KHUZAA, Gaza Strip — Locals name it “watermelon salad.” However this delicacy standard within the southern Gaza Strip at the moment of 12 months is way from the candy, refreshing style the title evokes.
“Lasima,” “Ajar,” or “Qursa” are totally different names for the recent, savory meal that takes hours to organize. There’s watermelon inside, however one can hardly style it.
In a territory that prides itself on its culinary traditions, Lasima is surprisingly divisive. Residents in southern Gaza love the dish. Only a few kilometers (miles) to the north, individuals shun it as unclean, because of its hands-on preparation.
Lasima is out there simply two months a 12 months. It’s made with melons which can be picked when they’re small and never but ripe. They’re roasted on a fireplace and peeled, and the comfortable flesh is blended with roasted eggplants and thinly sliced tomatoes, lemon, garlic, onion and olive oil. Then it’s eaten with a particular dough baked within the ashes of the hearth.
The title “Ajar,” or “unripe” in Arabic, refers back to the child melons. “Qursa” is the phrase for the thick dough. “Lasima,” which suggests “messy,” refers back to the sloppy meal served in a big clay bowl.
Many say the dish originated greater than 100 years in the past with Bedouin Arab tribes within the neighboring Sinai desert in Egypt.
Others declare it’s a standard Palestinian meals. There may be little proof to assist this declare, nevertheless. The meals is standard solely in southern Gaza, close to the Sinai border. Farther north, the meal is barely identified.
Amona Abu Rjila, 70, of Khuzaa, says it is a little bit of every. She says she remembers her mother and father and grandfathers making it outdoor within the watermelon season. “It’s a standard Palestinian dish with Bedouin roots,” she mentioned.
Farther north, few would agree together with her. These accustomed to the dish object to its preparation, with the substances sometimes mushed along with naked fingers, as unclean.
On a latest day, a bunch of pals gathered in a yard adjoining to Israel’s frontier with Gaza. They diced the greens and roasted the substances in a fireplace. When the flames light and the greens have been charred, the thick dough was buried within the ash.
Abdelkarim al-Satari, 33, a jobless accountant, began mixing the Lasima. He shredded the dough and put all of the substances within the massive bowl, squeezing the whole lot along with his fist. Cautious of the onlookers, he placed on black cooking gloves.
“In each season, individuals name me to make Lasima for them about 20 instances,” he mentioned.
To problem the dish’s unfavorable picture, social media content material creator Mohammed Aborjela introduced the meal in smaller clay pots and provided samples to random passers-by in Gaza Metropolis.
Many of the respondents in an almost two-minute video mentioned they’d by no means heard of it, however all who tried it preferred it.
The video attracted over 1,000 feedback — a lot of them baffled northerners who have been intrigued in regards to the style however turned off by the preparation strategies.
“The way in which it’s made, particularly by some males, shouldn’t be interesting for the eyes,” mentioned Nada Azzam, a Gaza Metropolis girl.
She mentioned she has by no means tried Lasima. However after watching a video of ladies making it with “clear cooking means,” she vowed to provide it a style.