Chicago Foodways: Iftar at Khan 7/1 [2014 past event]

Chicago Foodways Roundtable

Breaking the Fast at a Ramadan Iftar at Khan BBQ
with Yvonne Maffei

Tuesday, July 1, 201 at 7:30 PM, Sunset: 8:29 PM
Khan BBQ
2401 West Devon Avenue, Chicago, IL 60645
(southwest corner of Devon and Western Avenues)
Street Parking
Cost: $15 (food, tax & tip) purchased via EventBrite


We will gather one hour before sunset to learn about Iftar the meal to break fast before going to prayers. Many of the people present will not have eaten or drank since daybreak at 4:01 am. To replicate the experience, we suggest not drinking or eating from once we commence until 8:29 pm. Certainly you may eat before you arrive.

Khan BBQ offers a nightly Iftar buffet during Ramadan. The composition of the meal is fixed, though what is offered changes nightly. Iftar buffet will have dates, naan, a featured BBQ, rice dish, pakora, rosewater milk and ice water.

Ramadan is the Islamic month of fasting for Muslims around the globe. Contrary to popular belief, there is so much wonderful food to enjoy between sunset and sunrise. As varied as the Muslims themselves, so is their food. With cuisine spanning from Asia to the Mediterranean, Europe and the Americas, this program will demonstrate a variety of dishes that provide a sampling of the sweet, savory and everything in between as well as how the ritual of fasting and eating is performed throughout the month. Come to learn more about the traditional and modern food rituals of this very tasty month and enjoy some samples of halal food, too.

Yvonne Maffei, MA graduated from Ohio University with a Bachelor’s degree in Spanish and Latin American Studies and a Master’s degree in International Studies, where she specialized in international education, journalism and health. She has lived and traveled abroad in various regions throughout Latin America, Europe, the southern Mediterranean and North Africa as well as the American foodie cities of San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and Chicago. Yvonne has been cooking and writing since she was a pre-teen and always wanted to turn her passion and hobby into something more. When one of her recipes was published in Cooking Light magazine, it was all the inspiration she needed to make a necessary life and career change. After years of being a school teacher, she decided to re-angle her teaching platfrom from the classroom to her blog where she began writing about halal food and cooking and thus began a new career out of writing about food, travel and healthy, halal living. Today Yvonne writes and publishes MyHalalKitchen.com, a blog about halal food and cooking. She currently teaches cooking classes, gives lectures on healthy eating, and consults schools on how to source healthy, halal ingredients and create tasty healthy and halal recipes for their school lunches. She resides in Chicago, IL.

This program is hosted by the Chicago Foodways Roundtable. To reserve, please e-mail: [email protected]

When is Ramadan this year?

HI,

Roughly June 28/29 until July 28/29 this year. Rough time to not eat or drink for so many hours.

Regards,

Hi,

In response to questions sent via PM:

Some years ago, I was in search of breakfast at Ramadan. A small group of us were roaming Devon Avenue at 4:00 am give or take 30 minutes. Ramadan during this period was in fall with sunrise much later. I assumed if we came about an hour before sunrise, we'd have whatever they offered for Ramadan. We arrived to places that were closing or had a few offerings. I expected more when there was a known extended abstinence from sunrise to sundown.

A few years ago, I met Yvonne Maffei at a Culinary HIstorians program. She invited me to her home for breakfast during Ramadan. I knew sunrise was around 5:00 am. I was surprised to learn I needed to be at her place by 3:00 am. I did, because they could only eat up until 4:10 am on this day. It is absolute first light, not sun up, when then began their fast. Once I learned this, it explained why showing up at some Devon Muslim places for early breakfast, we were met with surprise because we were already late.

Yvonne's husband explained they once were away and not certain when it was first light. They were in a hotel room eating and checking the sky for first light. Once they saw it, they stopped.

"Many of the people present will not have eaten or drank since daybreak at 4:01 am. To replicate the experience, we suggest not drinking or eating from once we commence until 8:29 pm. Certainly you may eat before you arrive."

Perhaps I am inserting my reaction to the experience of iftar when I suggest, "replicating the experience."

I have arrived 45 minutes early for iftar in the past. People started collecting their food, pouring their beverages, yet nobody touched a morsel. Perhaps this is a reflection of my reaction to food: there was a tension building watching all this food and not touching it. I am used to seeing food, touching, nibbling, sipping --- not looking and not touching. At least for me, there was a tension building in seeing, not touching and wanting to eat.

The occasion when I did meet Yvonne for breakfast. I thought maybe I'd try to abstain until iftar. I went seven hours before I put up the little white flag to have a drink and something eat. It takes practice to abstain from food and drink for hours.

Regards,

I really enjoyed Yvonne's talk and the company. Thank you for arranging it Cathy. The food was not so very different from what usually is found at Khan's - which is pretty darn good. I think that I will start every meal with a ritual date. The meal was not, in itself, a banquet or specially festive meal, but it showed Khan's ability well.

This event from 2014, I discovered I never linked the podcast:

https://soundcloud.com/culinaryhistory/ ... t-khan-bbq