Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
EATING ETIQUETTE
Travel in Jordan for any length of time and inevitably you'll be invited home for a meal, especially if you are travel-
ling alone, and most especially if you are a woman. Customs vary depending on who you are having supper with:
the Bedouin, for example, share their meals from great aluminium dishes on the floor, whereas Christian communit-
ies in the hills may sit around a table. Whatever their own customs, however, Jordanians are very accommodating of
other people's habits, though you will certainly impress your hosts if you manage a few of the following courtesies.
Eating in Someone's House
»
» Bring a small gift of baklava or, better still, a memento from home.
»
» It's polite to be seen to wash your hands before a meal.
»
» Use only the right hand for eating or accepting food. The left is reserved for ablutions.
»
» Don't put food back on a communal plate: discard in a napkin.
»
» Your host will often pass the tastiest morsels to you; it's polite to accept them.
»
» The best part - such as the meat - is usually saved until last, so don't take it until offered.
»
» If you're sitting on the ground, don't stretch your legs out until after the meal.
Eating in a Restaurant
»
» Picking your teeth after a meal is acceptable and toothpicks are often provided.
»
» It's traditional to lavish food upon a guest. If you're full, try one more mouthful!
»
» Leave a little food on your plate. Traditionally, a clean plate is thought to invite famine.
»
» It's polite to accept a cup of coffee after a meal and impolite to leave before it's served.
»
» Avoid eating and drinking in public during daylight hours in Ramadan. Many rural restaurants close at this time.
Bedouin
Bedouin food consists of whatever is available at a particular time. Camel's milk and
goat's cheese are staple parts of the diet, as are dried dates and water. Water takes on a
particularly precious quality when it is rationed, and the Bedouin are renowned for con-
suming very little, particularly during the day when only small sips are taken, mostly to
rinse the mouth.
The Bedouin speciality
mensaf
- consisting of lamb, rice and pine nuts, combined with
yoghurt and the liquid fat from the cooked meat - was once reserved for special occa-
sions. Now visitors can try such dishes in Wadi Rum and Wadi Musa. The dish is cooked
in a
zerb
(oven), which consists of a hole in the sand and enough firewood to make glow-
ing coals. The oven is sealed and the meat cooked for hours until succulent.
