my marriage to a non-kuwaiti woman, by virtue of the circumstances, meant i had to purchase food for the house and all other necessities. one day i bought fruits and my wife noticed the oranges which i had bought were not fresh and i had to give ear to what she had to say in this regard, especially how to choose the good and fresh fruits.
i suggested that as long as she had all that experience not only in buying fresh fruits and meat but do all types of shopping, had the best taste and was more patient than me, she should take charge of purchasing all the needs of the house. but at that time i think she did not understand what all this meant.
over time, she became responsible for not only buying the food needs of the house, but also for following up the affairs of those who work for us, paying for oil, water, gas, electricity and many other bills.
since i had completely stopped buying the house requirements and managing the affairs of the house made me feel comfortable on one hand but it negatively affected me on the other.
i have become less prudent in my choices, less familiar with shopping and less patient in choice, and this has brought me into awkward pitfalls and positions due to my lack of familiarity with etiquette, the gift, the quality of choice and what should be presented to guests in a community that loves appearances and gives great importance to the abundance of food and its variety, the need for it, or the number of people who will address it.
what i said in an earlier article of ignorance of the purchase prompted the reader tawfiq awad to differentiate between coriander and parsley. he said that coriander leaves resemble parsley leaves, but their size is smaller and its color is a little greener and can be eaten raw or added to stew or fish broth.
as for parsley, its leaves are green and thicker than coriander and larger. its taste is slightly bitter and its texture is rough. its aroma can be distinguished in egyptian falafel, which is usually made of beans and therefore green inside unlike the shami falafel which is made from chickpeas, or alfalfa, and is therefore yellow inside.
my first experience with cooking was in london, in the winter of 1985, when i decided to prepare the lentil soup the kuwaiti way, so i emptied the bag of lentils into a half pot filled with boiling water.
after a few minutes i added the potatoes to the lentils, then the onions, then the pepper, the salt, the tomatoes, the garlic and the lemon and the amount of exotic spices that were in the apartment kitchen. then i covered the pot and went to watch the wimbledon tennis games on tv.
moments later, the sounds of whistling and rattling came from the kitchen, so i went to find the lid of the pot ‘trembling’ and ‘swaying’ to the right and left. i lifted the cover and found the lentil mix barely one-third of the pot and it had begun to spill out. i halfemptied the pot and the remainder i put on the stove again and went to watch the game
after a few minutes the same whistling and rattling continued but this time with greater intensity so i went sapphire repeated and doubled in strength, so i went and saw the same state of affairs, lentils still solid and potatoes uncooked, and continued with the process of emptying half of it into another pot.
this kept on repeating until all the utensils in the kitchen were filled with lentils and the contents of each was different in taste and shape and color from each other.
during a whole week i did not eat anything but the lentil soup with different flavors, and this caused me to hate lentils and i suffered from its side effects for years, but did not last long.