Baking a Prayer for PeaceBy Patricia Hebert
Wednesday, June 7, 2006
When the United States engaged Iraq in a war, we were visiting family in Florida. One morning, while reading the local newspaper, a very small book announcement caught my eye. Nawal Nasrallah was self publishing a cookbook titled, "Delights from the Garden of Eden -- A cookbook and a History of the Iraqi Cuisine."
I was intrigued for two reasons. The first being, my father-in-law had just used the same self-publishing company to get his book out, and I was struggling with the idea of how we could, as a people, hate an entire country for the actions of a few.
I went on the Web to find out more about this author and her book. What I found amazed me. First of all, I had traveled 1,500 miles to read about a remarkable author who lived not 30 miles from my house. Ms. Nasrallah is quite remarkable. She is a teacher, a wife, a mother, a person who has suffered, and seen war. She fled Iraq the day that Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.
Without waiting another moment, I bought her book. As a mother with children of my own, I wanted to get to know the Iraqi mothers and their children. I knew through her writings and her recipes I would gain an understanding of the peaceful Iraqi people.
The book arrived the day after we returned from our trip. Being a baker, I turned to the cakes and breads. My first foray into Iraqi cooking was the Energizing Fruit Cake (Kekat al-Fawakih al-Mujaffafa). It is a wonderful cake made with dried fruit and nuts. Much lighter than the traditional English fruit cake that gets passed around at Christmas. And true to her word, one slice of this cake in the morning is enough to carry you until dinner. Of course, it is so good, I find it hard not to eat two slices and then I still dream about more.
The next recipe I tried was the Gold'n Spicy Pumpkin Bread (Kekat al-Shijar al-Ahmer). This was another hit with the family, and friends. And I found myself baking these breads and giving them to people or bringing them to church bake sales. For example, when a neighbor's son returned from the war I baked a bread and dropped it over. I didn't make a big deal out of it. But in my heart I knew that baking this bread was a prayer of thanksgiving for his return and also a prayer for the innocent people in Iraq.
It's been years now, and several Iraqi dishes like Scotch Eggs (Bazmaward) are mixed in among our other standards meals. Offered with each recipe is a prayer for peace. This weekend, we are having an anniversary celebration at our parish and as an alternative to donuts after the 8 a.m. Mass I offered to bake some Energizing Fruit Cake. And along with this cake, a prayer.
