(Found on soc.culture.lebanon (Usenet) - article header at the end.) >...On the food experience, the Lebanese way. >La raison du plus genereux est toujours la meilleure, nous allons le >demontrer tout a l'heure. >While in most cultures the meal is an organized progression of "courses", >or single dishes, as in a regular three course american meal, or an >extravagant seven course french dinner, the concept of "mezza", typical >in a Middle Eastern feast, is a complete anti-thesis to the former, in that >it's almost completely archaic, many different dishes being served all at >the same time, and consumed in no specific order, by equally archaic people, >in a free for all that could be the most fun anyone can experience, if they >can survive the stress of it all that is. >The whole thing starts very suddenly, as the maitre and his "garconnieh", >plural for garcon or waiter, frantically place small round dishes all >across the table (emphasis on frantically), supposedly a collection of >appetizers, but with enough variety and quantity to make for a whole meal >in itself, with the more exotic samples coming in those boat-like plates, >the kind that could still hold in the daily special, after it has been >bathed in a quart of olive oil. >Here the seating becomes crucial, for if you get stuck in front of a plate >of something you don't like, while your favorite dish is two arm lengths >away, you will end up with more food dipped into the tip of your tie than >in the piece of bread you are holding. >The people your uncle brought along are complete strangers, yet one of >them insists on sharing with you a bite of "nkha3at" (or fresh brains) >from his plate, and with such persistence as if to suggest that the whole >male-bonding experience between you two depended on your obliging him. >You can't decide which is more disgusting, the thought of actually eating >the brains of an animal, or the fact that it is coming from the dripping >hands of a complete stranger. You try to decline politely, but you end up >being dismissed with a disappointed smile, implying that you're still an >amateur in the game of real men. >"Getting stuffed" here is not a single occurence, as is the case at the end >of a structured meal, rather it is a multi-stage process, where slightly >longer breaks in the action are required to recover a normal breathing level, >before you plunge in for more. At the later stages, it is not the smell nor >the taste of the food that entices you into more servings, but the sadistic >feeling of pleasure you start to derive from inflicting more pain on your >already over-inflated stomach. >In one of those longer breaks, as you ponder quietly that "delicacy" they >call "Beyd ghanam mtaffa bil Haamoud wil toum", you start to wonder at its >origins. Who was it that actually came up with that dish, and under what >circumstances? It is usually pretty obvious where some dishes come from, >like "coq au vin" for example. Said to be a french peasant's meal, it >involves cooking a rooster in red wine with some onions and carrots. >All the ingredients here make sense, in the context of it being a poor >man's feast. The roosters are sacrificed instead of the egg-laying hens, >as only one rooster is needed for an entire coop, the others becoming >useless. The vegetables and the wine are commonly available all year >round, indeed even home-grown. But in which cooking contest was the dish >of Beyd ghanam conceived? As you try to analyze the ingredients, you find >that the first two, lemon and garlic, are some of the very few vegetables >that can survive for long periods of time at room temperature. Could it >be that during those periods of starvation they faced in Lebanon in the >last couple of centuries, when almost everything edible had already been >consumed, someone had really reached such desperate hunger levels that >they actually convinced themselves to eat anything they could find in the >remains of their last sheep, with what ever vegetables they had left? >Here the word "mtaffa" (extinguished) is particularly interesting, for it >implies a conscious attempt on the part of the cook to smother the repulsive >taste of the sheep's private parts with something as acidic and sharp as >lemon and garlic. Of course, what is more puzzling than the mysterious >origin of that dish is the question of why we still eat this stuff today. >But whatever the case, that was your last piece of analytical thinking for >the day, as the 150 proof 3araq starts to kick in, right at the same time as >your exhausted heart stops pumping enough oxygen to your brain. You manage >to squeeze in one last decision however, right before all your systems shut >down, and that's not to pass up any of the delicious stuff yet to come. >Now for the main portions, and not a moment too soon. Grilled everything, >sizzling on flat platters, with lots of smoke to boot. The table is not >cleared as it is left littered with half empty mezza dishes, instead the >huge platters of barbecued meat are placed on top of the other plates. >Only a westerner could find all this "cool", now if only one could fit a >laptop in this picture, it would make for a terrific IBM ad. >And no picture is complete without sound, well now everyone is talking very >loud, all at the same time, they probably can't hear themselves yelling as >they chew. And then there are the jokes, the dirty ones are whispered >quietly, but they always get the loudest laughs, attracting angry looks from >the less fortunate people sitting at the smaller tables around. >Then one of your relatives notices you. "shou leish sekit?" she says, as she >catches a glimpse of your empty plate, and adds "hmm, ma akalet shi inta!". >Then she quickly starts to randomely fill your plate with whatever she can >find nearby. "la'a please khalas, 3an jad shbe3et, ma ba'a fiyeh wiHyetik", >you plead as you try to cover your plate with both hands, to no avail. Your >protests are being ignored, but for a good cause of course, it's all in the >name of generosity, and you can't help but feel overwhelmed by so much >attention. The caring quickly turns ugly however, your body's refusal to >indulge 'another bite' is interpreted not as a lack of taste on the part of >your exhausted tastebuds, but as a lack of taste period. You could end up >in an emergency room having your stomach pumped for all they care, the >reasons of the more generous are always pure, the whole family agrees. >Dessert, assorted fruits (an understatement) and 'arisheh bi 3assal, everyone >becomes quiet, hands on their stomachs, heads shaking in regret as the pain >becomes unbearable. A more serious atmosphere reigns on the festivities, >the brain-dead have now turned to discussing the..."politics of the day"... >Well that had to be the coup de grace for me, I think I'm going to throw up. >Mur'ous "bil 'izen, samHouna" Haddad. >(C) Ah-Ya-Laeem Short Stories. >Happy turkey everyone. (especially Arif, Murat, and my favorite, Yalin). From nntp-oslo.UNINETT.no!nntp-trd.UNINETT.no!Norway.EU.net!EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!in1.uu.net!allegra!alice!walid Wed Dec 13 14:48:18 1995 Newsgroups: soc.culture.lebanon Path: nntp-oslo.UNINETT.no!nntp-trd.UNINETT.no!Norway.EU.net!EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!in1.uu.net!allegra!alice!walid From: walid@research.att.com (Walid Saba) Subject: Re: Reflections... X-Nntp-Posting-Host: dogmatix.research.att.com Message-ID: Sender: usenet@research.att.com (netnews <9149-80593> 0112740) Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Murray Hill, NJ References: <498tpk$auu@acmex.gatech.edu> Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 20:37:33 GMT Lines: 127 Great stuff Marc. !!! Great writing. I enjoyed the descriptions, the language and the style. gt5644a@prism.gatech.edu (Marc Georges Haddad) writes: