Al Mustaqbal newspaper highlighted today a special article on the culinary traditions of the holy month of Ramadan with a special focus on the dish of ‘fatoosh salad’ and Um Abed Raqika Shawwak. The latter, the newspaper wrote, makes a living by picking and selling grape leaves growing in her neck of the woods along the side-road between the towns of Kawkaba and Mhaidthe in Rashaya. Syrian Um Abed said she relies on this trade to overcome displacement, poverty, deprivation and joblessness. “Ramadan has carved a new source of livelihood for us. We pick nearly 10 kgs of grape leaves per day,” Um Abed boasted, pointing that “one kilogram is being sold at LBP 5,000, enough to get our daily needs for Ramadan and save a sum for the winter where there is no work nor anyone to help us.” A note on the ‘fatoosh salad’ a typical Ramadan Iftar recipe, Al Mustaqbal mentioned that Lebanese family spend around LBP 300 thousand for a plate of vegetables alone in the holy month, particularly with the fluctuating prices between monopoly and non-compliance with prices set by the ministry of economy and trade. The latter, the newspaper wrote, has warned shops and hypermarkets against unjustified rises in the prices of consumer and food products in Ramadan to the end of making profits at the expense of the ordinary citizen. Al Mustaqbal reported that as of the first week of Ramadan, people complained about the soaring prices of vegetables and fruits. Nada, 35 years, for example, complained: “Before Ramadan, one kg of cucumber was sold at LBP 500, now it is LBP 1500, and the lettuce which was sold at LBP 750 is now worth LBP 2000.” (Al Mustaqbal, June 8, 2017)
