Art of Arab American Liturature Final

I chose to make Knafeh a desert which as far as I know originates from countries such as Palestine and Lebanon. I chose this dish more so because it was a dessert and also because of the component of the cheese. The ingredients I used were kataifi (shredded phyllo dough), Akkawi cheese (a soft, salty white cheese), unsalted butter, sugar, lemon juice, rose water, and crushed pistachios. I bought most of them from a Middle Eastern grocery store, particularly the kataifi and Akkawi cheese, which are not widely available in regular supermarkets. Kataifi originated from the Ottoman Empire and is used across many Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisines. The Akkawi cheese comes from Acre (Akka) in modern-day Israel/Palestine. 


Many of these ingredients, such as rose water and pistachios, reflect centuries of trade and cultural diffusion through the Silk Road, colonialism, and the Ottoman period. It was difficult to find the right cheese to use for this dish so I resorted to Armenian cheese from an Arabic grocery store. My second difficulty was finding out how to cook the dish, in particular the pan. I found something similar at a grocery store that sold items from different countries. I was quite curious how cheese could be used in a dessert and after finally tasting this it was a great dish. The cheese reminded me of how some desserts use marshmallows. The cheese itself works as an agent that holds and mixes the different flavors together. What makes this assignment stand out is that it's more than just cooking; it’s about understanding how food connects to identity, history, and culture. Unlike a traditional final exam, this banquet project allows us to engage with the material in a sensory and personal way. It made me reflect more deeply on the novels we read, especially those that touch on themes of migration and home. Food becomes a metaphor for preservation, adaptation, and sharing. By preparing a dish, we bring stories to life in a tangible, memorable way that a test could never achieve. 

I feel like this final was a great idea because it was one that each person in the class will remember. I had a great deal of fun gathering the ingredients for this assignment. The final and the reflection is a great way to make and remember a great event and I would say I feel this way about the class too. Each novel we discussed was memorable and they piqued a curiosity of other literature of this sort from other cultures. Not only are the foods we made and ate pieces of a different culture but so were the stories we read in class. I have always liked the novels that we read that had multiple stories in them. I also really liked the films that we watched in class. The cultural bits of information in each lesson were very interesting and intuitive ways of learning from these authors. Overall I really enjoyed this class.(501)


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