by rchakaki | Jan 9, 2011 | Recollections
The compound backed the sea. At times I heard the waves, smelled the salty water, fish and seaweed. On Thursdays, a skinny, older man named Abu-Issa came carrying a woven basket filled with fish and prawns. He wore a wrap-around long checkered skirt, a wife-beater...
by rchakaki | Jan 8, 2011 | Recollections
Our Saudi home was in a gated community on the outskirts of Dammam, close to Kateef. It must have been built in the early sixties. It housed two larger double story homes, and forty some mid-size homes. It was gated in by a palm tree branches (sa3f) fence. The...
by rchakaki | Jan 7, 2011 | Recipes, Recollections
My favorite summer treat was Syrian ice cream; while many family members enjoyed the creamy ice cream served in cones by street vendors near Sibki Park, I savored this Syrian summer delight. I loved because it was a feast for my senses.. the ice cream maker prepared...
by rchakaki | Jan 6, 2011 | Recipes, Recollections
One of my oldest memories of Hama was in the kitchen in Jiddo Mohamad’s house. The smell of the warm buttery crust, the spiced meat and toasted pine nuts flowed down the halls of the old house, leading me to the kitchen. My step-grandmother “Khaleh...
by rchakaki | Jan 5, 2011 | Recipes, Recollections
Apricot jam was a special treat; I could have developed a liking to it because I watched older women in the family making it. The process was fascinating. I don’t remember the sequence or the entire process, however, I remember walking into the kitchen to find...
