What I Eat

                  The mash of flesh, tears & votives.

You shall not wait thirty-five years for the recipe. In the meantime, wash and soak one kilo of chickpeas over night or at least for eight hours.

Good morning, while visiting the butcher, don’t forget to remind him:

For this dish, there is a way of slicing the beef, how the blade slides along muscle fibers & does not slash through.

Choose 750 grams fresh round or chuck beef.

Cut

Then, before plastic days, meat was gently wrapped in a cloth, brown paper or a newspaper. The latter would leave some ink, printed words on the flesh, some did not wash off.

I wonder where those words would nestle, once eaten & digested, streaming through our blood. On the tip of our tongues? Furrows of our brains, or endocardium of our hearts.

If meat was wrapped in poetry, would we become less violent and more romantic? Would we practice more empathy?

This dish takes so much time, energy, and muscle to make. It is originally cooked in large cauldrons, upon burning wood, 

Amongst vows & burning candles

Enveloped with sad stories & chants, 

Cooked slowly, oh so slowly

And meant for sharing

Served at banquets, celebrations & memorials

This is the signature dish of my hometown, the definition of ambrosial, I feel so proud.

Protein packed, are you ready? 

Flex & stretch your muscles…

Peel around six large onions, red or red & white, keep the skins for dying your projects.

Place the soaked chickpeas with their water in a steam pot, take one of the onions, quarter it, add the full piece of beef, a cinnamon stick, and a half a table spoon each of turmeric & cumin, 2-3 dried Numi Basras, make sure everything is covered with just enough water.

A steam pot is not for the faint-hearted, it needs to be managed carefully & attended to, never leave it on a high temperature stove, or it will explode! Never fill it more than half, or maximum two-thirds full. As soon as the water boils, lower the temperature.

Let them steam together at least 90 minutes, up to two hours.

Switch off, remove from heat, let some steam escape before you unclasp the lid, carefully, not to get scalded. Remove the cinnamon stick & numis.

Please do not use any food processers, nor blending handles, otherwise your whole trip to the butcher would go in vain.

With a wooden hand masher, or if you are gentle enough not to break a clean glass bottle, start mashing. Up & down, circular movements, slowly, rapidly, feeling the gravity of earth, as if plowing the soil of the meadow, until you get a yellow mush & the fibers start to disintegrate into a thick paste.

Dice the remaining onions, sauté in a pan with oil until golden, pour everything over the chickpea-beef mash. Mix, mash, and mix.

In a coffee/spice blender or with a pestle & mortar, finely grind together spices of: 10 cardamoms, 5 clovers, half a nutmeg, half a cinnamon stick, a pinch of saffron, a pinch of whole black pepper, a pinch of red chili.

Add to Qeema, stir in 750 grams of tomato puree. Season with salt, bring to boil on a low heat for another 30 minutes (covered but with no pressure), stirring from time to time, so the base does not burn.

It should turn orange in colour by now.

Serve with white Amber or Basmati rice.

Bil3afiya.

You are now nourished spiritually & physically.

2-5-2023