Night Falls on Damascus

Breakfast

The first meal of the day can be a modest affair of flat bread, salty goat cheese, black and green olives, and fresh fruit from the famed orchards surrounding Damascus, and labnah. The latter is a thickened cream cheese made from yogurt and sprinkled with olive oil.

A Syrian refinement of this staple is called arous labnah, rolled sandwiches filled labnah and tomatoes, mint, cucumber, or other vegetables. A breakfast dip called z’atar is another favorite flavored with sesame, sumac seeds, salt and thyme.

For those with a sweet tooth, a pastry known as Kanafah bi jiban, a sticky confection made of shredded wheat slowly roasted with ghee, or clarified butter, served hot, and accompanied by a pot of sugar syrup.

Lunch

The midday meal in Damascus may well feature minced meat pies such as manoushah and laham bi’jan, flat bread or pita topped with meat, vegetables, cheese, and aromatic spices.

Equally tempting is a Turkish inspired recipe for Circassian chicken, grilled and topped with walnuts. Kebab comes in a dozen variations, including savory kefta kebab, tiny meatballs spiced with cinnamon and coriander and sesame.

A medley of side dishes accompany every meal and include couscous (steamed semolina), hummus (ground chickpeas flavored with garlic and sesame), and baba ghanouj, a dip made from roasted eggplant.

As with breakfast, the favored beverages are sweet Turkish style coffee and tea.

The Evening Meal

If one has a yen for something special for dinner, then a Syrian specialty called Yaknit al-kama will fit the bill of fare. It is a truffle stew made of broiled beef cubes, onions and flavored with lemon. The truffles are a type of edible fungi unique to the Syrian Desert and have a subtle and delectable taste.

A perfect accompaniment to this dish is a Middle Eastern salad known as tabbouleh, made from chopped parsley, onions, tomatoes, and mint leaves tossed with soft wheat kernels called burghul. A side dish might include meat or cheese stuffed grape leaves, and paper-thin Lebanese mountain bread.

Sweets to the Sweet

While Damascus is not as famed for its main course dishes as the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, it does “take the cake” with pastries and confections. Naturally, Damascus bakeries feature baklava, the delicately layered pastry filled with nuts and cheese and drenched in honey. The reader might recall that baklava is not a favorite of Nikolai Faroun’s but I have it on good authority that Faroun fairly drools at the prospect of eating the little pancakes called katayif and is even fond of the cigar-shaped, pistachio stuffed pastries called kanafa. Another Damascus favorite, ma’moul, is another pistachio filled confection enclosed with sugar dusted semolina piecrust.

Damascus treats also include sweet juices like jallab, made from mulberries and lemon and topped with raisins and pine nuts, and the slightly bitter tamarind water known as tamar hindi. As an added touch, Damascenes like their drinks delicately laced with rose water.

It is no wonder that legendary Caliph Haorun al Rashid, reigning in Baghdad, sent mounted servants to bring his confections all the way from far-off Damascus.

I hope you've enjoyed this arm chair visit to Damascus. I have more articles planned, so please return again. In the meantime, enjoy Night Falls on Damascus, and let me know your thoughts.