Culinary Traditions in Akhang-Ahvar - a Tourists Guide

During the annual Jawm Al-Nahr festival, visitors to Akhang-Ahvar will find that there is a plethora of food available from taverns, street vendors, sweetmeat stall and markets. However, such treats as Dragon Bread and Goat Head kebabs are not traditional fare for the inhabitants for the rest of the year. In this desert region, food is most often cured, fermented, preserved, dried or perhaps stored in oil or sugar syrup to make it endure the dry desert climate. Visitors to the city who come outside of the time of Jawm Al-Nahr will find taverns serving plain and traditional food and drink that any household kitchen would prepare.

History

Frugality with more expensive and rare food and drink is the main root of all culinary tradition in Akhang-Ahvar. It is a desert town, which sprung up around the mineral springs and underground rivers in a place two days from either coast to the east or west. Goats and camels are the main sources of meat and milk. Fruits and vegetables were gathered from oases but in modern times, some are grown in small irrigated plots, sheltered from heat and wind.

Execution

In ancient times, only family adults that had been cleansed in the waters and had fasted for a day were permitted to slaughter the family herd animals for food. This was done quickly and the meat was taken for smoking or drying as soon as possible. Bones and blood were used for many purposes such as incense, broths, fertiliser, pigments and so on. The hides were always tanned in stinking vats of animal and human wastewater. Nowadays in Akhang-Ahvar, there are qualified and skilled butchers who are paid to carry out these onerous tasks discretely and with kindness. Growing of vegetables and the harvesting of fruits is a year-round activity and families each have their own ways to preserve them in vinegars, sugars or oils, with blends of spices shared only by that family.

Components and tools

A unique tool to Akhang-Ahvar farmers is the palm picker. This is a 20-foot pole with a hooked blade on the end which is used to cut down bunches of dates and other fruits from high in the palm trees. Another item only really found in the desert is the coffee brewer, a sturdy double pot used to brew the strong drink from beans grown on vines that curl around the palm trees. Almost all cookware is made of copper mined from desert rocks, and crockery is hand-made and fired in kilns in Akhang-Ahvar, giving it a very traditional style of curling leaf designs painted in red ochre and green malachite pigments.

Participants

Traditionally, food is prepared and eaten in the cooler parts of the day, such as early morning and at dusk. During the heat of the afternoon, most natives drink coffee and eat small flatbreads perhaps with dates and olives. The normal breakfast is fermented milk curds and bread. Suppers consist of dried meats, preserved fruits and perhaps some rice, which is imported in great quantities year round from the mountain regions to the south. Almost all food is spiced with dried chilis, peppercorns and nuvia seeds which grow on bushes in the yards of many homes. The nuvia not only produces abundant spicy seeds but fragrant and succulent edible flowers which can be picked from between the long spines.

Observance

Before evening meals on the full moon, prayers are offered to Lurue and Selune to provide food and water for the next month for the family, and to give thanks for what has been received. One week before the celebrations of Jawm Al-Nahr, the more devout followers of Lurue and Chauntea will fast during the daylight hours, taking neither food nor drink while the sun is above the horizon.

Primary Related Location

City of Akhang-Ahvar