The Food is Unreal

I constantly find myself marveling at how scrumptious all of the food here is. I figured since I keep commenting on it and all of the unique flavors I might as well write a blog entry! It's not like only a couple things are good at each meal, everything is good. More than good. Delicious! Or "zakee" (I'm not sure if that's the right spelling so someone Jordanian help me out! I couldn't find it on Google) to be culturally correct. Every day I keep thinking "oh there will be something that's not as good today" but there never is. It is top quality and usually extremely fresh and homemade. Tonight we had the privilege of eating with the family of a Jordanian woman named Rasha who is currently studying at BSC. Her mother is a phenomenal cook and being very hungry from the long day we had and swimming the Dead Sea, I was more than happy to dig in to the numerous dishes in front of us. The abundance of food here is amazing. Usually in the U.S. we'll have one main course and then a few side dishes. Here there are several main courses and many side dishes! It's so hard to decide what to eat the most of because everything is equally as good. I love the use of unusual ingredients to bring out unique flavors. Cinnamon seems to be very popular and was used on the fish at Buthina's house. It was amazing! I never would have thought of putting cinnamon on fish or any kind of meat and I'm not even that big of a fish fan but I had absolutely no problem eating 2 pieces. I noticed cinnamon again on the chicken and rice we had for lunch today. I also love the parsley and mint used in the chopped salads here. I think I could live off of those salads. There are often bits of lemon thrown in that add a great tangy flavor and crunch, not to mention healthiness. During one of our many phenomenal lunches at TTU we enjoyed "zahtar," a blend of ground sesame seeds, powdered sumac, and thyme used for dipping. I couldn't believe how good it was with some olive oil and pita bread. And finally I love the pickles here. I've always been a huge pickle fan and also a fan of anything unusual and with a kick. I'm not exactly sure what they use in the pickling process but I know that it's super yummy and unlike anything I've ever had. They're almost a mix of dill and bread and butter but leaning more toward the dill side. Amazing! I've been so spoiled with the cuisine here I think I'll start expecting high-end restaurant quality meals all the time now!

Mansef, the traditional Jordanian meal and the delicious fruit we had at Buthina's. It's always so fresh and ripe here!