Backyard Feast: Saddam Hussein was not a foodie
By Joshua McNichols
I came to Northern Iraq to write about my Kurdish friend Peshtiwan, his flight to Europe and his eventual reconnection with his homeland after the fall of Saddam. One thing I did not expect from this war-torn country was a thriving local food movement.
That’s because when a people have experienced attempted genocide, you’d think they’d have bigger things on their minds. But in Kurdistan, the immediate danger has passed, and in this province, at least, there is peace. That’s allowed the Kurds to resume their favorite positions -- sitting on the floor in a circle with family around a beautiful meal made of local food.
They eat this way several times a day. At one recent meal I attended, we had beans in a tomato sauce spooned over moist Kurdish rice, cauliflower soaked several days in homemade vinegar, chicken from down the street (the hens roost on empty crates in the driveway), and a salad made from fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, cabbage and pomegranate juice. The only foreign ingredients were the beans, which came from neighboring Iran.