A Day in the Life....

[Elmotoo]

By member request, here it is! Any member who is interested in posting a story about 'a day in their life' is very welcome to do so. It doesn't even have to be in the North African/Middle East region although that is our focus in this Forum.

If you are interested, zmail me & I will build a calendar. The person posting their story will also have their recipes highlighted. A new member will be in the limelight for 2 weeks? More? Less? (that part is undecided as of yet)

I nominated our new host, Um Safia to start us off....

[Elmotoo]

***Allahu akbar, allahu akbar……….

This will be the first thing I hear in the morning. The sound of the call to prayer bellowing from at least 5 different mosques is enough to get anyone out of bed! And with so much to get done in a typical day, it's probably a good thing I'm woken at 5am!

First things first. I'll need to get some things ready for breakfast, this means coaxing a child or two out of bed and sending them to the local baker. We'll need plenty of Croissant, Petit Pain (Pain au Chocolat) and of course Baguette. Also required for breakfast are milk – which is sold in bags in Algeria (the children save the bags and make footballs out of them) and butter. The children can also buy a few bits and pieces on their way such as Kashir – which is similar to garlic sausage or luncheon meat, and yogurts for their lunch.

Depending on peoples moods and the weather of course, the breakfast will consist of the staples, bread & homemade jam, croissant, petit pain, and frequently include pancakes, doughnuts and various pastries & cakes. Cereals are new to Algeria and it's only the quite well off that eat them. Our family buys them for the younger children – especially the ones that were born in the UK and are used to them. Tea is never drunk during breakfast time. We have fresh coffee, the adults will drink it with milk and often follow that with a small cup (finjaan) of black coffee. The children tend to have warm milk, often with a spoonful of sugar.

After breakfast its cleaning time. All the floors are tiled and need to be washed at least once a day. If guests are coming then all 5 flights of stairs also need to be washed. Clothes will need to be washed too. In our house we have 2 washing machines, but many other families are not as fortunate and wash all their clothes by hand.

Time for the children to go to school. Adults hardly ever take them, instead older children from the neighbourhood will collect the smaller ones on their way and walk en mass to school.

When the cleaning and washing has been done, it is time for a trip to the market. Here we will buy all the things we need for the days cooking and any bits and pieces required for the week ahead. Fresh fruits and vegetables and often baked goods are bought here along with just about everything you can think of. I will choose a few different kinds of Ras el Hanout along with my fresh produce and at least 3 different kinds of olives, then it's back to the house to cook lunch.

Lunch will always consist of bread, a selection of olives and a seasonal salad. To go with this we may have something light such as fresh fried sardines, Garanteta, a quick chicken dish or M'hajeb (very thin pastry type bread filled with onions, tomatoes, garlic and often peppers). The children will come home from school to eat and rest before returning for the rest of the afternoon. After lunch we will all have a siesta from around 1:30pm to 3:00pm.

After this much appreciated sleep we are all ready for more food and more work! Fresh coffee and helouwa (home made or from the bakery) or Gaufrette (wafers) are served and if other sisters or friends visit during this time, they will bring some patisserie.

After afternoon tea, we will go more housework and get preparations under way for the evening meal. Someone will go to the butcher to get whichever cuts of meat are required and often some sewing or baking is done.

One thing that is important for a housewife in Algiers especially, is to have a constant supply of low denominations money. Throughout the course of the day there will the fish man – who calls "Sardine, Sardine" at the top of his voice, the potato man – "Batata, Batata, Ba-ta-ta" and the tanker with the bleach (to which you take your own bottle to fill), as well as the local poor families who will come asking for charity.

The children will come back from school around 5pm and will be hungry. They usually have something snackish such as bread and cheese or cold meats and the usual crisps, yogurts and biscuits etc.

Now it's time to make the evening meal. Algerians tend to eat quite heavy things in the evening (unless it really is too hot) and they eat late – between 8pm and 9:30pm. For dinner we will have bread, salad, often soup to start and then the main dish which can be any of the traditional meals such as Cous Cous, Chakhchoukha, a Tagine, a Dolma, roasted chickens etc. For dessert some fresh fruit is always on offer, especially watermelon when they are in season. A pudding such M'halbi (ground rice) may also be offered. To finish, there will be mint tea with an assortment of helouwa, patisserie and nuts.

By now it's time to get the children washed and ready for bed. When that's done the adults will relax in front of the TV. In the summertime, by around 10pm or 11pm we may go up to the top terrace and enjoy some ice cream or sorbet under the stars to cool down before bed….

(This is a typical weekday, however during the weekends (Thursday & Friday) we will usually be visiting family or going out for the day.)**

Her recipes: Um Safia

[Halalmom]

Salam,

I just had the time to read this, wonderful! I can hear the man down the street, shouting "sardine", the call for prayer from the mosque, and I can see my MIL washing the clothes in her tiny kitchen, no washing machine

BTW, do you have a recipe for M'Hajeb???? I just LOVE those, hopefully, DH will bring some home for me...

Thanks a lot for this wonderful day in Algeria!

Gabi, still smiling

[Um Safia]

Halalmom wrote:
Salam,

I just had the time to read this, wonderful! I can hear the man down the street, shouting "sardine", the call for prayer from the mosque, and I can see my MIL washing the clothes in her tiny kitchen, no washing machine

BTW, do you have a recipe for M'Hajeb???? I just LOVE those, hopefully, DH will bring some home for me...

Thanks a lot for this wonderful day in Algeria!

Gabi, still smiling

Salam Gabi,

I'm glad this brings back some fond memories for you And yes, of course I have the recipe for a fellow M'hajeb lover

M'hajeb

Filling:

4 onions
1 tbsp concentrated tomato puree
2 green bell peppers
2 tbsp olive oil
salt & peper to taste
1 hot pepper (optional)


Pastry:
500g fine/medium semolina
250g plain flour
salt to taste
water

Filling:

Slice the onions in fine rings. Slice the peppers into fine strips ( many people remove skin first) and fry together in a little olive oil until softened. (If using the hot pepper, de-skin then puree, add to the onions & peppers.) Add the puree, salt and pepper and cook covered, for approx 5 minutes or until soft and well flavoured. Set aside to cool

Pastry:

*To make the pastry, it's easiest if you have a mixer with a dough hook or a bread maker set on the dough setting.*

Mix the semolina and the flour in a mixer of place in the bread machine. Make a hollow in the centre, add a little salt and enough water to bring to a stiff dough. Knead well. Add a little more water, a bit at a time until the dough is finally a soft elastic consistency - this is usually around 8-10 minutes

Wehen the dough it nice and elastic, pull of pieces and roll into golf balls. The secret is to have EVERYTHING WELL OILED... Oil your hands, the work surface and the m'rie or large skillet / chappati pan.

Take a golf ball at a time and gently stretch out as thin as you can. It's easiest to do this on a well oiled work surface. If uyou get a few little holes, don't worry - you can patch them up and nobody will mind!!!

Place a spoonfull of filling in the centre and fold the edges in one at a time (left, right, top, bottom), to form a rough square shaped parcel. Fry until golden on both sides - you have to be very attentive here or they will burn!

Any dough left over can be cooked plain and served with honey (great for suhor!)

******************************************************

Gabi, I expect you've seen your MIL or SIL's making these and have probably helped out so you'll know what I mean by the above directions


Enjoy,

Rezika.

[Cookie16]

Thanks for posting this. We love these but I've never made them by myself or had the written recipe.

I would love to surprise my husband and in-laws with this!!

[Jamila]

Here is a nice women's site who demonstrates how to make M'hajeb. Just scroll down and you will see a video that shows you how, as I think it's really best if you see it before you try it. Good luck!


http://www.20six.fr/sohar

[Um Safia]

Jamila wrote:
Here is a nice women's site who demonstrates how to make M'hajeb. Just scroll down and you will see a video that shows you how, as I think it's really best if you see it before you try it. Good luck!


http://www.20six.fr/sohar

Wow! What a fantastic link - thank you so much This will help a LOT of people...

Rezika.

[Jamila]

You are more than welcomed. Feel free to email me anytime I will be more than happy to help you with anything I can. Jazak Allahu Khairun!

[Halalmom]

I promise I will try to make them at home, as soon as I have bought a new frying pan. I wanted to make them this weekend, all ingredients were on hand... one pan has decided it wants to go on retirement and now everything burns, the other pan fell on the kitchen floor and kind of changed its shape, it is now a lovely oval!

Thursday there is a wonderful non-stick pan on sale, but Friday Hubby will return from Algeria, hopefully with a large batch of M'hajeb . Next weekend??

Gabi

[Elmotoo]

Who would next like to contribute their "day in the life..."?

Your recipes will be highlighted...


Fame & fortune.....(well not in the monetary sense, lol)....

GO FOR IT! Just put a small snippet together & post it here!!

[Doglover61(aka Earnhardt)]

Elmotoo wrote:
Who would next like to contribute their "day in the life..."?

Your recipes will be highlighted...


Fame & fortune.....(well not in the monetary sense, lol)....

GO FOR IT! Just put a small snippet together & post it here!!

Very interesting topic!! So much different from my daily life here in Central IL!!! I'll be very interested to read more of these daily accounts from members of your forum!

[Gingersnap in Midwest]

Salam Elmotoo - I have just read your very interesting account of your day. Thanks so much for sharing it. You have such a full day - and your descriptions were wonderful.

Laurie

[Elmotoo]

[quote="Chef #419585"]Salam Elmotoo - I have just read your very interesting account of your day. Thanks so much for sharing it. You have such a full day - and your descriptions were wonderful.

Laurie[/quote]

Thank you, Laurie. I posted that on behalf of Um Safia.

Keep a look out for our next entry!

Beth

[Halalmom]

So, here it is: Beth invited me to contribute to "A day in the life"... not quite as exotic as Um Safia's day in Algier, but I hope you enjoy it!

Oh how I'd love to hear the call for prayer from the mosque in the morning, like Um Safia! Here in Germany, what wakes me up in the morning is my alarm clock! Even on the morning of Eid al Atha... No mercy, I have to get up at 5.30 am, get ready for work, take my son to school and then spend 7 hours at my desk. DH took three days of from work, so he could have a decent breakfast before leaving for the mosque, where the celebration prayers take place. I had no chance for even one day off from work, so we had to modify things a bit to suit our circumstances.
It is not always easy to combine the average life of a family here in Germany -with work, school and social life- with the life of a (half) arab-muslim family. At least, we have the possibility to buy (halal butchered) meat from the Turkish butchers here, and Arab and North African food can be found in little shops in the city. Also, there are some mosques, mainly Turkish, but also at least one Arabian in every larger city.
This Eid, DH bought some lamb chops, he insisted on eating lamb this day... But the "Real Thing" had to wait until Sunday: A Traditional Couscous-Dish!
So, Saturday was spent as usual: Cleaning, loads of laundry, some shopping...
Then, on early Sunday afternoon, I started soaking the couscous. I love the act of making couscous. It takes quite a while, but, to me, it is very relaxing . I threw the meat in the large pot, to let it simmer with broth and spices. During the steaming process of the couscous, I always have to get my son out of the kitchen, he will always steal the couscous from its plate!
After three hours, I started decorating the table: Some nice place mats, the deep plates (more like bowls) to eat the couscous from, candles, a plate with stewed chilis, Harissa, and -as usual on days like this: A bottle of Selecto, Algerian Coke! (We can only buy this during Ramadan from a Moroccan shop)
Finally, we all sat down for our Eid meal. Even my son sat at the table quietly, very rare this is...
"Bismillah!" We started eating, feeling very thankful for this meal. (I was quite thankful that this year we did not slaughter a lamb ourself, but sent the money to our family in Algiers, they really need this money more than we do!)
After dinner, I quickly cleaned the kitchen, and then we all sat down for some Algerian TV, a piece of home for DH. He misses his family, but, well, at the moment we do live here in rainy Germany, and we will make the best of it!


edited to add Halalmom's recipes!

[Um Safia]

Wow! Thanks so much for that Gabi

It's really great to hear how others are living and how they prepare and enjoy their food.

I couldn't stop smiling when you mentioned the Selecto For 4 years we lived in Nottingham, where there was an Algerian store which sold Selecto all year round. We took it for granted and miss it a lot.....so much that we even experimented with Pepsi and some pear drop sweets : it makes quite a good substitute!)

Hope you're still enjoying your M'hajeb.

WS, Rezika.