A
y
e niv rsar n
Years
Local
FRIDAY, JULY 29, 2011
What’s the single common factor that’s present at weddings and funerals? By Sahar Moussa
L
ts wee s c i ab Ar
Katayef
Weddings Wedding food is a major issue in every culture. There are people who attend weddings just to enjoy the wide array of food choices. “In Kuwait, food is the most essential thing at weddings,” said Kuwaiti gourmet Talal. “We must hire a catering company that brings food from every national cuisine, like sushi, mini-burgers and pizza, but the main dish that must be on the table is the famous Kuwaiti dish ‘machboos’,” he said. Desserts are also quintessential at weddings. “Dates that come with Arabic coffee, as well as traditional sweets even more sweets such as cheesecakes and chocolate are a must,” he said. Kuwait isn’t alone in its love of wedding food, as it seems that every religion has its own culture and its own wedding foods and traditions. For 27-year old Amrita, food is the centre of a wedding. “That’s what attracts people mainly and usually the bride’s family offers the vegetarian meals,” said Amrita, Hindu woman from South India. “It’s completely traditional and always served on banana leaves. In our ceremonies we don’t have enough entertainment so the focus is, naturally, on the food served.” Funerals Despite weddings and funerals being complete opposites, one celebrating the beginning of something, and the other mourning the end, food is central to both. Food takes such an important role in funerals that it sometimes seems to come before grief. In Lebanon, for instance, following a death the family of the deceased will start preparing black funeral clothes that they will wear, book an appointment at the hairdresser’s and, of course, call a catering agency to serve black coffee and food. In some areas the relatives are the ones who cook for the funeral guests but, either way, it’s an extremely important part in communicating to the people there that you have made an effort. “At my mother’s funeral I made sure that everything was perfect; there was lahem baajeen (meat on pastry with yogurt), mansaf (rice and meat) and of course black coffee. It’s our tradition to offer food the first day of the funeral,” said Tharwat, a Lebanese woman. Like the importance of traditional food at weddings, it is also customary to offer certain foods at funerals. As a celebration is marked in a
A tray o f ch oco lat e
Graduation While weddings are a signifier of a new, fresh start, and funerals pay respect to the end, food is also present at celebrations that fall into the middle. Graduation, for example. Natasha, a Bulgarian expat, said: “At graduations, the family of the graduating student hosts the extended family and friends with loads of sweets.” In this, it seems, the West and East are not so different.
Chocolate cake
s
ive in Kuwait for some time and you will instantly remove the word diet from your vocabulary. Here it’s next to impossible to abide by any diet. Food isn’t like anywhere else here, it’s a major part of not only socializing, but also entertainment. However, apart from the usual breakfasts, lunches or dinners with friends and family, both planned and unexpected occasions, celebrations and traditions across the globe revolve around eating. People enjoy celebrating whenever they have the chance, especially in the Gulf and Middle East. As soon as any kind of occasion is mentioned, food is the first thing that comes to mind.
certain way, so is mourning. Jordanian and Palestinian traditions are almost the same when it comes to funeral food, with both serving mansaf and konafa (Arabic sweets) and, of course, coffee. Given the close proximity of the countries, it’s not surprising that they share such traditions. In the Gulf, however, it can be different and different not only by country but also by sect. For example, some Kuwaiti Shiites offer food on the third day of the funeral, whilst some Sunnis don’t offer any food or coffee at all. “On the third day of the funeral we make a lot of food like machboos with either chicken or meat and fruits then we open the door to everybody so they can come and eat,” explained Ali, a Shiite Kuwaiti. In some West African countries, people ‘celebrate’ during funeral especially when the deceased is more than 80 years old. There are lots of activities, including traditional dances. “In my state, we prepare different kinds of dishes to entertain the guests during and after the burial,” revealed John E, an expatriate from Southern Nigeria. “This can go on for more than two days, depending on how rich the family is. There are assorted kinds of food- including pounded yam, melon soup, fried rice, pepper soup etc.” Although the activities are different, there still appears to be a shared common factor in all, which is that they all turn to traditional foods. In Bulgaria, mourners gather around the grave of the deceased and eat food prepared by members of his or her family. It is traditional to prepare foods that the deceased were especially fond of.