Breaking Fast During the Holy Month of Ramadan : Islamic Food Traditions Carry Over From Homes and Cafes to Houses of Worship

Fadwa El Guindi Ph.D., an anthropologist and film maker born in Egypt, is shopping at her favorite Middle Eastern deli-restaurant, Sabrina’s Food and Middle East Center in Culver City.

She likes Sabrina’s because it is a friendly place, with people who think of hospitality before business in the Middle Eastern tradition. “Come, sit down,” says Shoukry Haggar, the handsome owner, grabbing a chair from under the table. “Have a cup of coffee before you shop.” Haggar is all too ready to sit with you for a leisurely cigarette and a tale or two of the days when Gamal Abdel Nassar and Anwar Sadat of Egypt ruled. You don’t find that kind of service at a supermarket, after all.

Items Served Exclusively

El Guindi also likes to shop at Sabrina’s during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which began last Sunday, because she knows that she will find many of the items served exclusively during the major observances displayed in the spotless dairy cases, all prepared by Haggar’s wife, Laurice.

There is the feathery light Egyptian dessert, Atayif (pancake turnovers filled with walnuts), the dried fruit compote and Kamar El Din, the apricot fruit drink, the sweet foods most associated with the breaking of fast during Ramadan for many Arabs.

“It’s not that they are so difficult to make, but they do have a special enjoyment during Ramadan. Beside, people just don’t have the time to prepare some of the time-consuming Middle Eastern dishes, so it’s nice to have a good place that does it for you,” said El Guindi.

Reaffirmation of Faith

For observers of Ramadan, the holy month symbolizes a reaffirmation of faith in the oneness of God, the observance of the moral disciplines and generosity and forgiveness toward others. “It’s a time to cleanse the soul and discipline the body,” explained El Guindi.

Islam, which means “to surrender to the will of God (Allah),” is the religion observed by 800 million Muslims in countries circling the globe, from North Africa to South East Asia. There are about 5 million adherents in the United States and about 250,000 in Southern California.

Islam was founded in the 7th Century by the prophet Mohammed, who established the Five Pillars of Islam, the primary duties for Muslims to follow. These require Muslims to declare a oneness with God, pray five times a day, give alms to the poor and one’s house of worship, make a pilgrimage to Mecca, the birthplace of Mohammed, at least once in the Muslim’s lifetime, as well as to fast during the holy month of Ramadan, which commemorates the time when Mohammed received a series of revelations from God.

The holy month calls for fasting during the daylight hours, broken at sundown with, ideally, a light meal, although the tendency is to make the meal a feast. Foods, however, differ within each national group celebrating Ramadan. For instance, Indonesians who observe Ramadan consider a kolak pisang (a banana-coconut dessert) and candir (a yam dish) favored holy month desserts, while Muslims in Turkey might enjoy baklava, a walnut pastry.

Laurice Haggar, who prepares the cooked foods at Sabrina’s, is tuned in to the needs of the various Middle Eastern groups whether they are Turkish or Arab. “Many students, who don’t have anyone to cook for them, come to break fast with a meal here,” explained Haggar.

Families, too, partake of the special Ramadan feasts prepared by Haggar, for the Haggars have created an atmosphere in their restaurant-deli-music-gift shop that would make any Arab feel at home. There are low tables, colorful cushions and carpets, hassocks and brass trays. The latest tunes from popular Middle Eastern performing artists waft in the air along with aromas of home cooking. It’s home for many of the regulars, who often will stop by to read Arabic newspapers from around the world while they sip coffee, or to buy some cheese and a few sweets to take home.

Home-Style Food

At Sabrina’s, the array of foods meant to satisfy bachelors and families too busy to deal with time-consuming preparations is staggering in its variety and abundance, yet it is all prepared with homey care by Laurice Haggar in the brotherly spirit of Ramadan.

Haggar reminisced about such a feast in her native Egypt. “Even though we are Christians, we also celebrated with the Muslims because we grew up among them and exchanged visits during each of our holidays. We used to have fun especially during Ramadan, when cafes were open until wee hours and we stayed up celebrating until 3 a.m. to 4 a.m.,” she said.

Today on a typical Ramadan evening, a home-cooked meal prepared by Haggar at Sabrina’s is served promptly at sundown--about 8 p.m. during these weeks. To Western eyes Laurice’s spread for six might appear more like a banquet for 100. “The traditional meal contains many, many dishes, not just a few,” she said. Traditional Middle Eastern dining is characterized by abundance and hospitality. A host, in fact, who serves a meager table, where there is food only enough for the number of persons present, is scorned.

A Ramadan meal starts out with the fruit drink known as Kamar El Din, a drink made with apricot paste, or a yogurt drink common throughout the Middle East. There are always two or three different meat dishes, including roast chicken, leg of lamb and meat stews, such as the okra stew given here.

Several Vegetables

The meal also includes not one, but several vegetable dishes, most of them stewed, the preferred manner of cooking vegetables throughout the Middle East. Rice is a must and so are the various regional meat pies, which might be called sambousak by Arabs, burek by Turks or tiropeta by Greeks. There are also the standby desserts-- baklava in its many guises, puddings and such. But Atayif, enjoyed chiefly by Arabs, particularly in Egypt, is a must for Ramadan. “There is no evening meal without a plate of Atayif during Ramadan, even though it might remain untouched,” said Laurice. The dried fruit compote, known as Khoshaf , is also a must during Ramadan.

The food traditions of Ramadan carry over not only at homes and cafes, but also among strangers in houses of worship.

Foods are carried to mosques for distribution among the poor, in a gesture of alms giving and generosity.

Food is also shared with friends in common prayer of thanks.

At the Islamic Center on Vermont, for instance, hordes of adherents from dozens of countries file into the mosque with fruits, nuts and prepared foods of their native cuisine, giving it a scope of internationalism seen only in the United States.

Here are some of Laurice Haggar’s recipes for Ramadan and other days of the year, as well.

APRICOT DRINK

(Kamar El Din)

1/4 pound or 8 (1/2-ounce) packages apricot fruit leather

1 quart water

1/4 cup sugar, or to taste

Soak leather in water 1 to 2 hours or until softened. Place in blender container and blend until smooth. Add sugar. Makes about 1 quart.

CREPE TURNOVERS

(Atayif)

1 package dry yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

Walnut Filling

Oil for deep frying

Syrup

Combine 1 1/4 cups warm water with yeast and sugar in bowl. Add flour and mix until smooth. Let stand 40 minutes, or until doubled in bulk and bubbly.

Stir batter before using to make pancakes. If necessary, add enough water to make consistency of crepe batter. Heat griddle. Using 1 tablespoon batter for each, spoon onto griddle to make thin 3-inch pancakes. Cook until lightly browned only on 1 side. Remove from griddle and drain on paper towel or cloth until cool enough for handling.

Place about 2 teaspoons Walnut Filling in center of uncooked side of each pancake. Fold in halves like turnover and seal edges with water.

Heat oil to 400 degrees. Drop turnovers into hot oil and cook, turning to brown evenly, until golden brown. Place warm turnovers on baking sheet and drizzle with cooled syrup. Store at cool room temperature until ready to serve. Makes about 40 pancakes.

Walnut Filling

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup shredded coconut

1/4 cup raisins

1/2 teaspoon vanilla or orange water

Combine walnuts, sugar, cinnamon, coconut and raisins. Add vanilla. Makes 3 cups.

Syrup

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

Few drops lemon juice

Combine sugar, water and lemon juice in saucepan. Bring to boil. Boil vigorously 10 minutes or until medium-light syrup is formed. Makes 1 3/4 cups syrup.

FRUIT COMPOTE

(Khoshaf)

1 pound mixed dried fruit (apricots, peaches, raisins, dates, pears or others)

1 cup sugar

Dash rose water

Chopped nuts or sliced bananas

Place dried fruit in saucepan and cover with water. Soak 3 to 4 hours, then rinse and add fresh water to barely cover. Add sugar and bring to boil. Simmer over high heat 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add rose water. To serve, spoon fruit with some of liquid in dessert dishes. Top with nuts or sliced bananas. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

OKRA STEW

1 medium onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 pound boneless lamb, cubed

1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

2 pounds fresh or 3 (10-ounce) packages frozen cut okra

1 small green pepper, sliced

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt, pepper

Saute onion, garlic and lamb until lamb is browned. Add water to cover and simmer until meat is tender, about 1 hour.

Add tomato sauce, okra, green pepper, lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer over medium heat about 15 minutes for fresh okra or 10 minutes for frozen. Serve with rice, if desired. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

MEAT PIE

(Fatir B’ El Lahma)

1 pound ground beef or lamb

1 onion, chopped

Dash ground ground allspice

Dash black pepper

Dash ground cinnamon

Salt

2 eggs

1 cooked carrot, diced, optional

1/2 cup baby peas, optional

1 pound filo dough

1/2 to 3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

Saute beef and onion until beef is browned. Add allspice, pepper, cinnamon and season to taste with salt. Cool, then add 1 beaten egg and mix well. Add carrot and peas.

Fit 1/2 filo dough sheets into 13x9-inch well-buttered baking pan, brushing between sheets with butter. Spoon meat mixture evenly over filo layers and top with remaining filo dough sheets, brushing each sheet with butter. Beat remaining egg and brush over top sheet. Bake at 350 degrees 35 to 40 minutes or until pale golden in color. Makes 12 servings.