The Nation — October 30, 2017

October 30, 2017 The Nation. 27

SHERYL JULIAN

F

atteh is a hearty casserole of crispy pita bread beneath

warm chickpeas and a luscious garlic-yogurt-tahini sauce,

most commonly garnished with hot ghee, toasted pine

nuts, and fresh chopped parsley. Fatteh was featured at my first

dinner at Ritsona, with yogurt that Umm Ibrahim and the other

women made themselves. The traditional recipe uses deep-fried

pita. But oil for deep-frying can be wasteful and costly, as well as

a luxury that many Syrians in the diaspora don’t have; I adjusted

the recipe to use toasted bread instead. I also garnish with butter

instead of ghee, which isn’t as widely available in the United States

and Europe. —Dalia Mortada

Even the

technicali-

ties of Syrian

cooking are

changing.

Some

ingredients

are too

expensive or

can’t be found

at all.

Men traveling alone get advice on how to make certain

dishes from their moms, wives, or sisters through calls

and voice notes over WhatsApp, the free Internet-based

messaging service. Some ingredients are too expensive

or can’t be found at all. For some, packets of instant cof-

fee replace cardamom-spiced grounds. For most, lamb

or beef in Europe is a luxury—and besides, as Abu Ibra-

him noted, “the meat is different, rubbery”—so they

make do with chicken instead.

At Ritsona, about two to three times a week, the

camp “café,” Café Rits, distributes ingredients: sea-

sonal fruits and vegetables, oil, eggs, raw chicken, tea.

Café Rits started out as an effort to feed families hot,

healthy meals. “But I quickly realized that most peo-

ple really just wanted to make their own food,” said

Carolynn Rockafellow, an American former investment

banker who founded the café. For specialty ingredients,

a couple of men from the haara occasionally make the

trip into Athens to stock up on spices like zaatar, a tangy

mix that includes dried thyme, sumac, and sesame seeds.

“It’s not just the food and its taste that we miss,” Abu

Ibrahim explained. “It’s the ritual around each meal—

the people you share it with, the occasion, the ambi-

ence.” A day grilling is best spent in nature, Abu Shadi

added, and fatteh should be enjoyed with relatives for

Friday brunch.

Since we met, almost all of the families from the haara

have been resettled. Alan and his family, who now live in

Germany, were the first to go. “It’s like old wounds are

being ripped open again,” Alan’s mother said, crying, as

the other families gathered to bid them goodbye. Umm

and Abu Ibrahim are still waiting to move to Ireland,

although they now live with their four kids in an apart-

ment in a town close to Ritsona.

After years of violence and years spent in limbo,

the families are glad to start new, stable lives. The kids

are finally in school; they’re learning French, German,

Swedish, English. But some changes aren’t as welcome.

“Usually, in Syria, you make three or four main dishes,

because you always eat in large gatherings and there’s

plenty to share,” said Umm Ibrahim. Between her hus-

band and four kids, there aren’t enough people to feed.

With her extended family still in Syria and her friends far

away, her sobhiyya is, at best, shared virtually. Q

Ingredients:

1 29 oz can chickpeas (or

1 cup dried chickpeas)

1½ tsp baking soda

4 cups water

1 tsp salt

2 large pitas

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cups full-fat yogurt,

brought to room

temperature

1½ tbsp tahini

1 large (or 2 small)

garlic cloves, mashed

½ tsp table salt

2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted

2 tbsp parsley leaves,

finely chopped

1 tbsp butter, browned

(and hot)

For the full recipe, visit

thenation.com/article/

fatteh-recipe/.

FAMILY BRUNCH

FATTEH