Your Eid Table

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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. You know all this month we've been marking observances for the three major religions in our country that had big holidays coincide this month in a way that happens only a few times a century, Easter, Passover, and Ramadan. We've had many serious conversations about our complex relationships with our religious upbringings, the meanings of the holidays, the situation in the Holy Land for all three, Holocaust Remembrance Day earlier this week, the role of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in the war in Ukraine. Well, today, we get to end the series with a little bit of yummy fun because today, as many of you know, marks Eid al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting, and because it marks the end of fasting, the celebrations revolve around really great food. Depending on what country you're from, Eid can be celebrated for up to three days. We're going to open up the phones to ask what's going to be on your plate tonight, 212-433-WNYC. If you're celebrating Eid this weekend, just call up and tell us what will be on your Eid table. Are there any specific dishes that are from your culture if you or your family have emigrated from elsewhere?

Part of the premise here is that there are so many different countries in which Islam is a prominent religion and so many different kinds of foods. Maybe your culture has a twist on a dish that's found in other countries as well. If so, what's the special ingredient? If you're prepping the food yourself, maybe you're cooking as you're listening to the radio, we know people do that on Thanksgiving. That's one of the reasons we sometimes do this show live on Thanksgiving. How about on this morning of the Eid? What is your personal touch on food that is traditional in your family for this time of year? 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. What's on your Malaysian or Tunisian or Bosnian or Ethiopian Eid table? If your family has a history of migration, are there certain foods that were carried along from one country to the next that you'll be eating for Eid? What does connecting with that heritage mean to you as you do it through the food? 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. If you have any photos of your spread from this year or last, or a photo you took of your favorite dish, we'd love to see those too. You can tweet those @BrianLehrer, or tag us on Instagram with that same handle @BrianLehrer. Joining us to help take some of your calls and talk about some Islamic dishes from all over the world is Anissa Helou, chef, journalist, and author of several books, including the James Beard award-winning Feast: Food of the Islamic World. Anissa, thanks so much for joining us on the morning leading to Eid.

Anissa Helou: Thank you for having me.

Brian Lehrer: Welcome to WNYC. You traveled all over the world's predominantly Muslim countries I see for the book. Before we get into some of the recipes and themes, can you describe some of the rituals that you've seen for Eid in particular? Are people going to have very special food, stuff they don't eat every day on their tables this weekend?

Anissa Helou: Well, it depends on the country. It's always festive food and an abundance of it, and most importantly, sweets, a lot of sweets, and of course, the presents for the kids, the new clothes and everything. It's a very, very festive atmosphere with a lot of joy everywhere because also, it's the end of a harsh month, even though they feast every night, they fast from sunrise to sunset. It's the end of 30 days of prayer, the kind of aesthetic really atmosphere regardless of the nightly feasting. It's like Christmas for the Christians or Easter, lots of family gatherings, friends, and it depends on where you are.

One important thing is the whole animal. In many countries, they will kill a whole lamb or a whole camel if they're somewhere in the Gulf or Bedouin, or even a whole cow like in Central Asia. [unintelligible 00:04:51] actually it wasn't an Eid but it was a circumcision party and they had killed, I don't know, two or three cows and there were lots of different dishes, and the tables were covered with food and practically the whole town was invited. That's what Eid is all about.

Brian Lehrer: One thing that's probably on a lot of Eid tables I think are dates because they have a spiritual significance. Can you tell us more about that?

Anissa Helou: Gates?

Brian Lehrer: Dates.

Anissa Helou: Dates. No, sorry, I missed it, I thought Gates. First of all, dates is almost a holy fruit, let's say, because it's the main substance in the Gulf, the beginning of Islam. The Prophet Muhammad used to break his fast with three dates. They're very rich in nutrients. It's the most festive fruit, let's say, and the most significant food for Muslims.

Brian Lehrer: Let's take a phone call.

Anissa Helou: There are hundreds of varieties by the way.

Brian Lehrer: Varieties of dates, just different kinds of dates that grow, right?

Anissa Helou: Yes.

Brian Lehrer: You're not even talking about preparations at that point.

Anissa Helou: Well, lots of sweets make use of dates as well, or a date syrup.

Brian Lehrer: Yes. Muhammad in Haledon, New Jersey, you're on WNYC. Hi, Muhammad. Thanks for calling in.

Muhammad: Hey, Brian, how are you doing today? Thank you for taking the call. This is the conversation. I just wanted to say, it's too much focus on upper-class Muslims. They're the ones like all the fancy foods and fancy dates as your guest was just speaking. For normal Muslims like Egypt where I'm from, we break the fast with just baked beans and rice and then pomegranate, if you can afford one. To speak to your caller when she speaks Muslims, we're ot like the entire group with one view. She says dates, for example, are the food for all Muslims to break the fast and all that. Yes, the Prophet Muhammad did break his fast with three dates, peace be upon him, but for us from Egypt, if you have the means, a pomegranate is what you break your fast with or what you celebrate the end of Ramadan with, not dates. For us, it's going to be whatever the pantry has available for us to break the end of Ramadan with, and that's the food that we're going to be having. It's going to be just rice, beans, and whatever the pantry else might have.

Brian Lehrer: Muhammad, thank you very much.

Muhammad: All right. Thank you, Brian, be safe.

Brian Lehrer: Ramadan Mubarak and peace be with you. Who else? 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. What's going to be on your Eid plate tonight? 212-433-9692 as we continue with Anissa Helou, chef, journalist, and author of books, including the James Beard award-winning Feast: Food of the Islamic World.

Well, Muhammad made some interesting points there. One is, for one thing, different countries emphasize different things. He talked about pomegranates being more the fruit of choice than dates if people can get them. Also, he raised a class issue. He's it sounds like eating whatever he can get from his local food pantry tonight, reflecting I guess, his own economic situation. Of course, there's a lot of poverty in the world, Muslim world, as well as others.

Anissa Helou: It's true, but it is [inaudible 00:08:43] time of the year. Of course, it depends, but the rich people are very-- the whole point about Ramadan and Eid is to share the plenty, let's say, the abundance. When well-off families kill a whole animal, they will make sure to distribute parts of it or even buy special-- to buy animals to distribute depending on how well-off they are. Of course, as you say, there's a lot of poverty in the world, and then some tables are less abundant than other peoples, and some foods are less rich than others depending on the economic condition of the family. This said, poor or rich will all celebrate and find joy unless there is a real problem in that feast in those three days. In most countries, it will be three days of feasting, and we'll make sure that the kids have something to celebrate.

Brian Lehrer: Faisal in Queens, you're on WNYC. Hi, Faisal.

Faisal: Hi, Brian, thanks for taking the call. I am from Bangladesh. This morning we celebrated Eid amongst 10,000 members together in a parking lot. I was mentioning that, especially from Bangladesh, Indian Pakistan, we eat a sweet made of vermicelli with mixed nuts and cream. Very delicious, particularly eaten today. Also, I need to make a point, the United States is the largest producer of dates in the world, and the camels were brought earlier years to promote dates in California and other states.

Brian Lehrer: Good story. Did you just say that you celebrated this morning with 10,000 people in a parking lot?

Faisal: Yes, very big gathering we have in Ozone Park, Queens.

Brian Lehrer: That must have been an amazing scene in Ozone Park. Faisal, thank you for sharing with us. I heard you reacting there. Anissa, you want to say something?

Anissa Helou: No, I think this very same thing vermicelli is amazing because when I was in India and in Pakistan, I saw it in the markets, and it's very beautiful. It can be brown or white, and then they mix it with sweetened milk. It is a typical, typical Eid sweet.

Brian Lehrer: Listeners, who else?

Anissa Helou: I didn't make it to Bangladesh, but--

Brian Lehrer: [chuckles] 212-433-WNYC. What's on your Eid plate? Your book has so many culturally diverse recipes in it like crab curry from Indonesia and Nigerian breakfast fritters. You have recipes from Tanzania, Indonesia, Bangladesh. In fact, some of the recipes are linked by the empires that ruled certain areas we see, like the Ottomans, for example, but others hinge on halal requirements and religious observation. You want to briefly explain even what halal means to the uninitiated and what other religious observations bring some recipes under the Islamic cuisine fold?

Anissa Helou: Well, halal means what is permitted, and haram is what is forbidden. Halal meat is killed in a special way [unintelligible 00:12:20] to God. Then, they slit its throat and drain the blood away. Of course, there are certain meats that are not allowed like pork meat is haram. Basically, it's what's allowed in the religion, and as regards to meat, halal meat is killed in a certain way, and also in slaughterhouses like in England, if you go to ethnic butchers, say you have halal chicken and lamb and goat if they have goat and whatever, and they're killed in this way, that the blood is drained away and the name of God is invoked as the killing is done.

Brian Lehrer: Hi, Don, in Jersey City. You're on WNYC. Hello. Hi, Don.

Don: Hey, good morning. Eid Mubarak, everybody.

Brian Lehrer: And to you. What's on your plate tonight? What do you want to talk about?

Don: We had some kind of honey food. It's called Chermoula. This is from Tunisia, especially the region of [unintelligible 00:13:31]. It's like a jelly meal. It's made with raisins and onions. It's sweet. [unintelligible 00:13:41] we eat it with some salty fish. It's combination of both, sweet jelly raisins and salty fish.

Brian Lehrer: Hi, Don, thank you.

Don: Chermoula and--

Brian Lehrer: That sounds really yummy. Anissa, we've had callers from Egypt, from Bangladesh, from Tunisia. A good little sampling of just how widespread the Muslim population is and how many different kinds of cultural expressions in a culinary sense there are. Right?

Anissa Helou: Incredible. What is interesting talking about empires is that the Muslim world, I didn't go everywhere, but I followed the arc, and the arc is the same practically as the arcs of the empires, of past empires, not counting Indonesia and going that far east. It's extraordinary how I went to countries like you were talking about the [unintelligible 00:14:41] or even earlier empires. The food mostly is still very traditional and you can trace it back centuries. You can trace back dishes, recipes back to even a 10th Century, one of the first cookbooks that was written. It was really interesting doing the research for the book.

Brian Lehrer: One more that I want to make sure to get in before we run out of time in a minute is the surprising Uyghur dish that some, maybe most people, wouldn't know it came from that Muslim ethic group in China, the Uyghurs, who are so oppressed these days, the scallion pancake. Can you tell us in our last minute more about the dish itself and its origins and connections to Uyghurs in China?

Anissa Helou: Well, it's very interesting. The Muslims in the Muslim part of China is where you find bread and wheat. You don't really find it in other places. These scallion pancakes or other like the Samsa, they're like dumplings, but roasted in a pit oven, actually, the scallion pancakes you find them in other places. Using flour to make a kind of bread, this is like a filled bread and multi-layered. To separate the layers, there's fat and also there's a bit of starch, and they're very flaky and very delicious. They're a snack food more than a main dish.

Brian Lehrer: That has to be the last word. Anissa Helou, chef, journalist, and author of books, including Feast: Food of the Islamic World. Thank you so much for joining us for this. That was wonderful.

Anissa Helou: Thank you, Brian. It was lovely with you on the show.

Brian Lehrer: Listeners, thank you for all your calls, and Eid Mubarak to all of you celebrating.

 

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