Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
A rich culture of celebrating Ramadaan
City’s Muslims describe what they eat to mark the occasion
AS MUSLIMS from around the continent and further abroad celebrate the holy month of Ramadaan in the Mother City, they are are keeping the traditions and cultures of their homelands alive.
“Ramadaan is not a choice, but a rule and regulation to the Kurdish,” said restaurateur Baran Kalay, the owner of Baran Kurdish Restaurant on Greenmarket Square.
Kalay, who has lived in South Africa for 25 years, on Thursday broke his fast with a meal of lamb guvec, a Turkish dish of slow cooked lamb, with olive, rice, salad, and soup as sides.
This was followed by a classic Mediterranean dessert, baklava, with ice cream.
Baran’s Kurdish Restaurant is one of the centres of Cape Town’s small Kurdish community, in which Kalay has been active for years.
Kalay said Ramadaan was a time for reflection and introspection.
“During this time we think of our brothers and sisters; who are starving out there who are involved in the war in Iraq.
“It’s advisable to have a light meal in the morning before you start fasting,” said Kalay. “Soup, yogurt, fruit, liquids or tea and something sweet that will sustain throughout the day. Not too sweet, though”.
While Kalay’s delicious iftar menu attracts customers, he said breaking a fast did not need to be expensive.
“What you eat depends on what kind of family you come from and what your family can afford.”
Dlad Gure Hussein, originally from Somalia, runs a small cafe/ supermarket in Parow with his brother. He said he breaks his fast with water and dates with tea or coffee.
The main meal would usually include rice or spaghetti and beef or fish.
“We don’t always eat the same thing, you eat whatever you have in the house and whatever you can afford,” he said while serving customers.
Just down the street from the Hussein brothers’ shop is On Main Supermarket, managed by Saidur Rahman, who is originally from Bangladesh.
Rahman said his family breaks the fast with water, dates and fruit before a main course of either curry or beef, vegetables, chicken or fish.
Fetching a box of dates from the back of his shop, Rahman said they were not what he was accustomed to in Bangladesh. “It’s not the best quality,” he said. For barber Erick Osman from Burundi, Ramadaan is the “month of sacrifice for God so that he can forgive us for our sins”.
While waiting for customers to enter his shop on the Parow train station deck, Osman said Burundian Muslims usually break the fast with rice, beans, roti and fruit.
For Jimi Ogunlaja, a model and club promoter from Nigeria who has been living in South Africa for eight years, iftar means yoghurt, bananas, milk, dates and water.
Speaking to Weekend Argus at a club he manages in the CBD, Ogunlaja said Ramadaan was a “month set aside for you to get in touch with your creator spiritually.”
“(You must) actually read the Qur’an and get the message of what we are destined to do in life,” he said.
“Muslims look forward to Ramadaan because they gain a lot. True believers know that blessings are to follow”.
At the multi-cultural Jumu’a Mosque of Cape Town in Orange Street, 25 worshippers – including American Muslim and hip hop artist and actor Yasiin Bey (also known as Mos Def) – broke their fast on Wednesday evening with glasses of water, milk and dates.
They prayed for 10 minutes, before enjoying a more substantial meal of bread, samoosas and soup in an adjoining room.
sinolwazi.april@inl.co.za