About thirty volunteers from Tajoura, a suburb in the east of the Libyan capital, work daily to cook and serve about three hundred meals during the month of Ramadan, as part of a solidarity campaign that highlights a traditional Libyan dish.
Men of all ages are joining forces to prepare bazin, a Libyan barley baked goods served with soup, as part of a campaign that combines social solidarity and culinary traditions to distribute free meals to those fasting during the holy month.
Equivalent to Italian polenta or West African fufu, bazin is an originally Berber dish that is considered a classic family meal from Tripolitania (“Tripolitania”), the historic northwestern region of Libya.
Bazin is also a symbol of sharing among Libyans, and is usually eaten by hand from a shared plate around which guests sit on the floor.
High meat prices
Salem Omran, one of the chefs participating in the initiative that took shape after the 2011 revolution that toppled Muammar Gaddafi’s regime, says: “In the past, this dish was limited to homes,” where women would prepare it and serve it “to relatives and neighbors.”
The 60-year-old man explained to Agence France-Presse, “We provide these meals to everyone who comes to us.”
Beside him, men circle in groups of three around a large pot, holding long sticks in their hands with which they mix barley flour in boiling salted water.
After cooking for at least an hour, the hot dough is kneaded and divided into small pieces, which in turn are shaped into dome-like cone shapes, then placed in a bowl with the stew of beans, tomatoes and spices.
Libyan food
Place the dough in a bowl with the bean stew, tomatoes and spices – Getty
Meat, which was a necessary ingredient in this recipe, is currently absent from this food category due to its high prices. But volunteers adapt to the situation.
Issam Al-Tayeb (57 years old), a resident of Tajoura who came to help with the initiative, said: “We moved from one pot to one pot, then from one pot to two, and we now serve between 300 and 400 meals a day.”
“Life is difficult for Libyans now.”
In the capital, Tripoli, about 22 kilometers away, another type of fried pastry occupies a large space on the Ramadan table: svens, which is similar to a soft fried “doughnut” made from fermented dough, usually stuffed with eggs or dipped in honey.
After being a relatively cheap food sold to passers-by in the streets, saffens have become a luxury for many Libyans due to the high cost of living.
Libya is still struggling to recover from the years of war that followed Gaddafi’s killing in 2011. The country is also divided between two rival administrations in Tripoli in the west, and Benghazi in the east.
Libyan food
The impact of political instability on the standard of living of Libyans – Getty
Despite having the largest oil reserves in Africa and abundant natural gas reserves, ongoing instability has undermined the economy and greatly affected the standard of living in Libya.
Muhammad Saber, who runs a Sevens store on the outskirts of Tripoli, says that customers “buy within their means,” adding: “Today, the price of a carton of eggs is 20 dinars (about 4 dollars), which raised the price of egg Sevens to 3.5 dinars,” after… It was only a few pennies.
Saber, a Tunisian who is fluent in the Libyan dialect after living and working for a long time in Libya, explains that “life is difficult for Libyans now.”
Sevens vendors like Saber traditionally came from neighboring Tunisia, home of the famous Bambaloni cake, but in recent years they have become rare in Libya.
However, they have begun to return, despite competition from burger and shawarma sellers, for those who can afford it.
Customers of all ages line up in front of Saber’s small store.
“The smell is very good,” jokes Mohammed Al-Boushi, a 69-year-old customer. “But to be honest with you, it is not ideal for health.”
Sources: AFP
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2024-04-04 11:58:44