The baker is the sahab (friend, master, owner) of The Bakery of Blessing. His long paddles deposit the dough and retrieve the bread from the hot stones, which line the floor of the oven and leave their round indentations on the surface of the otherwise flat bread.
But today he has finished his sweltering labor and sent the loaves to be sold in the village. He has an appointment to keep with two old friends - old friends from their childhood days when life in the village was more simple. A man used to live solely from the produce of his own home, garden, trees and beasts, without need of anything else but good friends to enjoy the bounty of the land with. Life is still not expensive today. Technology is expensive today. You have your phone bill, electric bill, satellite bill, computers, mobile phones...
They know about the land. The baker is joined by Abu Azziz (Father of The Dear), who raises chickens and sells their eggs, and Father of Light, who works the terraced hills to produce tomatoes, cucumbers, spinach, olives and their oil. The baker is Father of Soloman. They mark the eldest son with the memory of their fathers name, and his grandfather, and his grandfather. They can tell you the name of anyone in the village, and his father, and his uncle, and his cousin. Well, not anyone in the village. Anyone from the village. There are the new people who come and go. They are welcomed and invited to join in the breaking of bread but they were not there for the breaking of the land.
Only Father of Light was born in another village. He came at the age of two amidst war as his family was expelled from their home and village by the sea. Today his home village is still occupied. It is occupied by a massive, modern airport. The place of his birth is now The Airport. When you step off the plane you might be stepping on his grandfather's grave and when you piss in the gleaming porcelain before customs, you might be pissing where his grandfather pissed. But occupation is not new. Before The Airport, there were the British, and before them were the Turkish, and the Syrians, and the Arabs, and the Crusaders, and the Byzantines, and the Romans, and Alexander the Great, and the Israelites, and the Philistines, and the Pharoahs and the Sumerians...
Tomorrow is the day of rest but it starts today, Thursday, after noontime when the bread has been sent off, and the eggs collected and the stone terraces mended. Every Thursday for as long as they can remember, the Baker and his Friends gather to break bread. Today they break bread and dip it in the steaming broth of broiled fish and spinach. There are no plates to divide what is mine or yours. There is only ours in the middle of the circle. After the meal, Father of the Dear pours Araq, a liquorice liquor, in small, clear plastic cups. He fills the cups only a quarter of the way with the potent liquor that is clear as water. But when water is added to fill the cup, it clouds in a milky haze.
They enjoy their drink with tobacco. Father of Solomon smokes one from a packet, than rolls one by hand, than one from a packet. No one around the table is too religious. Two are from the Latin Church but never go to the Latin Church. Father of the Dear says that what matters is in the heart. Maybe my heart is cleaner than some that attend mass every week. Father of Light has never been to mosque. Never! His father never went and his son has never gone. What does it matter that they are from different religions. Nothing! They are childhood friends. That is what matters. It is The Airport that wants them to be divided - to divide and rule. Besides, the worshippers of Ra and Caesar and all the other One and Onlys have all come and gone before.
What remains is the land, its fruits and friends.
The chickens are stuffed with baby onions, cherry tomatoes, small potatoes and whole cloves of garlic.
Relaxing after the meal with a beer or Arak.
Hommus with whole chickpeas, olive oil and parsley.
Shawerma meat carved on to a bowl of hommous with toasted cashews and green chilli.
Hommous prepared by Father of Steve with pickle slices, chickpeas, green chilli and paprika.
Kunafee Nablusaya, named for its city of origin, Nablus, combines several textures and flavors. This sweet is prepared in large trays. First, a layer of soft, white cheese (somewhat similar to Mozzarella) is spread across the pan. This is topped with a layer of wheat and then sprinkled with crushed pistachios. In sweet shops, the trays are kept over a bath of hot water so that the Kunafee is served warm and the cheese remains soft.
There are two main types of Kunafee- "soft" and "hard/crunchy". The difference being whether the cheese is covered with soft, thinly ground wheat (above) or crunchy wheat (below). Did you ever imagine putting shredded wheat on top of mozzarella for desert?
Baklavah, a gift of the Turkish/Ottoman Empire.
A tray of assorted sweets make a perfect gift when you are invited to a home.
Olive trees cover the hillsides. Stone walls form terraces which increase the amount of cultivatable land and prevents soil erosion.
The steeple of the local Catholic church.
The village mosque.
An old stone home is surrounded by its fields. No manicured lawn restricts the spontaneous beauty of wild flowers, indigenous grass and olive trees.
Not all of the trees lay bare through the winter. Lemons bring splashes of yellow to brighten cold and rainy days.
The shell of a van provides shelter for a coffee stand. In the cold, rainy weather, you can stop for a rest and a cup of strong Arabic coffee (spiced with cardamon). One cup will cost you 25 cents.
According to traditional culture, lunch is served on the ground. Soft cushions are placed in a square around the food for the guests to sit on. After eating, pillows and blankets are brought so that you can lay down and rest in the same place where you just ate. Lay down and sip a cup of tea as you digest your food.
Grape leaves and zucchini are stuffed with rice, ground beef, and spices. Lamb is first boiled in a large pot. The vegetables are then piled on top of the meat and steamed by the lamb broth. Fresh, unsweetened yogurt is served with the dish.
I am forbidden to go to the Sea. It is so close. I can almost see it from the mountain where I live. But it is so far away - behind checkpoints and walls. Living in this prison, I can only see the beauty of the Sea in the pools of rainwater that collect in these cement roads, leading nowhere, and in the clouds above the foreign fortresses that dominate the heights, and the cobwebs that pour down the stones in a gurgling waterfall.
Thankfully, there was a break in the bitterly cold days of winter for the weekend. The sky was clear and sunny - perfect for a barbeque on the balcony of Father of Fadi's apartment. The grilled kufta and chicken was enjoyed with fresh green olives from his family farm, pita bread, hummous and Turkish salad (tomato, onion, garlic, lemon, parsley and red chilli to spice it up!).
Kufta starting to cook over a bed of coals. Kufta is a mixture of ground beef or lamb and onion, garlic, parsley, allspice and black pepper. After roasting in the coals, the charred skin of these onions opened up to reveal sweet, carmelized flesh within.
Arak is a popular liquorice flavored liquor that is enjoyed throughout the eastern Mediterranean. It is normally distilled from fermented grapes and aniseed, which gives it its delicate liquorice flavor. The green bottle above is from Greece, where it is called Ouzo, and the other two bottles are locally produced in Ramallah.
The clear arak is not normally served straight. Usually 1/3 of a glass of Arak is mixed with 2/3 water and the resulting mixture produces an opaque, milky color. Arak is enjoyed with mezza, lots of little salads and appetizers.
Father of Soloman is preparing Musakhen for his weekly Thursday lunch with friends. He uses the deep stone oven that provides bread for the village. Tha'er, his assistant, looks on and waits with a pot of onions that are sauteed with salt, green pepper, cinnamon and other spices.
Chicken quarters are first baked in a tray of olive oil until they are almost cooked through.
The sauteed onions are then poured on top of the chicken and the tray is spun to disperse the onions and juices equally before being placed back in the blazing oven.
The slightly blackened Musakhan is ready to serve.
The tray is placed in the middle of the table where everyone can share the food equally. There are no seperate plates. Bread is used as silverware. Newspaper covers the table where bones are placed. Cleaning simply requires removing the tray and folding up the newspaper.
