From Europe to Bethlehem: discovering the taste of Palestine one dish at a time
From Europe to Bethlehem: discovering the taste of Palestine one dish at a time
Do people’s attachment to their food and food traditions have a stronger meaning when their land has robbed from them and they have been living under occupation for decades? What is Palestine’s food culture? What does Palestinian home-cooked food taste like? How does the Israeli occupation impact on people’s food habits? These are some of the questions that brought me to the Occupied Palestinian Territories in the summer of 2016. For three months, I was very lucky to spend time with people and families across the country to find out what makes Palestinian food unique. Based in Dheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem, I worked in close partnership with Shoruq Organisation to find out what Palestinian food really tasted like and how to prepare traditional Palestinian dishes. From refugee camps toa villages and cities across the West Bank, people welcomed me into their kitchen to share with me their Palestinian recipes and talk about food and life in Palestine.
In the land of olive trees and za’atar, food has a strong meaning here. As much as dabka, traditional music, arts and crafts, embroidery, pottery or the emblematic keffiyeh, traditional dishes like maqluba, musakhan and mansaf are part of the Palestinian identity and cultural heritage. Palestinians are fiercely proud of their food and people discuss it a great deal. Not just the recipes themselves, but the ingredients, how to prepare them, when and how to eat them and what makes them so delicious. And the older generations often talks about the importance of preserving Palestinian food and cultural traditions, especially as they feel so many things have been taken away from them.
Palestinian refugees more than others feel terribly nostalgic of the land and homes they lost in the Nakba. Their forced displacement didn’t just turn their lives upside down but it had a long lasting impact on people’s food habits. In Dheisheh, I spent time with families and I learnt how to make dishes like maqluba, falafel, hummus, waraq dawali and mulukhiyah. With Jamila, who is originally from Zakariyya in 1948 Palestine, we talked about how different today’s food is compared to when she was a child in Zakariyya. Back then, her and her family were self-sufficient. They grew their own fruits and vegetables and had some animals. The only thing they had to buy was rice, Jamila told me. She also explained that “people were stronger, their bodies were better because they ate healthy food.” Many refugees went from living in rural villages to surviving in crowded refugee camps. This changed what people cooked and ate. Families couldn't grow their vegetables or pick their fruits and green leaves. But in general food was quite different in the old days, Jamila explained. It was more natural and organic, not as industrialised as today. Jamila and her family are some of the lucky ones in Dheisheih to have some green space to grow fruit trees and vegetables.They also own a piece of land 10 minutes’ drive from the camp that overlooks the beautiful valleys towards Battir. Jamila’s husband Shaban, who is also from Zakariyya, told me “this land means everything to me. I feel more free here.” Being able to cultivate fruits and vegetables reminds him of the life he lost in Zakariyya.
When I set off on this adventure three months ago, I thought I knew what food in Palestine tasted like. In my previous trips here, I had tried many of the things that are typical to this part of the world, from fattoush, hummus, falafel, tabouleh and babaganoush to grilled meats and even zarb. But home-cooked food is different so it’s been a journey of discovery and amazement. Of course every country or group of people will in some way feel proud of their food and strive to preserve it, but in Palestine there is a fierceness to it that is hard to describe in words. Maybe this is because the very idea of a Palestinian identity is seen as threatening to some, but it’s also because Palestine’s food and food traditions are simply amazing. As a friend in Hebron recently told me: “Our food is full of heart”.
What comes next is a website with the recipes I learnt and stories I heard, and hopefully a book. Through this, I hope people around the world will not only cook Palestinian dishes but also understand more about the people of Palestine, their history, their culture, their lives, their ongoing struggle for freedom and what it’s like to live under Occupation.
All of this has been possible thanks to the great support of my partner organisation Shoruq and all the friends I have made across the country. I leave with a few kilos more and some of the best memories of my life. Visit Shoruq and Dheisheih. Visit Bethlehem. Visit and taste Palestine.