Food lovers convene for a weekend of culinary tasting

AMMAN — Local gourmets were offered the chance to stimulate their taste buds this weekend at the Amman Gourmet Food Weekend held between November 23 and 25.

Organised by iJordan at the Zara Centre, the event gathered over 35 local producers who displayed a variety of culinary products to the public.

“We are holding this event to support local food and promote artisans who, for most of them, make food from home,” said Juman Obiedat, account manager at iJordan, noting that “we gathered a wide variety of vendors who are offering free tastings and explanations about the food creation process”.

Divided into thematic sections, the showcase included the healthy corner, the artisanal corner, the international one and the confectionery. 

“I believe in prevention rather than cure when it comes to nutrition and health,” said Karma Bdeir, founder of The MedShed. 

A former holistic health coach, the young woman started creating healthy products out of wholesome grains, combining “friendly favours” with nutritional benefits.

“I go by the motto ‘Live Better, Eat Better’ and I want to promote that in Jordan,” Bdeir told The Jordan Times at the event.

The dynamic 25-year-old Nasser Kawar also tried to spread the message of a healthy lifestyle through the varied range of peanut butters he makes for Butter Bros.

“Peanut butter is like bread, you can have it with everything, so I wanted to create a healthy alternative to the big corporate brands available on the market,” he explained, noting that he started using honey instead of sugar to offer healthier products for all to enjoy.

“We try to create original and nutritious options, such as our coconut peanut butter, or the almond butter,” the young man noted.   

“These producers are young and dynamic, and they combine creative, healthy ideas with the local traditions,” said Obiedat, noting that many of them have built their ideas on the niches existing in the food market. 

Bringing the northern Jordanian cuisine to Amman, food blogger Banan Gharaibeh offered visitors a taste of the famous chaacheel soup from Irbid.

Using only locally grown products, the woman, who runs the blog “What to cook today” that provides tips and recipes, emphasised her commitment to using only seasonal ingredients and no preservative.

For the foodies looking for less healthy alternatives, Zein Mubaideen offered the answer with her Mac n’ Cheese stall. Inspired by a London food company, she launched her own version of the world famous American dish.

“There is no one making mac and cheese right now in Jordan. But that is something that everyone loves, the best kind of comfort food,” she said, noting that she wanted to add her own twist to the famous recipe.

“We use the original recipe, to which we add various different toppings, like pesto, spices, corn etc. We haven’t gone as far as the London branch which uses marshmallow on top of pasta but we are already witnessing a great demand,” she said, as a young boy came to order what he said is “his favourite food in the world”.

A twist to original recipes was also the idea behind Jinan Dalloul and her husband’s dessert place Atir, which specialises in knafeh.

“We both love knafeh, and we know most people do too. So I decided to quit my job and start making the popular Middle Eastern dessert full time,” she said, stressing that they are also working to promote environmental consciousness through recycling.

“We consume a lot of plastic and we didn’t want to see all those thrown away in the street, so we built a beautiful recycle bin outside our venue that catches the consumers’ eye and pushes them to be careful of the environment,” she said.

Music and entertainment were also available at the event, which was entirely free of charge and open to all.