There is so much to love about spring time in Palestine... The amazing weather, warm sun, green landscape, fresh zaatar, wild asparagus, green almonds, and a whole host of wild herbs and leaves that people who grew up with the land know how to utilize, for food and therapy, and enjoy.
My favorite has to be the green almonds. For few precious weeks before the summer kicks in, almonds grow to be one big green lump of delicious stuff, that you can eat the whole of without shelling or peeling.
My brother Mohammad, and his roommate Yousef, just sent me a few pics that Yousef took in his hometown of Barta'a, west of Jenin, of almond tree flowers. Nawwar el Louz as they are called in Arabic. It is not spring yet, but warm enough for fruit trees to start flowering. This is one of the most beautiful times in Palestine, it is not uncommon to see entire hill sides covered with trees like the one below, with the green carpet background peeking from between them.
Each flower will grow an almond in its center, as it grows in size, it will push the petals outward and wear them in like a skirt, looking like a hula dancer. Once they are big enough to shed the skirt, they are delicious enough to eat. Which is usually late March, through April.
And there is Yousef, Mohammed is giving him a lot of crap because he just managed to take ten days off and spent them with his family, while the best Mohammed has been able to do is a three-day weekend.
14 comments:
Yep, In the summers, me, my brothers, and many, many cousins used to go to my grandparents home town, it is an agricultural town, with citrus and fruit groves and vegetable fields and greenhouses everywhere.
We used to walk around the town and pick fruits, some times get yelled at by farmers, and not uncommonly, we have gotten my Grandparents in trouble with their friends and neighbors.
Its the kind of trouble thats really harmless and at the same time destructive.
Its already spring.Time flies by pretty fast.This song has nothing to do with spring but its really nice.
http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/osc/lebanese/Music/Ziad/BalaWalaShi.ram
This is so unfair, Fayyad. You just can't do this! Those pictures are making my heart ache. Haram wallah.
I’m sorry, Amal… but how do you think I felt when I woke up and found them in my inbox. I had to share them and ache the hearts of a few others to draw sympathy.
Sweetscentofbeirut, thanks for the song, it’s really nice, I love Ziad, but did not hear this one before… By the way, it seems like he is prepping Latifa to become the next Feyrouz, not that any one could come out from under her shadow... He has a new song with her, Nos Eljaw, it’s amazing, bold in a way only he can be. For some reason it reminds of Keefak Inta. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh7c3WgDvXc
One of the many culinary joys I have gained when I married an Arab.
Great pictures.
صور جميلة. لقد عندنا اجمل بلد في دنيا
Fayyad , I'm still in love with Jenin.
3anjad Fayyad, why the torture! Louz akhdar with salt!!! That stuff makes me drool! But the pictures are very touching. I haven't seen niwwar el louz for the past 13 years since I always go in the wrong seasons. The pics also reminded me of our house, which has two big ass almond trees, one in the backyard and one in front of the house. Thanks for sharing, and give Yousef a shout-out for me if you talk to him or Hammoudeh. Peace.
The sweetest smell and the one that benefits the world the most is the smell of a dead Arab. When you smell that you know that the world has one less potential terrorist.
"You are just jealous because you are not Arab!"
Slightly more jealous, than say, not being an Albanian or Georgian or Azerbaijani I'm sure. Yes, they are so well known for thier ......., I don't you tell me.
Aye, fight! But not your neighbor. Fight rather all the things that cause you and your neighbor to fight.
Mikhail Naim
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