#bawadi

Florian Joy, “Bawadi”

JORDAN WHERE: Bawadi Mediterranean Grill (6304 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22044) (now with Turkish traveling companion Yusef! And a chef's daughter from Jordan! So much love!) Now that I'm getting to some of the smaller countries, I've started a new method of my madness wherein I parse through some menus online of miscellaneous Asian/Mediterranean/African to find restaurants that have at least one item from the country I'm searching for-- this miscellaneous Mediterranean grill for instance had Mansaf from Jordan, but when I tried to go there for a late lunch today I found that the problem with this new game plan is that some items are not offered all the time. After some asking around, I found that Mansaf is only on the dinner menu. I told them I would come back for dinner, but the manager suggested I try their lunch buffet because he assured me it was good. I still decided to come back for dinner. It was a good thing I did-- when I returned for dinner, the restaurant manager was waiting for me and he asked if I still wanted the Mansaf. I said yes, so he told the waiter who was serving me to get me the best piece. I didn't even have to look at a menu. I think he even did that side clap and I kind of felt like Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Um, okay, wow! The place itself was really beautiful. Incredibly authentic. I have never seen so many hijabis in my life. Everyone was so polite, very happy-- the girl next to me was also eating alone. So she introduced herself and joked about me really being interested in the Mansaf. I explained a bit about my project and that I wanted to eat some traditional Jordan food. She said it was a very interesting project and then asked what I knew about the country of Jordan. "Not much." I said sheepishly, "I'm going to have to start learning." "I'm the daughter of the chef. We're from Jordan, that's why I asked." And suddenly I realized that my new gameplan for smaller countries was working AMAZINGLY. So I started asking her all about Jordan. Then I did some learning on my own when her break was over and she had to get back to working. She was really sweet and motivated me to get my learning on post haste. I found out that Jordan is a very peaceful and loving country, which seemed perfect for the grand finale on Valentine's Day. It's one of the only countries in the Middle East that is pretty peaceful and one of only two countries that has made peace with Israel. It's also where Petra is located, the historical and archaeological city. And it's biggest claim to fame is that it was featured in Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. “Aren't you going to eat something?” A guy next to me who was also sitting alone asked and caused me to pause my research. He was really cute and gestured to the buffet. I guess he was wondering why I hadn't gotten a buffet plate. I told him I was there for one of the special dinner items that wasn't on the buffet. I ended up explaining a bit about my project when he asked. He was really fascinated and asked how far along I was on my travels. I showed him the app with the map and the colored-in countries. Then we started talking about how he was from Turkey himself and he suggested some good restaurants that served Middle Eastern food. And before I knew it we ended up in a two hour long conversation-- about food and traveling, families, blogging, different languages, the fact that THREE different people tripped or broke dishes within the course of our time there (heh, there was like a curse) and how we were both eating alone on Valentine's Day. He asked me to email him my Master List of restaurants and asked if I would like someone to go food adventuring with in the future. So.. basically met a cute Turkish guy at a Middle Eastern restaurant while eating alone on Valentine's Day just because we were seated next to each other. Totally blew the past few Valentine's Days away. It was a perfect ending to my day, what a perfect grand finale! The restaurant's food was AMAZING as well! Mansaf ended up being “lamb cooked in jameed/yogurt soup served on top of rice and shrak bread with jameed/yogurt soup on the side” (though at the time I was confused about the soup.. I thought it was like dipping butter). After Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Jordan food all ending up on the top of my favorites list, I think Middle Eastern food in general might be my favorite cuisine I wouldn't have tried without this project. Top marks all around! The things Jordan does with lamb and yogurt... just wow. I love lamb, I really need to eat more lamb. So soft and sweet. The mango juice on the side was good too, a bit more pulp-y than an Indian mango lassi. I'll be very pleased when I get to go back to Bawadi for the Palestinian meal they offer if it's anything as good as their mansaf. :) ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ JORDAN REDUX Holiday Yum Yum Box has arrived! It's their annual holiday box with a bunch of assorted countries and snacks based on the holiday traditions from those countries. Gingerbread from Poland, raspberry chips from Spain (they eat raspberries if they want love in the new year on New Year's Eve apparently), Baklava from Jordan for Ramadan (which is sometimes in winter but not this year), ect... Perfect for hibernating, drinking wine and watching bad Hallmark movies, which is all I've been doing this week (other than working).