Egyptian pickled eggplant (pickled aubergine).

Growing up in Wisconsin we had a lot of pickled foods.  Pickled herring, pickled eggs, pickled beets, and many varieties of cucumber pickles were common in my Grandmother's house.  For the longest time, I genuinely thought that pickling was a cold climate tradition used to preserve food during the cold winter months.  While that may be the purpose of pickling in these areas, I have learned that pickling can be dated back to the Ancient Egyptians and was not only used for preserving food but also for improving the taste of food over time.

While living in Egypt I have tasted a lot of different pickled vegetables.  Available at almost every supermarket is your variety of pickled vegetables with includes carrots, cauliflower, banana peppers, and rutabagas.  There are pickled onions, pickled lemons (which I personally do not care for), pickled radishes in beet juice, pickled green beans...  All with unique flavors and textures but most are extremely delicious.

My favorite pickled vegetable would have to be eggplant/aubergine (bitingaen بتنجان) which Wael's mother makes from scratch at home.  They are small, finger sized eggplants with dark purple skin. They are boiled, stuffed, and then marinated for about a day.  The taste is amazing and so unique.

I have looked for the variety of eggplant they use for this, and have found what I believe is the variety they grow for it, known as Little Fingers in the United States.  They look like a hybrid between the ordinary fat tear shaped eggplant and the long and thin Japanese variety.  If you're interested in planting this variety in your garden, I recommend purchasing the seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds in Missouri (http://www.rareseeds.com/little-fingers-eggplant/).

Pickling eggplant, from my experience, takes patience and a little bit of luck especially if you're trying to match a taste to a recipe that someone just makes up as they go along.  My mother-in-law has never used a written recipe and much like a lot of my recipes, estimates how much of what she uses.  For example, when explaining the marinade, she told me to add vinegar but not so much that it will make the eggplant mushy.  Very helpful, but maybe not to someone who has never pickled them before... So, it has taken me a bit of experimenting to figure out the recipe she uses.

Pickling eggplant isn't like making ordinary pickles in the idea that you're not exactly soaking the eggplant for long periods of time, fully submerged in a brine of some sort.  Pickling eggplant is more like stuffing and then marinating eggplant for a short time in order to achieve the perfect mixture of tastes.

I guess, without further delay, here is the recipe for this wonderful appetizer.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 kg little finger or Japanese eggplant (aubergine)
• 8 cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 1 cup of water
• 3 key limes
• 3 tablespoons of salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Fill a large stock put with water and heat to boiling.  Add eggplant and cover.  Boil for 5 minutes.  Remove from water and allow to cool to room temperature.
2. Once cool, remove stems and score each eggplant down the center the long way.
3. In a mortar and pestle, crush garlic to remove skin.  Then put garlic back in and add cumin, chili powder, 1 teaspoon olive oil, and 2 teaspoons of salt.  Pound until garlic is well broken and all ingredients are well blended.
4. Take a small amount of the spice mixture on your finger and run inside the scored area of the eggplant.  Make sure not to use too much so you have enough for each one.  Repeat until each is filled.
5. Place in a shallow bowl or baking dish, preferably in a single layer. 
6. In a separate bowl, combine vinegar, remaining olive oil, juice of limes (make sure to keep the limes after) salt, and water. Whisk together until well mixed and salt is dissolved.
7. Add lime skins in bowl or dish with eggplants. Pour marinade over the mixture.
8. Refrigerate and allow to sit for 24 hours before eating.  Do not exceed 36 hours in marinade or they could begin to disintegrate. 
9. Remove from marinade and store in air tight container in refrigerator.  To avoid drying out, you can drizzle them with a little olive oil mixed with lime juice.
10. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

How Some Muslims Parents are Contributing to Terrorism

How Muslims Parents are Contributing to Terrorism

     As terrorism dominates the world news many non-Muslims are blaming ordinary everyday Muslims, those who are not extremists, for the actions of these terrorists.  So many Muslims are quick to say, "It's not my fault. Islam doesn't promote terrorism."  While Islam doesn't promote terrorism, the other statement may only be partly true.

    It is no secret that today parenting is much different than it used to be.  More women are working outside the home, men are working longer hours, and many parents are more concerned with their 'me time' than family time.

   When a woman works 8+ hours a day and then comes home to do her house chores and care for her children she becomes drained very quickly, and societies around the world both in the Middle East and America, the children often suffer.  Women give in to the children's desires quickly to avoid a fuss, are trying to give them more freedom, allow them unrestricted access to the internet, and are often just too tired or busy to pay close attention to their children's' lives.

    Fathers, in the Middle East and around the world are working 1-2 jobs for up to 18 hours a day.  Often physical labor or mentally tiring, they come home sleep deprived and lacking patience to deal with their children. They go out and do things with friends to unwind and de-stress from the week of work.

     Where does this leave children?  How many people do you know that know every place their child goes and every person they associate with?  How many parents now days have time to sit and talk to their children about their emotions and things they are hearing on the news?  How many children have smart phones before they even get to highschool and unrestricted access to the internet?

    I can tell you that right now, if I asked 100 Egyptian women with teenage boys where their sons are they would simply answer, "Out with friends."  They wouldn't know exactly where or even the names of all their friends.  Something parents even 10 years ago paid a lot of attention to.  Now they're either just too tired, self absorbed, or busy to know what's going on.

   For teenage boys, they may experience hate or discrimination, in the Middle East they experience war and terrorism themselves.  Who is making sure they know how to cope with these things?  For many of the boys today they are learning to cope with it from their friends, who may be just as confused or even more so.  This is where a 'cleric' or religious fanatic can step in and try to help the boys learn how to deal with their emotions by planting hate and extremist ideologies.

    A man in Islam carries the sins of his minor children and his wife.  As the manager of his family, he should guide his sons and daughters, especially in this time of uncertainty, violence, and hate.  A woman in Islam is the keeper of her house.  She is responsible for carrying for her family.  This isn't saying she can't work outside her home, but if her children are suffering because of it, then she is obviously not fulfilling her duty.

   I'm not saying men and women can't work, but as Muslims it is our OBLIGATION to raise good Muslim children; teaching them right from wrong, monitoring their behavior and friends, and knowing what they are doing online.  It is not an invasion of their privacy, it is protecting them from themselves and the extremists who are looking to exploit scared, lonely, hurting children.

    Yes I know there are a lot of good parents out there, and I'm not trying to attack parent in particular but please, understand how much of an urgent issue this is.  It can happen to any child of any cultural background and any part of Islam; salafi, shia, wahabi, liberal... If you don't talk to your kids about these things who will?

    So parents, I beg you, for our Ummah... Take more time to pay attention to your children.  Know their friends and the families of their friends, know where they are going, what they are reading, what they are watching on Facebook and Youtube.  Talk to them about important issues and if they seem reluctant to talk, don't become angry with them, be kind and reassure them that they can talk to you and come to you with any feelings or concerns.

    It's time to take back our Ummah from the savage beasts who are praying on our children.  It's time to stand up to terrorism not only by saying we condemn their actions, but by launching an offensive against them: keeping our children safe and teaching them that terrorism is clearly haram.

Eid: Starting your own family traditions

Eid al fitr and Eid al Ahda are two of the major holidays in Islam.  Eid al fitr celebrates the breaking of the fast, the end of the Ramadan month.  Eid al Adha on the other hand is the feast of the sacrifice which celebrates when God commanded Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ishmael as a sign of obedience to God (but provided him a sheep to sacrifice instead).

From what I have seen, a lot of new Muslims become confused when it comes to the traditions of these two holidays, and a lot of things in Islam, believing that they have to follow Arab tradition in order to enjoy the experience.  This is not true.  While there are certain aspects that are required in both holidays, there are no mandatory ways in which someone has to experience the holidays according to Islam.  What I mean is, you do not have to follow Arabian traditions of what to wear, eat, and how to celebrate with your family. 

Around the world, Eid is a great celebration, especially aimed towards children.  It is celebrated differently in different countries and cultures.  People eat different foods, attend festivals, and even make their own family traditions.

One way to keep children connected in Eid is by starting your own family traditions that they will feel are special and will enjoy.  For instance, I know that my daughters would not enjoy a breakfast of foul and taameya ( Egyptian stewed beans and falafel) and would more than likely dread this tradition.  A traditional meal for Eid al fitr in Egypt is fasekh (rotten or fermented fish - which smells terrible in my opinion), this is another thing my children would dread.  So as a parent, why would I follow traditions that my children can't relate to and would only cause them to dread Eid?  

Each family is unique.  It is important, regardless of your cultural background, to make these holidays enjoyable for your children and family by creating traditions for yourselves.  While we will always have traditional Eid cookies in our house, we also will always have our traditional build your own waffle buffet.  We will not be fermented fish, but will have a family bbq with a wide variety of dishes that we know our family loves.  

Traditions help keep families together and make a bonding atmosphere that makes children feel safe, welcome, and part of something greater.  They are carried on by generations to come if they are made to be an important value in your family.

What kind of traditions do your families have for Eid?