Dining with the Arabs

By Rolo B. Cena
Arabian Diaries
Dumaguete Star Informer
22 November 2009

You can call them rude, nomads, gypsies, or whatever. This is their culture.

Almost always, passing along Arabian restaurants in the city gives me an unwanted relief. Why? The herbs and spices concocted to produce one delectable dish creates a soothing, aromatic respite from my boundless deadlines; it liberates me from the stress that has for more than a year now nearly consumed all my senses.

Leaving my work station for almost a day to attend meetings outside of the premises of the company just simply doesn’t attract me; it does not after all offer me advantage of any kind.

Trying to make both ends meet, I juggled to close my two appointed meetings before noontime to hit my lunch at the famed American burger chain (sorry, Jollibee is not yet constructed here) nearby before proceeding to another one in the afternoon. Unluckily, my schedule just doesn’t fit in the prayer times here. Since I need our government relations officer as interpreter in my next meeting, I called him to join me. He came with his assistant, our trainee in government relations. I insinuated the idea of bringing us to lunch; they did.

Our GRO, a Saudi national who is married to a native of ever-beautiful and enchanting Laoag City in Luzon, brought us to an Arabian restaurant in Dammam just to stay close to the place where my next meeting would be. We waited for about fifteen minutes because it was still “salah” (prayer time) for these five-time-a-day praying children of Allah.

I never have been into an Arabian restaurant though I have an idea what is inside and how do they conduct, behave, or dispose of their dining etiquettes. To my mind, that day would be the validation of these things I’ve heard of them.

We were catered to a cubicle walled to about four-feet high, fully carpeted with floor-based couches against the walls. No dining table, no chairs – nothing. Obviously, we have to sit on the floor in the most comfortable position one would want in order to eat. The tryst was somewhat cozy and as inviting as any bedroom. No wonder, as per narrations, that these Arabs after taking their meals sleep for a while before leaving dining places.

Our orders were taken and I never understood their conversation except the complimentary clause “shokran” (thank you) after the service crew took a stern gaze at us. After about two minutes, the crew came back and placed a three-foot-by-three plastic that serves as a mantle to protect the carpet from food and liquid spills.

After fifteen minutes, our orders were served. To my surprise, our food was served in just one big, oblong platter. Colored rice covered the base of the platter with beef and chicken on top of it. More to this and on top of these all were the spices: onion rings, hot green and red peppers, tomatoes, and other spices not familiar in the Filipino kitchen or cuisine.

Neither utensils nor plates were provided; presumably, we have to eat using our bare hands in this one platter. Since nobody from our team requested for utensils or for extra plates, I felt odd to demand. The two went out of the cubicle to wash their hands; I did after they came back. I proceeded with this noble activity in the same manner as my colleagues did.

Yes, we ate with our bare hands. Suddenly, this scenario ushered me back to my olden days where our family sit on the floor and ate with bare hands. Tracing the origin of this custom, the ancient people as narrated in the bible were eating on the floor with their bare hands. This is precisely the reason why these people were required to wash their hands before taking any food into their mouths. This is precisely the reason why we need to have clean hands before we take the holy bread.

Arguably, our catholic practices have Jewish links, after all. Jewish customs and practices have direct links to the Arabs of the Middle East. When we say Arabs, we do not refer to the people of Saudi Arabia alone, we refer them to the people of the Middle East as well. Israel, where Jerusalem is, is among the Kingdoms of the Middle East.

Arabs don’t care about leftovers; they simply leave. This is typical, according to some Arabs, about Jewish practices and culture.

However, having been colonized by western-dominated countries or kingdoms, most Arabs have transformed from being rude to refined people. Conservative Arabs though don’t, to date, submit to this colonial mentality. Classic example to this is Jordan who was colonized by several superpowers of the world: Greece, Rome, France, United Kingdom and the USA; Saudi Arabia by Spain and now business practices of USA, England and France are evident.

Flamenco, the national dance of the Kingdom of Spain, was found out, after a thorough, study to have a gypsy character; gypsy in Spain referred to the aliens coming from the neighboring Arab countries. Another proof is the presence of Spanish words in the Saudi language.

Along the passage of time, the cultures of these white people were adapted into their own culture that changed their lifestyles including dining etiquettes. Middle-classed Arabs, especially Saudis do have dining tables and dining wares similar to what we are using. And their table manners and etiquettes are now attuned to the ones we know and practice.

Gone are the days where people here live in tents, dine on the carpets and eat with bare hands. However, conservative Saudis (Arabs) still do. While these conservatives are still into their old practices, this doesn’t mean that they do not know what the modern way of doing dining activities is. After all, they have loved doing this since time immemorial. This is their culture; this was their culture.

After dining with these Saudis, I do not feel strange dining with some of them anymore. I believe, the old adage “When you’re in Rome, do what the Romans do” is just true.

Dining with them is never odd; exploration, after all, paved the way to new discoveries.