Halal Food Guide: Beijing Ramadan Iftar — Five International Buffets (Part 5C of 7)
Reposted from the web
Summary: Halal Food Guide: Beijing Ramadan Iftar — Five International Buffets is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Every year during Ramadan, having an Iftar buffet at one of the foreign restaurants in Beijing is a regular tradition for me. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Iftar, Ramadan Food, Halal Buffets while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.
First, there were eight meze appetizers, including hummus, baba ghanoush, and tabbouleh, which can be found in every Arab restaurant. The most worth trying is the Tunisian-style mechouia salad, which you can only find at their place in Beijing. Mechouia means "grilled" in Arabic. It is made by roasting onions, green peppers, tomatoes, and garlic in an oven, seasoning them with caraway, salt, and black pepper, adding olive oil, and finally garnishing with olives, tuna, and boiled eggs.
The main course is the classic North African Berber dish, couscous, served with tajine (stew cooked in a clay pot). Couscous is a staple food for the Berbers. It is made by rubbing semolina flour into millet-sized grains, which are then dried. A clay pot (tajine) is a cooking vessel with a round, flat bottom and a conical or domed top. This design lets evaporated steam return to the bottom, and you can add water through the hole in the lid.
Summary: Halal Food Guide: Beijing Ramadan Iftar — Five International Buffets is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Every year during Ramadan, having an Iftar buffet at one of the foreign restaurants in Beijing is a regular tradition for me. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Iftar, Ramadan Food, Halal Buffets while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.
First, there were eight meze appetizers, including hummus, baba ghanoush, and tabbouleh, which can be found in every Arab restaurant. The most worth trying is the Tunisian-style mechouia salad, which you can only find at their place in Beijing. Mechouia means "grilled" in Arabic. It is made by roasting onions, green peppers, tomatoes, and garlic in an oven, seasoning them with caraway, salt, and black pepper, adding olive oil, and finally garnishing with olives, tuna, and boiled eggs.
The main course is the classic North African Berber dish, couscous, served with tajine (stew cooked in a clay pot). Couscous is a staple food for the Berbers. It is made by rubbing semolina flour into millet-sized grains, which are then dried. A clay pot (tajine) is a cooking vessel with a round, flat bottom and a conical or domed top. This design lets evaporated steam return to the bottom, and you can add water through the hole in the lid.
