"A Guide to Brunching in Amman" by Sela Dombrower
Fridays and Saturdays are unrushed and deliberate in Amman, families sleeping in, eating breakfast together late in the morning: a spread of hummus and beans, little dishes of olives, mint tea. The conversation ebbs and flows as we rip flatbread, scoop up egg and labneh. I love Jordanian weekends; later on the city will be congested with traffic and bustling with activity, but first we slow to focus on flavor, leaning back into the day as heat flickers off of limestone-covered hills.
As we’ve gotten settled in Amman, my friends and I have begun to explore restaurants and styles of eating throughout the day. While every Jordanian family is different, my host family usually has some sort of breakfast spread on the weekends and a hearty dish in the evening. Inspired by my latest brunch excursion in Amman, here is an introduction to some common Levantine breakfast foods.
THE DIPS
When ordering at a brunch place, it’s important to have a balance of the dips and the to-be-dipped. The balance is preferential: if you prefer to eat bread with hummus on it, or hummus with bread on it. Know thyself.
Hummus: This is probably the most famous Middle Eastern food in the States. One of my favorite things about being here is that every place I go the hummus tastes a little different, just by way of being made fresh. Hummus is mostly chickpea, with tahini, garlic and lemon juice, with a swirl of olive oil on top. It will go with everything else you order. Your meal will come with bread anyway, but if you order hummus or mutabbal it’ll likely come with an additional side of fresh veggies.
Mutabbal: This is an eggplant based dish. It’s stronger and smokier than hummus, made from roasted or grilled eggplant, also with tahini, oil and garlic.
Laban/Labneh: Labneh is made from yogurt (laban in Arabic) that is strained. Some places will have an option of soft labneh or labneh balls, which you can dip in za’atar—a thyme based spice mix—or spread on bread.
Fatteh: Fatteh is a yogurt-based dish, with pita and sometimes chickpeas or chicken mixed in or layered. It’s full-bodied and rich and not to be eaten quickly.
TO-BE-DIPPED/SCOOPED:
This is a broad category of things to eat with other things, including salads, which are often scooped up with a thin curl of pita instead of eaten with a fork.
Batata: This seems to be a favorite of American study abroad students; potatoes may be prepared like fries, with a dash of paprika on top, or sauteed in oil with spices.
Shakshuka: A personal favorite! Shakshuka is made differently around the Middle East. Tomato and onion are cooked down in a skillet with spices (cumin, paprika, chili powder—honestly once you are in a kitchen, no one knows, magic happens). In some places, eggs are poached on top of the tomato mixture. In Jordan, I’ve seen them mixed together to create a sort of egg cake with tomato on the inside. Feel free to cut some straight from the skillet with a piece of bread!
Falafel: These are the famous fried chickpea balls, sometimes with sesame seeds on the outside. They’re great in sandwiches, or as a part of a morning spread, to dip in hummus and mutabbal.
Foul: Fava beans! These might be prepared differently depending where you go. The foul I’ve had is a refreshing salad, where the beans are mixed with parsley, tomato, olive oil, lemon and garlic. It may also be cooked until soft. If it says ‘bi zeit’ or ‘bi laban’ that means the beans are mixed with oil or yogurt, respectively. If you’re looking for another light salad, cucumber, tomato and mint is also a classic.
Manakish: This is flatbread topped with either za’atar, za’atar and cheese, cheese and tomato, or any combination of things depending on where you go. (I’ve heard it compared to both pizza and quesadillas before.) If you’re looking for a snack or are museum-hiking in Al-Weibdeh, there’s a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant called Rolling Pin; you can get any manakish for a dinar and eat quickly, sitting on the curb as the cheese burns your fingers. This is therapy after a day of classes and probably getting lost. If you’re ordering for brunch, manakish is great to share around the table.
Malfouf: These are stuffed cabbage leaves, usually filled with rice, lamb and spices. The cabbage leaves are blanched, stuffed, cozied in a pan and covered in broth, before being boiled in the oven. When you bite into them they seem to dissolve, buttery and warm, in your mouth.
Sela Dombrower is a junior at Lawrence University and is studying abroad on the Amideast Area and Arabic Language Studies Program in Amman, Jordan this fall 2022.
