Monday, April 16, 2007

even though i have lived in Britain nearly all my life so far, i was never deprived of the wonders of Libyan cuisine.

my parents, especially my mother made sure that we new our cultural food, anyone who came from Libya to visit would bring back a bag full of spices, food, even sweets and chocolate manufactured and produced by Libya, i would get my never ending supply of henna with the lasga (sticky stencil) as a child i loved henna, i still do i just don't have the time to apply it any more. i remember my grandmother when she came over would mix the henna into a paste for me and she would add cool things like shahee 7amar (red tea) and lemons and all sorts, and then after applying it on my hand, she would get cloth and rap it around to preserve it, then put my hand in plastic bags and i would sleep like that, kinda like a boxer sleeping with his gloves, then i would wake up so early to unravel the cloth and peel the henna off and it would be sheer magic to see the patterns and colour on my hand, ooooooooh child hood memories :)

my brother would run a mile because he hated the smell, my favourite past time would be to corner him and then stuff my hand in his face, ha ha ha, he didnt find it funny.

when i went to Libya for the first time, i went to visit my dads aunts and uncles in Misrata (city not far from Triploi)i wanted Henna on my hands and and feet and when i asked for it there was shock through out the room and my aunt informed me that non married girls never put henna on their feet!!!!!!!

i didn't understand, and i was so disappointed but at least i got my hands done :)

so we grew up eating the likes of zameeta (a mix of whole grain barley, sweet cumin, sugar, olive oil) which me and my brothers loved, my mum will still do zameeta for us, she makes it healthy now by not putting any sugar in and instead putting dates which is interesting (my father is a diabetic so the house is sugar free as much as possible), my youngest brother had some sort of phobia of zameeta when he was a baby really was funny to watch and we would continuously scare him loool.

it was always amazing to open these bags that came from Libya, i always loved the smell, i came to associate it with Libya, and when my grand mother would come to visit she would smell like Libya :)

coffman i began this blog entry because of your question concerning cinnamon or girfa which is my favourite spice, so niceeeeeeee, and my intention was to blog about my favourite hot drink sa7lab or sahlab or sehlap as the Turks would spell it.

we would always have a supply of spices as well as sahlab which is a fine powder mix from wheat or something, if any ones please let me know exactly what its from because our sahlab is different to the sahlab from the other Arab countries, theres is made from the dried root of orchis mascula, and it tastes different.

with Libyans we either cook it with water or milk, but it tastes a thousand time better with milk, and then you top it off with ground nuts and cinnamon, wow its a taste out of this world, coffman i invite you to taste it :)it is a winter drink and for ages i used to always annoy my mum to make it for me until i learnt how to do it myself.

when i went to Turkey, the weather was still cold so sehlab was on the menu ever where, my non Arab friends with me where adamant that it was hot drinkable custard, which i have to admit Turkish sahlab does taste like custard.

any way that was my dedication of a blog about the wonders of sahlab and henna :@)

43 comments:

mani said...

Salam YAY im first this time woooo

"my brother would run a mile because he hated the smell, my favourite past time would be to corner him and then stuff my hand in his face, ha ha ha, he didnt find it funny."

muhahahaha.. yup.. did every Libyan family in the UK pass through the same evolutionary stages or what?? :D:D.. its amazing.. all I gotta do to bring back all the good memories of life here is read your blog WA.. I mean... you even lived in scotland sheesh thats waaaaay too close :D

I LOVE SA7LAB
I LOVE ALL THE LIBYAN HERBS AND SPICES
I LOVE LIBYAN POWER POWDERS!!!!! (Bseesa and zommeeta)..

James my best friend and flatmate here loves sa7lab and other LPP ...hates bseesa on its own, but if its got dates in it.. JJJJEEEEZUZ!!!..

emmala white coffe..

my mumma went nuts cause these guys here just dont wanna stop drinking it.. they just cant appreciate how expensive or hard to bring it is!! they think like its some kinda soft drink.. Aaaah 'gold' old mum.. she taught us to appreciate the little things by carrying them, hiding them, anfd blackmailing visa clerks with choccies and backlawa at the airport... shes amazing aint she :D

cheers WA

The Godfather said...

Maybe you can help me out WA......Now, obviously I can't have a tattoo, as much as I would like to?!?!?!?!? So, I have to pursue an alternative means of gratifying my Nafs....Henna Tattoos.

I need some info.....I need to get hold of some HARDCORE Henna that will last on me for like 50 years or something like that. The only downside is that Henna is only one colour, although I heard there is such a thing as Black Henna?

Talk to me WA, talk to me....

a_akak said...

Mani beat me this time!!!

Anyway, It is a universal thing that most guys HATE and I repeat HATE Henna as I don’t like it soo much that I have vowed to ban it some day :) and my cousins and antes in libya would do the same thing as they would corner us and put the henna infested hands on us (brings back bad memories) and Even I know that only married women do henna on their feet, from Gurma with my ants in libya :P as I love to sit with my grandmother and the older ladies “Masma3teesh!!! Sheno daret XXXXX fe 3irs salfha?” and all that stuff :)

Zameeta, my grandmother use to make us zomeeta all the time in the farm :) and she would do a “3abood” lol and we use to put Honey with it :)

Thank you W.A. as I am now even more miserable, sitting in my office in body but my mind has been wondering in Libya, I need to escape from this country ahhhhhhhhhh

Fe Aman Allah

mani said...

hehehe Ahmed I knew ud acknowledge my premiership in this article :D hehehehe

I agree I hate henna its vile.. and the smell is vile.. its just a 'woman' thing..

love tgesgees with the old ones.. especially my granny she has a rhyming moral for every piece of gorma another woman can throw in... the best relaxing gaylas with them

soo true man.. most Libyn shabab I met here who have grown up in the Uk cant wait to go back home... love the Uk.. but..nnaaaaah.. gotta go home :D

mani said...

wildkat.. in case ur wondering..

gurma - gossip
henna- henna! :P
gayla - siesta
masma3teesh - havent u heard
sheno daret - what she did
3irs salfha - the wedding of some familial relation im not really sure what ! :P
3abood - little zomeeta fingers! :D

sorry for jacking the blog WA hehe

salam

Anglo-Libyan said...

I must be getting old, I am trying to keep pace with your MashaAllah fast moving blog :o)

being in a Libyan home like you, we get all of that you mentioned from Libya eithr from relatives or when my wfe and kids go to Libya, so our environment here in the house in London is very Libyan.

I am afraid I hate Henna too, always have, once somebody put Henna on my daughter's feet, i hated it and thought her feet looked dirty, I do not mind Henna patterns on hands that disappear within few days but I really cant stand the thick black Libyan Henna.

Brave Heart said...

i like zumitta and i can eat 100 kg in one day i haven't any problem for that. my favor dish is megatea i don't know if u know it or no, but i cant discrib the feelining when u eat emgate with gdid, i'll start cry now. i'm not fan of asida and i have wierd habit with it i can't eat it by my hand, i just eat it by spoon and my mum always shouting on me and tell me if u need to eat by ur hand it's ok but by spoon no way.
about sahlep wlahi wlahi i cant understand how u can drink it, i don't like it. i don't even like to see it in cup. all my family drink it as water espicially in winter, me only the one i don't like it any more. even qefa i can't eat or drink any think contain qerfa, it's horrible

Chatalaine / شاتالاين said...

Thank you White African!
This was a very interesting blog. I have learned so much about the Libyan way of life.
I have but one question: If men dislike henna why do women put it on in the first place?

The Godfather said...

Chatalaine - Do men dislike Henna? I think perhaps, if it was overdone then maybe....however, if it is simple, elegant and beautiful why would a man complain?

MaySoon said...

WA, an intersting topic.. I can't stand Henna I caused delima when I didn't want to apply it on my wedding..lol however sahlb.. if it's already prepared i'll drink it, but for me to just get up and do it naah.. :o) I know it's good especially for the bones.. I am not a big fan of zummitta and bsisa either but my baby girl is.. she had bseesa for breakfast every morning in the winter.. yallah just leaving work and I wanted comment here :o)..

mani said...

@I have but one question: If men dislike henna why do women put it on in the first place?@

YEAH .. thank u sssooo much chataline.. WHY oh WHY do u gotta like Henna???? I mean, they dont do it for Us nu-uh... its just a beauty contest for the women when they do their own special wedding party thingies and show off delicate and intricate designs that they just HAPPEN to wanna sketch on themselves with vile smelling stuff!!!!

ive got SUCH a vendetta gainst Henna walahe.. for the countless days and nights I have breathed in the toxic fumes and watched with horror as woman bandage themslves up and sleep half mummified.

Godfather... henna is overdoing it..lol.. simple.. I mean.. a lot of men dont like lipstick (well.. i dont :P) !!... what do u think wed say about henna??

Maybe it was something that women could decorate themselves with yet still repel men :D

sorry for the rant (love this post)

white african said...

congrats mani for commenting first lol :)

you know mani i was recently introduced to white coffee through my cousin and man do i love that stuff, we finished it in like a week so my mum has asked her to send some more, the stuff is addictive seriously.

godfather now why on earth would you wnat a tattoo? and your right there is such a thing as black henna but you gotta be careful cuse it can be reactive, loads of people get allergic reactions to black henna, my friend is scarred for life, its a nice scar though cause its in the henna shape.

i have an idea we can brand you (is that what its called?) you know the hot iron, hee hee.

akak mani did beat you indeed :)

how could you hate henna? its cool stuff, maybe thats why many libyan mn hate it because of the famales intent of smothering them with the stuff, come on you gotta admit it is funny.

'3abood il zameeta' lool that name always cracks me up loooool, its teh best way to eat zimeeta though.

dont be misrable akak, just day dream and pretend your there :)

mani you too??? you hate henna, shock shock,

and lol at both you and akak for enjoying the tahadreez of the ladies, seriously akak though did you see what she was wearing in her brother in laws wedding, my god, what was she thinking? loooooool. classic

mani dont apologise bro lady wild kat is gonna appreciate it, thanks for the translation otherwise she may just kill me.

noooooo not you as well anglo, you hate henna, sob sob, if your daughter likes it then you must as well :)

ok maybe some one should invent perfume smelling henna? now that could be a multi million idea.

brave my god, wallahi one of my fav dishes is imgata3, wow its amazing, and your right with gideed its just out of this world, i love it sooooo much, not had it in ages, my mums frien has promise dto invite me over to her house when she cooks it next, cant wait.

i cant belive you hate sahlab, how could you? you have the sahlab gene missing from your body.

chataline your most welcome :) well not all the libyan men hate henna, some like it alot, many cant stand the smell so they prefer that its not done at all, but the overall product can be soooo baeutiful.

godfather like i said i think its the smell that gets to the men? and maybe the colour of the paste.

maysoon
mashallah how cute is that about your daughter, rabee ya7fadha.

your right preparing the sahlab takes time but the overall product, mmmmmmmm.

my friend was teh opposite to you, she really wanted henna on her wedding but her husband refused and she was so upset.

The Godfather said...

Surely it only smells when you are applying it; once it dries and you wash it off, all that is left is the pattern. Ci?.......

NM said...

Whitey i have a bone to pick with you how come i have never had any of these food eh eh?

i can't cook so there is my excuse whats yours woman? i think when i get back you should introduce me to all of this inshallah

Missing your crazy self and my mum's cooking :)

Brave Heart said...

hahaha on sahleb gene, this mean i miss many genes.
don't forget to invite me as well for the imgate3

mani said...

Salam again :D

cheers for the reply WA.. yeah UK needs a lot of Libyan products.. like white coofeee.. what if they get the MEZRAN frobbee here???? I swear it would outclass nero..

Perfume smelling henna?. now thats a thought.. you see godfather.. it dosent just smell when u apply it.. for the men that have to take care of their wifes decorated tender ends.. its still vile.. it tastes sour too :D.. and leaves an aftersmell for weeks in the lab they applied it in.. God knows which womans house.. and thats the thing.. its always done communally for maximum pungenace I guess :P...

Need to get some geddeed seriously.. the stuff is rare here though cause of the high risk involved at customs :D.. just makes the food more exotic.. hey WA im sure u can buy msareen in manchester right??.. we couldnt in Brum.. My mum brings back msareen with her from Libya in 4-5 thermos flasks! SICK! (as in good) :D

salam

white african said...

godfather actually the smell can linger on the hand for quite a few days, powerful stuff, but its worth it, and actually some people like smell, i guess where all different that way :)

nm heeeeey, i always feel like shouting for joy when i get comments from you only becaus ei miss your somali self, and i promise when you get back to manchester i will invite you over to taste the libyan cuisnes :0)

brave your alos missing the girfa gene, maaaaaaan you need a donation of genes lol. imgata3 coming your way...

mani thats an idea opening a libyan cafe that sells frobee, sahlab everything, wow how cool would that be?

lol at communal henna gatherings, come on its a chance to mingle and catch up over a plate of henna.

your mum is sooo cool lol, misareen in a tirmas, i swear us libyans can bring anything over, and your right you can get them from manchester, the libyans here hav ethere ways, im telling you!!!

The Godfather said...

Hmmmmm, interesting.....right WA, I'll be calling you very soon for further information on this black henna business. Maybe it is time for me to get some ink?!?!?!?

NATIVE said...

I am on the same boat with NM, Whitey. How come I don't know about this dishes also tut tut. And I am in Manchester so no excuse! :D

eternal peace said...

salaams i gotta admit i cant stand henna to, last time i wore it was when i was four or five,and its really weird to people in our culture when girls dont like henna the smell gets to me though and its develped into a phobia type of thing where i dont even like it when my mum has henna patterns on her hand and serves me food!!

i think perfume smelling henna, or non smelling henna should be produced soon, for all you bussiness folks theres a real gap in the market!!!

wasalam

Ala said...

Thanks a lot W A for letting me know of your efforts, and sharing with us what you know
I am going to start reading the piece now -
(i left a little word for you on my page - i know you don't need it .. but ..)

thanks again

Ala said...

Thanks WA,

I really couldn’t read it …
Too painful for me wallahi .. stopped half way through ..
Be back when I am ready wallahi .. wasn’t expecting it ..
I might even have it on my page as well

see you soon .. hope .. I am sure I will read it when I am a bit ..

anwyay, enjoy the familia, ok ??

& give them love from majhool plz

DaMoon said...

hehehe, I couldn't help but laugh out loud on u guyz! I am going to add my voice to da boyz I HATE HENNA...lol sorry sista, but gosh I can't stand its smell, yuck yuck and I also HATE sa7lib with passion 7asha ena3ma ugh! don't understand how u drink it! I can feel ur pain brother braveheart...lol man7bish 7atta ri7tah! zummita, used to eat it when i was young beseef and yes in da shape of 3abood...hahaha 3abood zummita...lol
akhh ya rabbi for some reason I am smelling henna...:s ewwwwwwwwwwww...lol

mani said...

ugh hate henna

Ever The Idealist said...

What’s with this henna discussion going on? Henna is feminine and absolutely wonderful to smell and look at. Guys need to re-think the way you view it. Maybe like WA brother your sisters used to torture you with it eh? Any suppressed childhood memories?? as for sehlab I loved it in turkey as it kept us warm and it smelled really good...didn't really know it was Libyan in origin. I am back WA...

Watch the black henna as its not always pure...

white african said...

godfather ink maybe the right thing for you :)

native my god sis, your back, is it a mirage, no its really you, lol

your right, your practiclly my neighbour, dudette all you gotta do is come over and i will be glad and more than happy to give teh libyan food experince :) i have tasted the kenyan experince and man you guys can cook..

eternal you to??? nooooo how could you hate it? oh well i guess its one of thise you either hate or love, like marmite.

coff your more than welcome :) i enjoyed typing that up, brought back wonderful memories for me, hope.

take your time bro, the entry will always be here :)

damoon, noooooooooo, you cant be a hater, i thought you would love henna, oh well, some people liek it others dont, im sure its in teh genes loool.

but you hate sahleb, girl i need to convert you to sahleb, or hypnotise you lol.

mani im going to convert you to teh henna club.

ever, my god is it really you, wooohooo, welcome back sis, gotta say i missed you loads,

yeh man sahleb is libyan, but its different to turkish sahleb, i will convert you to it,

see thats alot of converting...

Ala said...

hi White African, again

ok, I feel a lot better thank god, got latin music on, another fav btw, and copied the whole thing, all what you wrote, and now taking my time while the Samba is shaking the air

ok, here is some of the whole thing,

I noticed the piece you wrote has no title … on purpose?
But at least I found it useful, it remined me of the date; 16 April

Ok, I am taking complete liberty in saying what I want

You said “ i was never deprived of the wonders of Libyan cuisine.”
Yeah, I mean if a libyan girl is going to find it hard missing our food, then you can imagine how a guy feels, can’t you? … the other thing: libyan cuisine? You don’t mean all of it, do you?
Some of our stuff isn’t thaaat good, is it? health, to name just one, eh?


“.. anyone who came from Libya to visit would bring back a bag full of spices,”
yeah, good idea .. excellent, .. may I ask ( I am just curious ) how many times per year you get libyan folks visiting you, from libya + other places .. just curious really … the other day it took me 3 days to convince myself that I should phone them …. after being dead for 8 months .. yeah no contact, none whatsoever

“ i would get my never ending supply of henna with the lasga (sticky stencil) as a child i loved henna,”
that’s odd, .. are you saying you can’t get henna where you live? umm you surprise me wallahi

“ get cloth and rap …, then put my hand in plastic bags and i would sleep ..like a boxer sleeping with his gloves ”
like a boxer ???? you mean you aren’t one already? You sure ?? ummm… ok, we’ll see

“ and peel the henna off and it would be sheer magic to see the patterns and colour on my hand ”
may I ask: how do your European friends, and the public in general, react when they see your hand and fingers looking odd … as if been bruised and need covering .. any comments you get from them??

Oh … this is sad “ my brother would run a mile because he hated the smell,” … poor child …, here again “ my favourite past time would be to corner him and then stuff my hand in his face ”
May I ask: I hope not the same brother who came from school looking orange, was it? remember? Just because you didn’t have a rabbit, the poor kid had to suffer …

“ i went to visit my dads aunts and uncles in Misrata ”
We have a relative living there I guess … a bit outside the town … somewhere near farming community .. .. we used to ( don’t know if they are still there btw ) get vegetables , dillaa3, etc .. or maybe the wrong town if they don’t grow this stuff

“ when i asked for henna there was shock through out the room and my aunt informed me that non married girls never put henna on their feet!!!!!!! ”
do you know why they don’t?
do they associate using henna with being backward, ie not ‘modern’ ??
and why feet anyway when no one is going to see it because when you are out you will be wearing shoes??

“ so we grew up eating the likes of zameeta ” , no, we didn’t
I don’t know frankly, … I guess my father considered it a bit bad for health … also it might be because he thinks everything traditional libyan, or arab for that matter, is bad and backward ( he could be wrong obviously, but that’s his attitude )

“ zameeta .. by not putting any sugar in and instead putting dates ” , but dates has sugar in it, no ?????
“ my father is a diabetic so the house is sugar free as much as possible ”
house is sugar free ?? really ?? wow … you mean all the family members are being sympathetic to his illness??

Oh … here again, the poor kid “ my youngest brother had some sort of phobia of zameeta when he was a baby really was funny to watch and we would continuously scare him loool.”
May I ask: how many women teasing him in the house?? 3 against 1??

This is nice “ i always loved the smell .. associate it with Libya, and when my grand mother would come to visit she would smell like Libya ”
lol, I know exactly what you mean … lol
ya WA when I was 7 or 8, walking to school in the morning … I used to knock at the door of my best class friend, so he can join me for the rest of the walk ..
sometimes he is late, or still in bed …. His mum would come to the door, open it wide .. give a big smile, .. and says “ Cofman .. come in my dear son .. lol… owlaidi .. lol ..abdallah will be ready in 2 mins, just come in … so I go in ….
After school and when I am back home, and tell this story to my mum … my mum now says you Cofman when you were tiny you used to make me laugh till I cry … and btw WA, she does cry with laughter every time I heard her repeat the story …lol… she says “ Cofman, when you came back home you used to say: as you entered Abdallah’s house you felt 200 % sure from the smell that our coffee was better lol … crazy history lol …
( maybe my mum was mitshamta feehom that our coffee was better LOL )

“ coffman i began this blog entry because of your question concerning cinnamon or girfa which is my favourite spice ”
I like to thank you although I feel you don’t need my thanks, and also because we are good friends now

“ hot drink sa7lab or sahlab or sehlap as the Turks would spell it.”
oh .. that’s good news …. If the turks know Sa7lab then it shouldn’t be a big effort to find it

“ dried root of orchis mascula ” wow ?? what is this?? You mean from orchid flower ???? or something similar ??? no idea to be honest ..

“ sa7lab .. tastes a thousand time better with milk, and then you top it off with ground nuts and cinnamon, wow its a taste out of this world .. ” really wow wow wow
“ coffman i invite you to taste it :) ”
thanks a lot, from the heart thanks a million times, your invitation is warmly received. Consider it done, been invited, tasted the Sa7lab, and was completely overwhelmed with the smell alone

“ that was my dedication of a blog about the wonders of sahlab and henna ”
well … I am speechless to be honest … I have nothing to say or add … or … well, at least now I know I won’t try cooking the sa7lab … No chance …now I have more respect to sa7lab than before

- - -
hey wa, I have 2 or 3 cd’s of Frank Sinatra .. but my best is: New York New York .. .. I have 4 large 40 watt speakers … and our nearest neighbour is at least 7 or 8 meters away from us … when I am in the right mood … I .. not only play that song New York New York ..I actually kill it 50,000 times LOLOLOL … and
when I leave the house I feel like the most determined human being in the world … and if you listen to the words of the song, I bet many people of our circumstances can relate and identify with it : IF YOU Can make it Here , You can make it any where … wow wow wow – and how true, thank God for everything

- - -


ok wa,
I decided I am not going to thank you for the excellent job, the memories you brought to my humble soul …and many things beside

I do appreciate everything you, and young libyan ladies like you do , everything you ladies do make us guys feel the proudest guys in the world … you couldn’t imagine even if you tried how wonderful we feel when we see you confident, happy, awesome, clever, and with henna in the most unlikely places lol

hey wa,
been busy lately discovering new libyan blogs,,, meeting new people .. enlarging the circle of my libyan friends … so my on-line journeys are pretty erratic and unpredictable

could I ask you; if you like to hear my views on anything .. Or if you want me to write on anything, from my point of view, from a libyan guy who tries to live a decent, peaceful and hard-working life, hey wa?? Come to my page and write what you want, anywhere, anytime ( and if private, that too, no worries, go to contact; to my guest book)

ok, till later
( listen, you have a friend … and it is up to you, entirely up to you how you see me,.. if you ignore me it wouldn’t affect or hurt me … been through not only pages, but chapters .. … and as a friend, I guess I am pretty ok )

alf salam
( let me know if you are read it all lol )

white african said...

cof thank you so much for your kind words, very touching :)

your right i dont usually out a title, actually i dont think i ever have.

i actually like most of our food, although there are exceptions, like shakshooka, man i can never eat that stuff.

actually over the past 20 so years we have had quite a few visitors, mainly my mums sister and brother, her neices, my grandparents from my dads side.

but also cof every one here knows each other so family back home would send stuff back with friends as well, it worked out for us pretty well :)

as for the henna, your right i can easily get hold of teh stuff, but its diffenret to the one back home, i know i know spoilt for choice :)

lol at the boxing comment, i suppose i could be, maybe i should test my boxing skills on certain people.

the henna always looked pretty cool on my hands so i would get compliments as a kid, obviously the odd comment of ' you have mud and dirt on your hands' but those comments where rare, if anything i convinced my friends to try it our as well, my scottish friends, now that was an achievement.

it wasnt my brother who i turned orange, it was the oldest, th eyoungest actually doesnt mind henna surprisingly.

by the way henna on the feet is very pretty i think, and it looks cool, fair enough when your outside no one is going to see it but knowing your feet are doled up is pretty cool.

so you where deprived from zameeta :( oh well, i guess maybe your father didnt like the taste.

the reason why we dont have sugar in the house is becuase my father has a big sweet tooth and he really does not need encouraging, so we have to either hide the sweet stuff or just not eat them at home,

thanks for sharing that child hood experince, it was lovley to read, really :) i love the sound of mothers laughter, you know your home when you hear your mother laughing, some sounds in our life are so wonderful to hear.

as for sahleb, yeh im sure you can find some in any turkish grocery and glad your respcet for sahlab has increased :)

if i ever meet the people in the bloggin world, i would make sahlab for all of them :0)

how cool is that that you have frank sinatra cds, new york new yourk, good song, the man new how to sing.

i will most certainly take up your offer of hearing your views, ive come to learn that so many people in the blogging community have such good insights and ideas, so thank you soooo much for the offer cofman.

i will bombard you with my thoughts now lol

Lebeeya said...

I HATE HENNA!!!!!

It stinks.

My parents are exactly like yours, we have been out of libya our whole life but we always have never endless cans of hareesa, shahee akhdar, shahee a7mar, zumeeta, bseesam spices, dry figs, dry zaytoon and gdeed (from Libya)!

mani said...

yeah.. whoever said Libya's exports of food are negligable.. we export most of our own food to the diaspora walahe lol.. I love it

Ala said...

Thanks a lot for everything, really
( I hope you gave the familia love from majhool – plz do it for me )

see you when we meet again

Ala said...

Oh yeah, I think I know why you didn’t

Tell them love to you both from wa7da majhoola, ejdeeda 3ala el net, mit7ashama o matibeesh etgool esmaha

white african said...

leebeya woooohooo welcome back sis, misse dyou loads wallahi.

how could you hate henna? its good stuff, its brilliant for hair apparently, it has a lush colour, ok so it stinks but so does alot of stuff :)

mani us libyans can export anything including live things!!!

coffman lol, i will certainly send your sallam, my family are actually abroad at the moment but when they come back i will say that wa7ed majhool and wih7da majhoola islamu 3allykum lol

NM said...

I am looking very much forward to our dinner date:) mmmmmmmm

Anonymous said...

Sahlab is made from ground millet. I looked it up once and found out that millet isn't very nutritious - but Libyans think Sahlab is sooooo healthy for some reason.

white african said...

so am i nm, looking forward to catching up with you my sis :)

welcome khadija, and thank you for that i really didnt know what sahleb origionated from, and your right i awlays thought it was healthy or at least nutritional so thats news for me :)

Lady_K said...

Salaam
Mani thanks that was great little glossary. i was losing the thread there for a bit! whats zomeeta?

WA told me what the 3 stands for and the 7. when i read the words i have to stop and repeat with the correct sound. its a pain, guys spk english! altho for ages i've been sayin either WA gta learn Bengali or i've gta learn Arabic cos we just cant have private talks in public no more. altho we now have a very good facial/gesture/sign language that helps. Altho this blog is helping me learn Arabic, just the words for things, i'll go round to WA house and surprise mama and baba!

i love Henna, but am too impatient for it to dry and end up smudging it!

NM- how are you? i miss you, the beach, the shopping and the food of Iskandryia but im not missing the sun as its hot, hot, hot here too!

WA- You know what you've done with this blog? you have invited us all to your house for a grand Libyan style dinner. all these delicious [apparently]foods and drinks we dont know about. so tell us the date and we'll be there. Mama is back no excuses!
i help myself to your fridge everytime i'm over and i get fed boiled vegetables with pizza! thanks love! so you have to make some nice Libyan food for me!

white african said...

wild hey you enjoyed those potatoes, vegtables and pizza and dont forget the cottage cheese, so ha

but yeh man come over one day and i will cook you something nice, i love filfil ma7shee (stuffed pepers) and i can see you enjoying that.

Unknown said...

Hi!
Do you know where I can by sahlab powder (pure, not mixed with sugar and starch)? If possible at e-shop...

Thanks in advance
Mignon

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