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To: lorrie coey who wrote (15660)	3/18/2000 11:20:00 AM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

Sawaya: Putting Arabian Food Into A Real Context Arab Media Syndicate (Permission granted to reproduce in full.) Sept. 1, 1999 By Ray Hanania Growing up in Chicago as an Arab was tough with all the discrimination and constant badgering we received from Americans ignorant about our culture or who harbored anti-Arab biases based in the political climate of the time. But, there always was a satisfying side: Arab food. I would watch my mom as she sat at the kitchen table slowly and meticulously rolling grape leaves that we often picked during trips through the forest preserves. They are all memories, today. The aroma of the heavily seasoned and pre-cooked diced lamb was so appealing: Mom nudging dad to pull the car over to the side of the road every time mom enviously spotted vine leaves growing along the forest preserve roads, and making us kids jump out and fill plastic bags with the carefully plucked leaves. No one taught me how to cook, but the close association between the food and those great memories of growing up with yumma and babba are so linked that I learned how to cook myself. I roll a mean grape leave! But, memory is not always precise, and in the early 70s, you could never find an Arab cook book in the local book stores. You still can't in most stores today, which are still managed by anti-Arab ignorance and biases. The only resource was called "Sahtein," which was spiral bound and published by the Arab Women Union of Detroit. The Hanania-Kronfil-Dabdoub clan had many relatives living in this bustling Arab American warren. I've had a copy of "Sahtein," the pages yellowed from the passing of time, in the book collection for years. Pages were dog-eared to mark favorite recipe reminders. And while "Sahtein" offered a great foundation for cooking, it did a poor job of providing that necessary link to our culture. Recently, Linda Dalal Sawaya solved that problem with the publication of her new book, "Alice's Kitchen: My Grandmother Dalal & Mother Alice's Traditional Lebanese Cooking." In the old days, few Arab Americans would recoil upon hearing the term "Lebanese." Today, it's typical of the segregationism taking place in the Arab community. We all used to be Arabs, but today we're everything else. Muslim, Christian. Palestinian, Jordanian, Lebanese, Syrian and Iraqi. But Lebanese cooking is how my mom, a Palestinian Christian from Bethlehem, would often refer to Arab cooking when speaking to other American housewives. The term "Lebanese" was familiar to them, more so than "Palestinian," and they reacted with less consternation than when hearing the word "Arab." Sawaya's cook book is an excellent collection of the great Arab recipes, Lebanese or otherwise. But what makes this gem so good is that not only does she do an excellent job of presenting the food selections and describing the precise ingredients, she goes further. Linda Sawaya does something that many Arab Americans often fail to do when addressing issues of importance to our community. She has put the subject into a personal context. A prelude to the book provides a glimpse into her family household. The stories she provides adds a seasoning that is missing from many ethnic cook books, and that is also so lacking in most of the books published by Arab American academics and some authors. Her story sounded so familiar to my own story that it made her collection of Arab recipes that much more significant to me. "Sahtein" is still available from the Arab Women Union in Detroit and off the shelves of many other Arab American organizations. But, if you long for something that gives you just a little bit more Arab cultural flavor alongside the wonderful, traditional recipies of "sitto" and "yumma," pick up a copy of Linda Dalal Sawaya's new book, "Alice's Kitchen." You can get a copy by writing to Linda Sawaya Design, PO Box 150878, San Rafael, Ca., 94915 for $20 including shipping and handling. Do yourself a favor, and enjoy the story Linda shares as you prepare your next ambitious mensiff plate. I did! Sahtein! (Ray Hanania is a Palestinian American author and writer.)

To: lorrie coey who wrote (15660)	3/18/2000 11:31:00 AM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769667

I am sure that there are variations by country, but this is from Lebanon. Why would you imagine that because you had not heard of something, it did not exist? I have more than once mentioned, on Sanity, my favorite Lebanese restaurant in Washington. Why would I have bothered to mention the difference if it were not noteworthy? LOL, indeed...... almashriq.hiof.no Stuffed Vine Leaves MAHSHI WARAK AREESH ¸ B›rre Ludvigsen, 1998 1 lb. fresh tender vine leaves 2 cups ground or chopped meat, preferably lamb Several meat bones 1 1/2 cups rice 2 whole garlic cloves 8 garlic cloves crushed with salt 1/2 cup lemon juice 1 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. pepper 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 2 cups cold water 2 medium sized tomatoes, sliced 1 medium sized tomato, chopped (optional) 1 tsp. dried mint Cinnamon and mint seasoning make this version of a popular eastern Mediterranean food typically Lebanese. Soften and blanch vine leaves by dipping a few at a time in boiling, salted water. Set aside. Wash rice and mix with ground meat, chopped tomato, salt, pepper, cinnamon and one half cup cold water. Stuff one leaf at a time. Place a teaspoon of stuffing in the center of each. Fold the bottom of the leaf up over the stuffing, then fold from each side to the middle. Roll tightly to form a cylinder about three inches long and somewhat thicker than a cigar (see accompanying illustration). Place layer of bones in pressure cooker and cover with sliced tomatoes and the whole garlic. Arrange rolls side by side in layers on the tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt and lemon juice. Add water. Cook under pressure 12 minutes. Simmer uncovered to reduce sauce. Mix one half cup of the sauce with crushed garlic and mint. Sprinkle this over the mahshi and simmer a few more minutes to enhance flavor. Remove mahshi carefully from cooking pan. Cool fingers in cold water to facilitate handling the hot rolls. Arrange on platter. Serve hot with bowl of the sauce. Cook without pressure if you prefer. Prepare as above. Arrange mahshi over layer of bones and sliced tomatoes. When all has been added, press down firmly with palm of the hand. Add water to cover, salt, and cook about an hour, or until leaves are tender and the stuffing is well cooked. Sprinkle with lemon juice, minced garlic and dried mint. Simmer few more minutes. (From Food from the Arab World Marie Karam Khayat and Margaret Clark Keatinge, Khayat's, Beirut 1959)

To: lorrie coey who wrote (15660)	3/18/2000 11:34:00 AM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

almashriq.hiof.no Stuffed Vine Leaves in Oil MAHSHI WARAK AREESH BI ZAYT 1 Ib. fresh tender vine leaves 1 1/4 cups rice 1/2 cup hurnmus (chick peas) (nuts may be substituted) 1/2 cup chopped parsley 1/2 cup chopped mint 1/2 cup minced scallions 1 cup chopped tomatoes 1 cup olive oil 1 1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. pepper 1/2 cup lemon juice 1 1/2 cups water 1/4 tsp. cinnamon 1 tomato, sliced 2 whole garlic cloves Wonderful finger food for buffet suppers, picnics or with cocktails. An appetizing dish for a meatless day. Soften leaves by dipping in boiling salted water for a minute. Drain and pile in deep dish while preparing stuffing. Wash and drain rice. Crack hummus (which has been soaked overnight) with rolling pin and remove skins. Make stuffing of rice, hummus, parsley, mint, chopped tomatoes, onions, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and oil. Add seasonings to taste. Stuff one leaf at a time, following method described in illustrations accompanying recipe for Mahshi Warak Areesh bi Lahm. Use a heaping teaspoon of stuffing for each leaf. Fold bottom of leaf up over stuffing, then fold in from each side toward middle. Roll up like a cigar. Rolls should be about three inches long and somewhat thicker than a cigar. Place layer of tomato slices with whole garlic in bottom of pressure cooker pan. Cover with mahshi, arranged side by side in layers. Sprinkle with salt and lemon juice. Add water. Cook under pressure for 12 minutes. Open cooker and simmer uncovered until sauce is thickened. Taste sauce. Add more lemon and salt if necessary. Allow to cool in sauce. Drain sauce into serving bowl. Lift rolls out one by one and arrange on serving platter, or turn out onto the platter. Serve cold. Prepare a day ahead, if possible, for best flavor. Cook without pressure if you prefer (see stuffed vine leaves with meat). (From Food from the Arab World Marie Karam Khayat and Margaret Clark Keatinge, Khayat's, Beirut 1959)