Food Glorious Food

One of the things we both take pleasure in is eating...& it is a skill we have been exercising with enthusiasm since arriving in Jordan. Whilst in Petra, we had the opportunity to learn how to cook some Jordanian dishes, so, as you can imagine, we happily donned aprons & got stuck in! It was fabulous fun & we enjoyed the company of the other couple who were learning as well. It was quite a festive atmosphere as we sat down together to eat the results of our efforts! As well as a traditional Lentil Soup (also known as 'Poor man's meal'), we cooked 4 meze dishes. Two of these were cold; babaganouj & fatoosh, and two hot; lamb stuffed toasted pitas & a tomato & pine nut sauce. As meze come before every main course, we have been comparing our efforts with those dished up to us at restaurants since. We have yet to find a fatoosh rival, our babaganouj was as good as a well respected restaurant here in Madaba serves up, and our lamb toasties.....no one else comes close!!!!!! Our main dish was chicken cooked with onion, potato & tomato. Added to the flavour is a combination of 7 different spices.(Nothing like KFC!) We have had another version of the same dish, but not quite as tasty! One of the big things Jordanian cooks value is freshness. Even the chicken is as fresh as it can be. The birds are alive in the shop when the cook comes in, chooses which bird/s are wanted, then they are slaughtered, plucked & quartered right then & there, before they are taken away to become something delicious! A bit of an eye opener to us! Our guide, Jamilla has also introduced us to a few taste sensations, including a falafel wrap, doused with a dollop of chilli, salad & of all things...chips! GREAT snack for lunch! As our last meal together, she took us to a restaurant in a restored ottoman building. The atmosphere was charming with a huge log fire roaring away. When the meze arrived, there were so many that we questioned whether we'd have room left for mains, it was all so delicious. However, when the main dish arrived & it happened to be chicken....it didn't take long for us to recognize, that ours was very obviously superior!!!!