argue and attempt to fight the kassam shooters knowing full well what the end result would be. (eye witness, not published anywhere)

today they grow strawberries/flowers..low growing, cant be used for cover and meet with israelis to learn different techniques etc. May not be their traditional product, but its adaptation.
_________________________________

.....the olive trees in gaza were destroyed without loss of life to reduce the rocket attacks on israel.

[oberliner]

13. What was inaccurate?

Who is this post directed at? Me? The OP? What record are you trying to correct?

[pelsar]

15. nothing directed ...just a general comment

the article puts the westbank and gaza together about the olive trees, just though i would put a bit of additional information out here.

accuracy is what those who see the conflict in simplistic terms of black and white, good and bad..dont like to see. The OP itself was a nice human side story, always nice to read.

[delrem]

16. Not the most coldblooded opinion I've seen from the Zionists of DU.

Par for the course.
Tho' you guys certainly are competing.

[pelsar]

17. we've established that emotions guide your reactions...

so one expects nothing less from your posts, exaggerations, loose "facts" (if any), and attempts at pointed humor....

its great for the "underage crowd" but not much use for the grownups.

but, its fun having you around...

[cali]

19. you are the mirror image of

shira. you traffic in the same shit.

[oberliner]

21. OK

Thanks for sharing your insights.

[delrem]

6. This is from a different and less covered aspect of the siege.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/war-and-natural-gas-the-israeli-invasion-and-gaza-s-offshore-gas-fields/11680

"The [December 2008] military invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israeli Forces bears a direct relation to the control and ownership of strategic offshore gas reserves.

This is a war of conquest. Discovered in 2000, there are extensive gas reserves off the Gaza coastline. "

[azurnoir]

7. oh yes and it rarely gets mentioned

but 'if' they are connected to gas fields that are also off the coast of Israel they will be claimed as Israeli, much like the ones off the coast of Northern Israel that extend past the border and are also off the coast off Lebanon

[delrem]

8. "It should be noted that 60 percent of the gas reserves ..."

"It should be noted that 60 percent of the gas reserves along the Gaza-Israel coastline belong to Palestine."

This would, of course, make all the difference between a sustainable/unsustainable Palestine.
But there are those, who have the power to take, who covet their neighbors land and goods.

[Shaktimaan]

33. Really?

You should write an article about it. That website would publish it.