Recipe: Makdoos

One of my favorite foods here so far, which I had never had before, is makdoos. I asked Laila for the recipe and it is as follows (or as much as I could understand from arabic and hand gestures):

small eggplants (maybe they are babies? she said they are only in season here in Nov/Dec but when she visited her son in MD she found them at a Korean market), they are short, fat, and purple.

cut off the top, then slice open (vertically). wash in hot water, soak them until they are soft, then move into cold water. salt them.

place top (open side) down into a colander, covered, and with a heavy weight on them to drain the liquid. leave for 24 hours.

chop walnuts, mix with minced red peppers and garlic.

when the eggplants are done, stuff with walnut mixture.

leave for another 24 hours.

store in oil at room temperature (if you make extra you can keep them in the freezer and add them to the jarful of oil as you consume).

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Overall, I have been so lucky with the food in my house. Every time Laila makes something new, her husband, Philip, says "This is how your grand-grand-grandmother made food!"

On the one hand, it would be fun to have to shop for myself in the markets and buy food, trying out new ingredients and being forced to find new recipes. On the other hand, I get 3 homecooked meals a day, just as my grand-grand-grandmother would have made it, (what does Michael Pollan say? Don't eat anything your grandmother wouldn't recognize? I win!) and after hearing a little bit about a student's life in Damascus, it makes me all the more grateful for my situation. For example, the Australian student in my class, Jack, told me he eats tuna and pasta every night for dinner. He also pays about $150 a month for renting a room, though I don't know in what conditions. So there are extremes. I also overheard on the bus one woman talking about looking for rooms to rent and seeing one where 7 students share an apartment with one toilet.