Breaking fast at Iftar in Ramadan
- *Iftar – is the meal eaten at the time of sunset or Maghreb in the Islamic month of Ramadan. At this time the person who is fasting opens his/her fast by eating a date and drinking water or milk and some snacks.
- *Ramadan- Ramadan is an Islamic month of fasting*. In this month, Muslims fast for 30 days, refraining from eating from sunrise (fajr) to sunset (maghrib). Each morning one eats before sunrise at the time of ‘Seher’, this is followed by a day of fasting, ending with a meal at sunset called ‘Iftar’.
- *Fasting is meant to teach patience, modesty, spirituality, self restrain and purification.
After a long days fast, the time of Iftar is a celebration with food, and often a community experience. People often gather together at Iftar’s amongst families and friends to share the reward and blessings of sharing food and praying together as one community and family.
Living in the United States , the melting pot of different cultures, nationalities, languages, heritages and cuisines, we are blessed to have multi cultural Iftar’s, where we share and exchange our cultural experiences with each other. The faith and purpose may be the same but different cultures of the world eat and drink differently at the time of Iftar. Our recent celebration of fasting, faith and food happened when one of our Syrian friends hosted a beautiful evening for Iftar and dinner.
Here are some pictures of delicious Syrian Food our friend made and served.
Kibbeh- Meat balls
kawaj- kabba with vegetables
Ruz Bukhari
m’tabbal eggplant dip
Barak- cheese pastry
harissa- semolina cake
And here’s the Iftar and Dinner Menu:
- Appetizers: Dates, Barak ( cheese pastries)
- Entree and Sides: Ruz Bukhari ( Rice dish) ,Kibbeh( meat balls ), Kawaj ( kabob with veg.), Mtabbal ( eggplant dip), salad
- Dessert: Harissa( semolina cake); Pastry with nuts and syrup, fresh fruit
- Drinks: Apricot juice, Tea
End of the day of fast, sharing a delicious meal with our Syrian-American friends, we pray in this holy month to bless their land with peace. Amen.
This Iftar blog will continue with more about different cuisines of the world! Also read another article written many years ago about Iftar party Planning on http://hotsweetspicyrecipes.com/iftar-party-planning/