Bizarre foods of MENA

[allousa 1]

I LUVVVVVVVVV calamari. OMG!!!! One summer when we were taking a vaca up in the north of Morocco, a place called Yasmine Negro. It's right at the border of Ceuta. There is this little cafe that made hands down the BEST fried calamari I've ever had in my life! AGH!!!!!!

I really like most kinds of seafood but I never quite got into Oysters. I recently tried some that had been saut'ed in some garlic sauce and I was able to choke it down. Never liked scallops either.

[deemabrouk 0]

I can imagine that it's got to be tough to be a vegetarian sometimes. I have friends that are and I've been out with them before and people give them such a hard time about why they don't eat meat. Good God, what's the big deal! People like to eat what they like to eat!

I'm used to eating several small meals and whenever I'm eating with my husband's family, they keep piling the food on my plate. My father-in-law is so sweet to always make me my own little plate while everyone else eats off of the big one. But I can't ever finish what they keep piling on. My husband and his mom start arguing about trying to make me eat more. Not argue in a bad way. It's funny though.

I did have to chuckle though about the eyes staring out of the pot. I'm sorry...I know it must not have been funny to you at the time...but I can just picture that.

What made it Worse was that my son turned to my Husband and said "Mommy almost threw up!!!!!!!! "

BUT I am quite thankful I found alot of Vegetarian food in Alex, Egypt..

Thank you Momen's !!!

Edited June 23, 2007 by deemabrouk

[Henia 11]

Surprising MENA is very vegatarian friendly. Vegan on the other hand ..... weeeeeeeell!

Edited June 23, 2007 by Henia

[deemabrouk 0]

I made the mistake of getting Vegetarian Cheese in a Bottle in a American grocery store... I thought it was gonna be like a alfredo sauce.. Well come to find out.. It really was VEGAN (I guess they think vegetarians dont eat dairy?).. and it was like Mayonnaise.. with no flavor wicked gross!

My husband HATES to waste ONE DROP OF FOOD (sunna) BUT alhamdulillah he let me throw the jar away !! :thumbs:

[allousa 1]

I made the mistake of getting Vegetarian Cheese in a Bottle in a American grocery store... I thought it was gonna be like a alfredo sauce.. Well come to find out.. It really was VEGAN (I guess they think vegetarians dont eat dairy?).. and it was like Mayonnaise.. with no flavor wicked gross!

My husband HATES to waste ONE DROP OF FOOD (sunna) BUT alhamdulillah he let me throw the jar away !! :thumbs:

BLAH!!!!!! That sounds really gross!!!!! I gotta say, you are a braver woman than I to even try it!!!

[allousa 1]

Off topic for a quick minute...

I'm really thankful for all you that I have met on this site. It's been so hard going through this the last few years. My friends and family have been supportive, but they just really don't understand what it's like. It's very comforting.

[~Jess~ 0]

i like hummus its by far my FAVVVVV and escalope(basically chicken breast in flour and stuff fried) and i loveeeeeeeeeeeee anything Garlic!! but as far as real ME foods, i dont eat em cause they use onions ALOt and i dont do onions. and i dont eat the raw meats....or the mutton or anything that isnt beef or chicken. Geo cooks Italian food so usually we eat that, or just 'regular' food. except at family dinners when we have the 'BBQ' mmmmm i loveeeeeeeee their bbq chicken!!! mmmmmmmmm i miss Geo's food lol. I swear i lose weight when we arent together cause im not eating great food, i usually am just eatin junk here lol. but thats okay i realllllllly need to lose the weight.

[RaspberrySwirl 20]

Sheep's stomach, mom used to make soup out of it. It had to be cleaned thoroughly and soaked first. Ugh, remembering the smell makes me want to gag. x.x

[allousa 1]

Sheep's stomach, mom used to make soup out of it. It had to be cleaned thoroughly and soaked first. Ugh, remembering the smell makes me want to gag. x.x

oh...i just threw up a little bit in my mouth....uh! I don't even want to think about the smell.

[Henia 11]

Sheep's stomach, mom used to make soup out of it. It had to be cleaned thoroughly and soaked first. Ugh, remembering the smell makes me want to gag. x.x

Ok I am offically sick and it aint morning sickness~ :x.x:

Alousa that was very kind of you. Glad you are here and we are here to help ((((hugs))))

[allousa 1]

When my husband's family celebrate Eid Al-Ahda...they will roast the brains of the sheep. Hicham says they love it.

I've been really brave up until now, but I don't think I could do that. I just don't think so. Have any of you tasted it?

[deemabrouk 0]

yup Allusa... I agree... VJ is a great help.. and my MENA friends have been great dealing with my tantrums.. and rants about CAiro Without them.. I think i'd be on some serious med's.. rocking back and forth.. taking myself to a happy place.......

[allousa 1]

Henia - even though I don't know any of you, I earnestly want all of you to be reconnected with your loved ones. Outside of my father's death, this has been the hardest to deal with. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

Do you find when you try and tell people what you're going through, those that hear it for the first time...they always say, "Oh, I just thought you married someone and they come straight over?" If I had a dollar for every time that I've heard that!

deemabrouk - your wedding pics are really beautiful. What was your wedding like?

[Henia 11]

Allousa: I so do want you get reunited too dear. Many ppl here have been very supportive and helpful to me during this whole ordeal. My mother, who by the way is not too thrilled about my Algerian husband (she assumes he is the "typical arabe"...whatever that is) she says to me, why don't we just get a ticket and come home

[allousa 1]

AGH! That's sad! I hate the whole "OMG, you married an Arab man. Does he make you wear a burqa? Oh, he's going to take your children" That ####### REALLY pisses me off!

I'm SOOOOOO thankful to my husband and his family. They've opened my eyes to the world. I've grown so much as a person and have become more tolerant and open in my thinking. It really has been like a whole new world. And I don't know if this is true of your man, but I know that my husband loves me in a way that I have never been loved before. I mean with his whole heart. Does that make sense? I feel that from his whole family. That they do things with their whole heart. I'm not saying that ALL Arab men are shiny happy people...no one race is any how...