ALCASA held one of its most successful and rewarding events this month when about 50 members and friends gathered for a traditional Arabic feast at Houda’s Kitchen. The well-respected restaurant provided the perfect location for ALCASA members to gather together and celebrate the Association’s success in promoting inter-cultural awareness, respect and understanding. We were able to share stories over a trio of حُمُّص (hummus), بابا غّنّوج (baba ghanoush) and لَبنَة (labne); followed by practicing our Arabic conversation while devouring the delicious فتوش (fattoush) and تبولة (tabouli); and when we thought we couldn’t fit any more in, we laughed and joked over مناقيش زعتر وجبنة ولحمة بعٍجين (mana’eesh of zaatar, lahme and jibine).
The whole time we were so warmly greeted by our host Doumit and his family and were privileged to have Georges to teach our children to make manaa’eesh. Gorge had 15 children rolling dough, spreading zaatar and then watching it bake in their wood-fired oven. It was a delight to see the children’s faces light up during the cooking lesson and then their smile as their manaa’eesh were served to them to eat.
Doumit surprised us with a generous offering of mint tea and baklawa to finish off the event, and we all celebrated the opportunity to learn more about our members and grow closer and stronger as an Association. Let’s hope you all can join us next time.
Hassan Mekawy