Iftar Around the Muslim World
Iftar is a term used to describe the meal that all practicing Muslims have to break their fast during the holy month of Ramadan. The meal occurs every night at sunset, in line with Maghrib prayer, the fourth out of five prayers practiced daily. Iftar is most commonly shared with family and occasionally with friends as well. It kicks off the evening which generally lasts all night. Many families will gather with other members of their extended family or friends and pray, eat, drink and socialize until Fajr (1st prayer) the next morning. This cycle repeats itself for 29 or 30 days.
While food and the appreciation for meal time is already a strong facet of daily life in the Arab world, the meals shared during this month in particular hold an even greater significance. Meals are often prepared at home and done so with added tender, love and care given the special time of year.
It is tradition for all Muslims to break their fast and begin iftar by eating a date. Beyond that the food consumed for this meal varies widely from place to place. Local food customs take hold and this is when things get interesting. I wanted to shed some light on these culinary differences - the best way I knew how was to reach out to a handful of friends and ask for photos and a brief explanation of what they have for iftar in their respective countries.
This is not a meant to be a food blog post, but I do hope it makes you hungry.
Algeria
Flefla (Hmiss) - salad of roasted bell peppers and tomatoes topped with olive oil
Bourakes - fried dough pastry stuffed usually with cheese, spinach or minced meat
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
Chorba with Tagine meat - tomato based soup with lamb or mutton and chickpeas
Bahrain
Egypt
Mahshy
Various leaves stuffed with rice and mixed with tomato sauce and spices.
India
Iran
Saudi
Oman
Senegal
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec dapibus feugiat elit, pharetra fringilla tellus mollis at. Pellentesque lobortis lorem eget nibh pretium, ac eleifend ante gravida. Sed lacinia dapibus laoreet. Sed metus metus, hendrerit at bibendum vitae, hendrerit eget odio.
