I recall one of the
first articles that I wrote when I started this journey of food reviews was
about Jordanian food not being appealing to Western
Ammanis, and with the vast
movement of Westernized food invading the tables and palates of most Jordanian
youth groups and households, we started to only see Arabic cuisine during
holidays and special occasions.
اضافة اعلان
Personally, while
growing up, I was a sucker for my grandmas Kubbeh, which she made every
holiday. She would save me some on the side and bring it out from the freezer
whenever I came to visit. I’ve always wanted to know how she did it, but I
could never understand the recipe, given that majored in culinary arts, but
still I didn’t have patience for a recipe that calls for a ‘pinch’ of this, a
‘dash’ of that, ‘just a little bit more’ of this and that, and not too little
and not too much being the most accurate measure. Years later I just had to
learn the recipe, and I sat there with my grandmother as her kitchen trainee,
while she was giving me a hard time for not adding the right quantities of
spices or for not shaping the dough correctly.
To this day a part of
me is still baffled by the uncalculated measurements our mothers used that make
a dish strike home every time, which made me wonder if that is one of the
hassles that discourages people from trying to
cook Arabic food, until I came
across SimSim.
Sharing food,
online
The first time I came
across the
SimSim application, I thought it was just another recipe-sharing
platform for Arabic food, and little did I know I was far off from the truth of
this app, with a little digging and my curious mind, I had the chance to meet
with the person behind the project, Farida Shakhshir.
I cannot possibly remember
everything that was said while discussing SimSim with Farida, yet to this day I
can truly feel the passion that drove her to leave her executive corporate job
to pursue SimSim and bring Arabic Kitchen Cuisine to life.
Farida shared how she
believes that a “Sufra” (dining room table) is more than food on a table, it’s
a culture, history, and love that is being shared amongst people who are
sitting there. She mentioned how we only look outside to what foods are being
served and what is attractive, leaving behind our own heritage. So, she went
into the kitchen and did all the heavy work for us to share some great family
recipes in measuring units anyone can understand, and with preparation steps
that are easy to follow.
She did not focus on
Jordanian cuisine, but on Arabic cuisine in general, covering Jordanian,
Palestinian, Syrian, and some of the Gulf region; and she is still expanding to
cover more of the Gulf and Africa.
Even though a simple
internet search could get you the result that you’d want, Farida insisted that
every recipe should be tried, tested, and then posted. She even mentioned how
she wanted the food to look exactly how it is after being cooked; no filters,
no extra colors, and no fancy presentations. Exactly how we got used to it growing
up.
Always more to do
While digging more
into the application it got a bit addictive, I liked the fact that you can add
items to your shopping list to help you organize yourself, you can even create
your own menu and add all the recipes to it, then it will combine the shopping
list and it will give you an ingredient sheet to buy in order to cook the meals
you want; adjusting the number of servings per recipe is also an option.
A fun feature in the
recipe section is that it does suggest other recipes that go well with the one
you’re trying to make, to ensure that you have a colorful choice of food items
and an assembly of dishes that everyone can enjoy. They also provide their
favorite SimSim brand of local ingredients that they use for their recipes to
ensure the same quality and outcome.
Another great aspect
of the application is the “Budget Sufra” with recipes that are wallet-friendly.
History and contextOne of my favorite
parts of the application is the historical information ir provides for some
dishes; why certain dishes are called that way, like the revenge story of the
famous dessert, Um Ali, or how Dates saved Arab sailors from scurvy while
Western sailors couldn’t travel so far on their less nutritious diets.
Farida was very
passionate about the message behind SimSim when talking about it , even though
it has been quite a financial challenge to bring SimSim to life for all of us
to use for free. But, she said, she wants to remove the borders between Arab
countries through food whose purpose is to be shared, while carrying its
stories and history along the way. She wanted to make it easily accessible to
everyone who wished they could’ve measured the pinch of this and a dash of that
while seeing their family cooking.
Food on the horizon
It is noteworthy to
mention that this is just the beginning for SimSim: and with her business mind
behind the project, with great attention to social and environmental
responsibilities along the way, Farida is aiming for very exciting projects in
the pipeline.
Personally, I strongly
suggest downloading the app on your phone, even just to browse and flip through
recipes, I assure you that something will catch your eye and you might be
excited to grab the cutting board, turn on the stove, and enjoy a few people
over for an Arabic Kitchen Sufra.
Read more Good Food
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