Tip #01 | Studying Arabic Culture & Literature
I also learned how to cook Egyptian dishes by watching and listening and that had a similar effect. At university we studied classical Arabic, and essentially learned to read texts from the past, and although that provided us with an excellent grounding in the cultural heritage of the golden age it didn’t prepare you to buy a cup of tea.
Anthony CalderBank
Of course, cooking! How could I have not mentioned that in my interview!!! Falling in love with Arabic also meant falling in love with the cuisines of the Arab world… and led me to write a book on Arabic cookery in Italian (one of the first original titles in Italian and not translated)!
CUCINE ARABE by JOAN RUNDO
Some of my happiest moments in Morocco are going to the souk, looking for ingredients, talking to the sellers a bout what I am going to make….or even striking up conversations with strangers (always easy) when I see something they have bought or that I have bought! Once, I was on the bus in Marrakech with a bag containing a rabbit I had bought to make a tajine. A lady came and sat beside me and I moved the bag to make more room for her and said there was a rabbit in it… so we started talking about cooking rabbit and cooking in general… then I had to get off so I didn’t get any more of her recipes, unfortunately!