Cooking in Libya

I will not even try to make this post about Libyan cuisine since I have very little knowledge of it. I will however, make this post about COOKING in Libya, as in - everyday cooking while living in Libya as an expat. 

First to say, I come from the country very different than Libya. I am not saying it is always better in food department. But it is cleaner. Much much cleaner. For example meat is kept nicely packed in the cooled department of the supermarket. Also, said meat has a description stamped on the package - description which states where it comes from, what part of animal it is and what can you use it for. The vegetable comes nicely divided into types in also cooled department. On the other hand, said vegetable is plastic looking with less and less taste every year. 

So, the culture shock on buying food here was big. Actually so big that it started even before we got to Libya. In the last country we lived (another Muslim oriented country, after it popped out of Soviet Union) I have recollection of being so wary of getting meat that I can come up with only one time that I went and got real meat from the real butcher. And i still remember exact shop where I went that time... And surely, I thought, we ate more meat than that....So I had to go to my knowledge source - G, because after all he was there, to tell me what did we eat there (since I vaguely recall only frozen meat and restaurants)... And the answer was - lots of chicken (frozen) and even more meals in the restaurants... And he would know I guess since the answer was followed with accusing look. But at least they had best quality and most diverse restaurants of all the countries I ever lived. You name it, they had it. We still talk about the food there. Crappy country, all in all but if someone would offer me to spend a week there I would go just for the restaurants..... But I digress.

When we came to Libya, I was more open to local ways of shopping. The vegetables you get on stalls next to the road and meat you can get either at the butcher shop (next to the road again...) or at the butcher corner inside some supermarkets. Either way, you have to get used to shops smeared with blood (not really exaggerating) and learn how to choose meat directly from an animal... All quite dirty, but once you spend more time here, and find a butcher that you like, stay with him and you are fine. In my experience, butchers that are popular among expats are not so good. Usually, they sell expensive mediocre meat but the shop will be shiny and new. As for the prices at normal butcher, a kilo of chicken breasts is 6 dinars or so, kilo of beef steak (but not sirloin quality) is 15-20 dinars, lamb leg would be between 15-20 dinars for a kilo. I must admit that these prices are prone to +/- since I tend to buy lot of meat in one go so I am never sure how much is what. But I am sure it is much much cheaper than in Europe. There is also camel meat, whole chickens (quite skinny, gasp...did they actually grow them naturally and not stuff them with corn fused with growing hormones), ocassional rabbit, turkey breasts, quails. I once asked for a duck at my butcher and they all had a good laugh. 

Fish. Is. Very. Good. Here. 

This is Mediterranean after all.

There used to be fish market just outside Medina, but then one day bulldozers came and tore it down. Just like that. Some of the stalls moved 100 meters down the road towards Dat Alimat towers and the others 5 km up the sea road just after Hofra. Then, there is Hofra. A small fish market where you can buy fish and then get it grilled in restaurant of your choice. All fish markets smell horrible and that is because they really don't clean them every day (or ever). so all the fish blood and more is basically smeared around the stalls. However if you get past that (I always rinse my flip-flopped feet with water when we get back to the car) the fish is mostly excellent quality. And as in anywhere else, you have to know how to recognize fresh fish. And my favorite part is that they will clean all your fish for small fee. And they clean it very good. 

Vegetables are a bit on the dry side (this is dessert after all) and tend to be full of spots and faults. Not the kind you get in most supermarkets these days where every tomato is perfect red and without blemishes... Luckily for me, I like them more this way. I can get most vegetables I use at home and some more that I didn't use until now. Fruit is similar. I would say they don't use much chemicals on anything. Best indication is that if you don't eat it soon after you get it, it rots. As it should.

As for other food, bread is extremely cheap here since it is subsidized by government, but if you are used to diverse bread loafs that you can buy in Europe, forget about it. Most bread products are small white wheat buns which are good as long as you eat them same day. Croissants are very nice if you find them just out of oven... And there is something similar to nan bread, which is again good when hot. 

As for all the normal supermarket produce, it is available. Like in any other country, it will be somewhat adapted to local food culture. So, there will be easy to find humus in the can while red beans might be more rare. Maybe there will be 2 types of peanut butter and not the one that you get at home. It is very likely that you will not be able to find some specific food that you could easily find at home. If that is such a big deal you can always haul them from every trip home or get them shipped here. 

Dairy products are a bit disappointing here for me. I adore natural yoghurts and cow cheese (white fresh one) and I didn't find yet one that is to my taste. But then again, this is not the first country I lived in and I never managed to find it anywhere than at home. Bit demanding in this department, but then again it makes my trips home all the more special. They do have danone dairy stuff and more. As for cheese, there is frico (dutch) and some more dutch normal cheeses like gouda, masdaam etc. There is crappy mozzarella type cheese and some brie which is extreme expensive here. You can also get fresh milk in 5 liter canisters from local dairy shops but I haven't found one where they speak English yet so it is not clear is it camel, sheep or cow milk. And sometimes it is actually yoghurt. A bit confusing, so I gave up.

Also, in even the smallest supermarket there is quite big range of gluten free products. 

Good sides of food in Libya.

There is huge selection of exotic (for me) spices that are really fresh, cheap and interesting. Lamb in Europe is quite expensive and difficult to get, while here it is the most common meat. At vegetable stands they sell parsley, basil, coriander, celery leaves (and other spices that I don't know English name of) almost for free and the quantities you get in one bunch are huge. To compare, last time I was in Netherlands we paid over a Euro for 1/10 quantity of basil that we get here. Fish is very good and very cheap. Kilo of baby tuna is going for 6 dinars and it is so good that G eats it fresh. They have unbelievable amount of different type of nuts and dried fruits here, also cheap cheap. Then, there are dates. I am not into them, but I bring them home to my friends and family and they love them. Apparently they are more jucy and flavored than the ones they buy in supermarkets. Here they sell them by kilo for 4-10 dinars depending on the quality. You can get lots of different stuff made from the dates, like syrup, little woven baskets with squashed dates mixed with some sort of nuts (I guess) inside, date paste and of course fresh ones. Olives are also big part of Libyan cuisine and there are dozens different types to get. Now it is the season for fresh mango and papaya and they are available at every stall. Green chilli pepers.  

Bad sides. Uhm, ok here we go. 

Fresh tomatoes that we can get here are of the Roma tomato type which is the one that gets canned as pelati. So, not so flavorful to eat in a salad, but excellent for cooking soups and making sun dried tomatoes. Weird bread. No smoked meat products like sausages, hams etc. No alcohol in shops. 

So, what I learned here. Every time I go home I bring with me some stuff that I really enjoy and appreciate. From the last trip I brought big slab of proscuitto, sheep milk matured cheese, smoked sausages and some spices I can not get here. I don't bring that much since I also have clothes in my baggage so there is room only for little bit, but I like to have something from home.. 

Another thing I learned is to appreciate different types of food I can get here and to use it to the maximum. There are stuff here that I just wouldn't try at home and they usually turn out to be great. I got Indian and Arabic cookbook and it is easy to use it since all the staples are easily available. This way i am trying new food to the extent that I would not go if we lived at home. And to make things better, I am not working now so I finally have time to experiment, cook proper food and spend time on it. And that will change as soon as we move out of here and I start working again....

Do I miss food that makes home home? Yes, of course I do. But not so much to keep on nagging about it. Probably because I can get to know other cuisine that i would not experience if we did not live here. And I know that when we move out I will miss food here and will be bringing lots of stuff with me back home.