Celebrate Ramadan in Zaatari, the world’s largest Syrian refugee camp

Last October, Good Food spoke with Karen E. Fisher. She's a professor at the University of Washington's Information School and an embedded field researcher with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. She spoke about Zaatari, the largest Syrian refugee camp in the world, and the cookbook that Karen facilitated, documenting food and life inside the camp. As Ramadan approached, we were curious to know what it’s like to celebrate Ramadan in Zaatari, which is home to nearly 80,000 Syrian refugees.

Evan Kleiman: Karen, for people who missed our previous conversation. Can you describe Zaatari for us? Kind of set the scene? 

Karen E. Fisher: Sure. Zaatari is in northern Jordan, right across the border from Syria. It was set up. It was just in a barren desert. And then in July 2012 when the Syrian War started, a few families had come across the border seeking, you know, safety from the war. And then over the next year, there were over 140,000 people inside Zaatari. After that, the number went down to about 83,000 because the camp can only hold so many people. But basically, it's like a large city. Initially, the people lived in canvas tents provided by UNHCR, and then that was later changed to metal caravans. But inside the camp, it's a closed refugee camp, high security. You have to have permission to enter all items that enter the camp.So, they have to have a permit for things like this. But you know, they have schools in the camp. There's a very vibrant local market that's available in different parts of the camp. For transportation, people go around by donkey cart and bicycle. And also, Evan, in the early days, they had communal kitchens and communal bathrooms, and that was really, really interesting to learn about. And then as people moved into their, you know, the caravans, people then were able to, you know, cook at home, and the kitchens that the women have created are just glorious.

Could you describe one or two for us? 

Yeah, so the residences will vary. So, if it's just maybe one person by themselves, maybe they just have, you know, one caravan. But the larger families will have multiple caravans, and one part of it will be used as the kitchen. Not for eating, it is surely just for preparing food. But the women, I mean, they're such marvelous cooks, and they take such pride in their cooking, that they'll have all kinds of metallic wallpaper and like gold tassels and gold fringes hanging off the shelves. But I should also point out that the main room, or what they call the merdava, the main room in the caravan, this is where the women will gather, either with other women, their daughters, sisters and so forth. Or, you know, when all the family is there to socially prepare food together, because you need a lot of room to lay out all the different platters, especially if you're making something like yabraq, which is the stuffed grape leaves that we'll probably talk about now in a bit. 

I'm curious, now that the political situation in Syria has changed, are people leaving the camp and going back home?

They sure are. That's a great question, Evan, because I know I've been in Zaatari over 10 years, and all the Syrians,they missed their home so much. And in Syria, the people of Zaatari, they did not live in the desert. Most of them are from the south of Syria in a region called Daraa, which is very famous for farming. So in Daraa, you know, it's very, very green. The people have olive tree farms and other types of things that they grow and a lot of water. So it's a very, very different environment from being in Zaatari.So a lot of people have left. It's not so easy to leave. It's very expensive. You have to pay a toll to go across the border to go back on the Jordanian side. And also, just for everyone to know, their homes in Syria have been destroyed. Even the schools, for example, have huge craters in them because of the bombing and things like that, and there's very, very few services. Maybe electricity is maybe just one or two hours a day, so they have a lot of rebuilding to do.

And remind us what brought you to Zaatari, what was your role there? 

I was invited back in Fall 2014 and we were invited there to help UNHCR do some research on how young people in the camp were using their mobiles and the internet. And that's how I started. I fell in love with the people of Zaatari. I fell in love with the food, and I never looked back.

So wonderful. So yesterday, most Muslims all over the world began the month-long celebration of Ramadan. I imagine it's an eagerly awaited period at Zaatari, but also bittersweet, since people are away from home and often separated from family. Does the observance bring some measure of comfort?

It does, absolutely. Ramadan. It is about fasting. I mean, fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam. So during the day, people fast, they fast from food and water. But something that I didn't know, but I think it's just really fascinating, is that you also fast, you restrain from having bad thoughts. So if somebody you know comes by and they might say something not so nice about somebody else, or something you know, just say that you are fasting. You don't participate in that conversation. So it's really about purity. It's about drawing closer to God, and it's also about drawing closer to humanity and having compassion for people who have been less fortunate. Now, in the evening, after the day of fast fasting, this is when all of the social activities really, really kick in. And that's, this is like a celebration every evening. It's very religious as well, but there's a lot of engagement with other people. And then at the end of Ramadan, after approximately 30 days, there's a festival. They call it al-Fitr and this is when, you know, everyone comes together and they visit family and so forth.

Adhan is the Islamic call to prayer. Photo by Alex Lau.

And I imagine it all kicks off with the call to prayer. How many mosques are there in the camp?

And Zaatari, gosh, I think maybe about 60 or 70. What's really lovely about the mosque, or masjid and Zaatari is that the call to prayer is still sung live. A lot of other mosques you go to in cities and so forth, it could be recording, and you can tell  that is time for iftar and for the first prayer for the evening, because the smells before. Even though people are fasting all day, the women start cooking, because there's a lot of eating that goes on during Ramadan in the evening. So you can smell all of these delicious foods everywhere. And then, right? You know, when it's time to break the fast for iftar, you will also smell coffee, because you break your fast by drinking water, one date and then coffee.

A tamir hindi vendor. Photo by Alex Lau.

In the cookbook Zaatari, there's a photograph of a drummer amidst the tents. What is his role? What is he doing? 

You know, this is really intriguing. So this is called musaharati. This is a tradition that has fallen away in large parts of Syria because of the war. Because Zaatari, which is referred to as Little Syria, or, more specifically, even Little Dura, where most people are from, they kept all of these old traditions from Syria alive. They didn't go away. So what this person does is they'll wear the traditional dress in Syria of the musician, and then they'll go out before sunrise, usually with a drum to beat on, and they'll call out to people, and they'll say, “Wake up for suhoor,. wake up for suhoor,” which means wake up for breakfast, because then we will fast all day.

Karen Fisher worked with 2,000 collaborators to compile recipes for "Zaatari: Culinary Traditions of the World's Largest Syrian Refugee Camp." Photo courtesy of Goose Lane Editions.

So let's talk about suhoor, because you have to eat breakfast quite early before the hours of the fast begin. What are some breakfast foods that people might have?

So one of the most famous dishes would be ful, and this is a bean dish that is actually Egypt is most famous for ful, and they can be prepared in different ways, with beans, of course. There's another version that I really, really love, and that's called ful bil laban and that's made with yogurt, and that can be warm or cold. And then, of course, we'll have different types of egg dishes, such as shakshuka or in Syria, also known as jazmaz. There could be zucchini fritters, just food, you know, prepare you for the day. And there's one other thing that is very, very special. And you only typically see this at Ramadan. It's known as Eid bread. It's Arabic for celebration. So you could see it at Eid al Adha, which is known as the Bigger Festival, and it's made on a wooden mold. And the bread itself is so, so delicious. It's kind of crisp on the outside and then softer,chewier inside. Is about bigger than, say, the size of the palm of your hand, maybe six inches in diameter or so. And it has the most wonderful spice flavorings in it, but it's also a little bit sweet, and the dough is a yellowish color. But what's really special about it is the mold that the bread is formed on, and you'll see that it has these round circles, so like pearls, and then on top. Of that you will see black sesame seeds. And the story behind this, the folk story, is that this is supposed to represent rain clouds. And the no the black seeds, the sesame seeds, represent raindrops coming down. And this is to thank Allah for the blessings of having a good harvest and food. 

A young girl holds Eid bread that is made with a wooden mold and eaten during Ramadan. Photo by Alex Lau.

So you mentioned at the beginning of our conversation that family members come together to make food that requires lots of hands. And I know in our previous conversation, we talked about the different kinds of stuffed grape leaves. Is there another dish that you really associate with the camp during Ramadan?

One dish in particular that I really love, and this is a sweet. You will see it in Arab countries all year round, but it's definitely most heavily associated with Ramadan and with Eid. And it's a cookie that's called maamoul. Again, we have special molds for it, and the shape of the cookie will tell you what the filling is inside. So the typical fluid kind of fluted, round shape will have dates in it. And then there's other shapes that will [have] walnut in this one, pistachios. And I've seen people who put different flavors of jam in their maamoul as well. But what makes maamoul so special is that it's made with semolina. In Arabic, the word is samid. So when you go to say a bakery and you want to buy some maamoul, always ask, “Is this with samid?” Is this with semolina? Because there's two completely different tastes to the cookies. The semolina, that is just really, really special. But never leave your mind after you taste it.

Are there artisans in the camp who make the molds?

Oh yeah, absolutely. All of my molds, I've been collecting them for years for the Eid bread and for the molds. Yeah, and they would typically make them, maybe from olive wood in Syria, or whatever wood you know they happen to have on hand. What is really special is that on the last night of Ramadan, all the women will go to like, what family, what neighbors will go to one woman's house, and they will bring their molds for making maamoul, right, maybe other things. And then they will have divvied up, who's going to bring the dates, who's bringing the semolina, who's bringing the sugar, who's bringing the pistachios, and so forth. And then the women will work all through the night to probably make thousands of maamoul.  Literally. And it's just a wonderful rhythm, yeah. And it's a wonderful rhythm because you'll hear this smack, you know, where you gotta turn over the mold, or, you know, to pop out the cookie. And then, of course, you can smell maamoul cooking, you know, throughout the entire night in the camp, because when you go visiting anyone, do you bring maamoul with you and some other sweets.

Throughout the book, there are quotes from people of all ages. Could you please turn to page 158 and there is a “Memories of Ramadan” from a young woman. Could you read it?

By Hadeel. This is a young woman, and a picture here. She's inside her caravan, and she's hanging up a little lantern lights for Ramadan, right? And it's a beautiful story. She says, “How I feel time passing, I am Hadeel from al-Hrak, and I was nine years old when I fasted for the first time, now I am eighteen. I was in Syria then, my beloved country, making beautiful memories in my home with my family, my father, my mother, two brothers and two sisters.

 On the first day of fasting, my father would wake us up for the suhoor, and we would gather at our table for the most delicious foods. Then we would pray fajr and start reciting the Quran until our sleepiness overcame our eyelids. In Syria, fasting was easy: we went to the grove and played under the trees until we were exhausted while my mom prepared delicious food for iftar. In Zaatari, fasting is difficult because it is very hot, everyone is very tired, and during COVID-19, we couldn't go outside the caravan due to lockdown. 

 In Syria, we all sat at the table minutes before the adhan, the call to prayer. When my mother repeated those prayers, I could hardly forget her beauty and those around here were indebtedly etched in my heart. When we hear “Allah Akbar, Allah Akbar,” we are busy eating food, and when we pray Maghrib, watch TV and eat sweets. Every day, I feel a big difference between Ramadan in Syria and Ramadan in Zaatari. I have not lost those memories. Goodbye, Ramadan. Welcome, Ramadan. This is how the years of life go by.”