The thousand and one pleasures

As I already did in other countries before, I always find some addictive goodies which I will finally miss when I’ll leave. These ones I include here are not exclusive from Kuwait (actually, I think none of them are originally from here), but you can easily in any country in Middle East. For me it is the first time I live in this part of the World, that’s why I feel so pleased when I try them. I have already tried some of them but I never had such a easy and affordable access to them till now.

Kebab with muttabal (it is like a kind of hummus made with eggplants) and big bread, the perfect lunch

One of the first thing I discovered when I arrived Kuwait, making me so happy, was that I could find here all kind of cheese everywhere. After such a long time living in a country like China, where this product is not so usual, it is very comforting for me when I know I can buy a half kilo of feta, a packet of mozzarella or cream cheese every time I go to supermarket. Definitely this is my drug.

Labneh, a kind of cream cheese

This is very delicious too

Other section I normally visit in the supermarket is the pickles area. Here you can find all sort of olives and other products like mish, one of my favorite ones. It is a kind of cheese, from Egypt, salty, creamy, fermented for months and it is normally eaten with pita bread (at least I do like that). My Palestinian friend says that sometimes you can find little worms, hidden in the lumps, but they are harmless and they are not for bad for our health (what doesn't kill you, makes you fatter).

Continuing with the milk products, in this case beverages, here there are two which makes me crazy. One of is laban, a kind of liquid yogurt which reminds me the Ukrainian kefir (one of my passions in my Lithuanian period). The other one is ayran, originally from Turkey, also made with yogurt, but less creamy and more sour than laban. My favorite one is one mixed with mint, a pleasure for my throat.

Finally, a small paragraph to talk about the super addictive Arabic sweets. Here is quite easy to find delicacies such as the baklava (a cake filled with nuts from Turkey) o the kanafah (a kind of cheese cake typical from Palestine). It is also very usual to find terrines of halva, a sweet made with semolina and pistachio (I really like a type with chocolate). And finally my favorite dessert, the basbousa or hareesa, a kind of sponge cake made with semolina and it is normally served hot. Wonderful, really.

Dipping a piece of pita bread in hummus, feeling the pastry of the baklava crunching, licking the rests of laban in the corners of the lips… These little pleasures, maybe are not so important in order to change the opinion or the feelings about this country, but they help to make a bit easier the daily life here. Certainly, you have to look on the bright side.