Written by Gracie Schatz in August of 2020
Previously published in the Register Guard as a part of the “From Scratch” Series
I first saw Ibrahim Hamide at Chef’s Night Out three years ago, cooking up bananas foster with a dramatic flourish of flames. The second time I saw Ib was at a meeting of the WeCU (Whole Eugene Community United) board, a local board that advises our Human Rights Commission, of which he is also a member. I not only admire his restaurant, Cafe Soriah, I deeply respect the work he is doing to make Eugene a more just and equitable city.
After talking for 15 minutes about how much we both love figs, conversation quickly became political, discussing Bethlehem, Palestine, where Ib grew up and I lived briefly. He told me about how his family dry farmed, not because the flavor of the food would be better but because they had no water for irrigation. “I know what it is like to go without. I have seen my father cry when the rains did not come and all of the seeds he had planted did not grow,” Ib recalls. His childhood memories are also filled with milking goats and sheep, making cheese and yogurt, growing sesame and garbanzo beans, picking apricots, pomegranates and figs and cooking with his mother.
“I was the youngest of 8. My mother didn’t want to entertain me, but she was clever. She put an apron on me and would say, ‘Bring me the turmeric!’ I would ask her which was the turmeric? “It’s yellow!”… or, “Bring me the nutmeg! Use your nose, smell it!”. She would have me taste the food and ask me, “What does it need?” and I don’t think she really needed my input, I was 7, but in this way she kept me engaged and taught me to cook with all of my senses.”
Ib came to Eugene to study psychology and marketing at the University of Oregon. It was his father’s dream that all of the children would leave, get an education and return to Bethlehem to live on the farm and start their own small businesses close by. Ib chose to stay in Eugene after Israeli occupation of his home town.
After years in the food industry, traveling all over Oregon to manage restaurants and hotel dining rooms, he opened Casablanca in the 5th Street Market. “There was no middle eastern food in Eugene!” he recalls. Now Ib owns and operates Cafe Soriah, providing Eugene with his signature hospitality and ingredient driven middle eastern cuisine.
When asked to share a recipe, Ib chose two simple, classic, middle eastern dishes. “Ease is our friend,” he said “A Fattoush Salad can be made with the ingredients found in one’s garden this time of a year, and Mujadarra, a dish of rice and lentils garnished with caramelized onions, is affordable, filling and can be made vegetarian or vegan.” Ib’s mother made Mujadarra often, as it was an easy way to feed her eight children. “I know people are struggling right now. This is not an opportunity for me to dazzle people with recipes we make at Soriah, this is a chance to help people feed themselves simple, nourishing and delicious food.”
Fattoush Salad:
Serves 2-4
3 cups romaine lettuce, chopped into ½” pieces
2 cups ripe tomatoes, medium dice
1 cup cucumber, medium dice
1 cup green onions, roughly chopped
½ cup fresh mint, roughly chopped
2 bunches of parsley, roughly chopped
1 piece of pita bread
Dressing:
½ tsp garlic, minced
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup lemon juice
½ tsp sumac
⅕ cup red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
In a toaster oven, toast the pita or bread until it is dry and crumbles and breaks easily. Whisk together the salad dressing, tasting to adjust the seasoning to your liking. Combine all of the fresh salad ingredients and the crumbled pita and toss them in the salad dressing. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Mujadarra
Serves 2-4
2 cups green lentils
2 cups long grain rice, preferably basmati
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp salt
2 large onions, peeled and sliced
6 Tbsp olive oil
Optional garnish: plain yogurt, trimmed whole green onion, olives and fresh radish
In a large pot over medium heat combine 2 cups of lentils and 4 cups of water, ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp cumin and cook until the lentils are tender, about 20 minutes. Once the lentils are tender, add the rice and another 3 cups of water and cover the pot, reducing the heat to low. Cook until the rice is tender. Adjust the salt to your liking.
Meanwhile, heat a large nonstick or cast iron pan over high heat, cook the sliced onions in the olive oil. Reduce the heat once the onions start to color and stir regularly until they caramelize, 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle the onions with salt to taste.
To serve the Mujadarra, top it with the caramelized onions, according to Ib, this is a must, and it makes the dish. The lentils and rice are cooked so simply and without any fat so the rich, sweet caramelized onions in a generous amount of olive oil add depth and richness to the finished dish. Serve with plain yogurt, green onions, olives and sliced radishes. Enjoy!
