Restaurants and food

Arabic coffee:

Arabic coffee: Strong and served in small cups, it's more a tradition than a drink.

The preparation and serving of coffee is generally the same across the Arab world. The ritual of serving coffee is a sign that a guest is welcomed and honored.

Coffee, a symbol of Arabic hospitality, is seen throughout the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Often flavored with the heady taste of cardamom, coffee is strong and tasty (and often filled with grounds--so leave that last mouthful!)

Generosity and hospitality have always been of utmost importance to an Arab host. The Al Murrah Bedouins of Arabian desert shared that same tradition, according to one ethnographic researcher. Drinking weak coffee throughout the day, they make a fresh pot of coffee whenever a guest arrives.

Traditional meals and food:

There is a wide variety in the Jordanian style of cooking. The authentic Jordanian cuisine can range from grilling (shish kababs, shish taouks) to stuffing of vegetables (grape leaves, eggplants, etc.), meat, and poultry.

The food was displayed with grand recipients- such as Mansaf, Freekie, Maqluba and stuffed or whole lamb. When people visit family and friends, tea, Turkish-style or Arabic-style coffee, or fruit juice is served. Often this meal includes sweets, especially on holidays. The national main dish is Mansaf, which consists of lamb cooked in dried yogurt and served with seasoned rice on flat bread. Mansaf is always served on holidays and special family occasions such as visits to relatives or friends, engagements, and weddings.

Food is a very important aspect within the Jordanian culture. In most villages, meals are a community event with the immediate and extended family present. In addition, food is commonly used by Jordanians to express their hospitality and generosity. Jordanians by nature are very hospital people and, often, it is presented within minutes of a person's invitation to a local house.

Ramadan meals:

In addition to the two meals mentioned hereafter, during Ramadan sweets are consumed much more than usual. Sweets and fresh fruits are served between these two meals. Although most sweets are made all year round such as knafeh, baklawa and basbousa, some are made especially for Ramadan such as Qatayef. Futuur

Future (also called iftar), or fast-breaking, is the meal taken at dusk when the fast is over. The meal consists of three courses: first, an odd number of dates based on Islamic tradition. Then soup would be served, the most popular is lentil soup, but a wide variety of soups such as chicken, freekie (a soup made from a form of whole wheat and chicken broth), potato, maash and others. The third course would be the main dish, usually eaten after an interval where Maghreb prayer is conducted.

The main dish is mostly similar to what is usual for lunch, except that cold drinks are also served.

Jordanian restaurants:

Like any city Amman and all cities in Jordan, Jordan offers a wide variety of cuisines and restaurants. All major hotels have restaurants, and many small restaurants outside of hotels serve tasty local versions of traditional Arabic and Middle Eastern dishes. There are many European(Italian restaurants and pizza places are somewhat abundant in Amman, Madaba, and Aqaba ,irbid,salt,dead sea, wadi mousa, zarqa), Chinese, Mexican and Indian restaurants available in wide range in Jordan, especially in the main cities in Jordan More and more cafes now serve food. There is an abundance of Middle Eastern-style cafes serving Argeelleh in addition to the full complement of Western and Middle Eastern coffee drinks. There are also a good number of Western-style cafes which usually serve Western-style desserts, salads and sandwiches.

Jordanian cuisine is quite similar to fare served elsewhere in the region. The daily staple being khobez, large, flat bread sold in bakeries across the country for a few hundred fils. Delicious when freshly baked.

For breakfast, the traditional breakfast is usually fried eggs, labaneh, cheese, zaatar and olive oil along with bread and a cup of tea. Falafel and hummus are eaten on the weekends. This is the most popular breakfast. Manousheh and pastries come in as the second most popular breakfast item. All of the hotels offer American breakfast.

The national dish of Jordan is the mansaf, prepared with jameed, a sun-dried yogurt. mansaf as "an enormous platter layered with crêpe-like traditional "shraak" bread, mounds of glistening rice and chunks of lamb that have been cooked in a unique sauce made from reconstituted jameed and spices, sprinkled with golden pine nuts." In actuality more people use fried almonds instead of pine nuts because of the cheaper price tag. While mansaf is the national dish, most people in Bedouin areas eat it on special occasions and not every day. Other popular dishes include Maklouba, stuffed vegetables, and freekeh.

An excellent restaurant to sample Jordanian food is Kan Zaman, located outside Amman. The restaurant is located in a former fortress; today guests are greeted by photos of the eatery's most famous diners including the late King Hussein. After a meal, guests can watch performances of traditional Arabic music and dances or stroll through the complex to shop for handicrafts, silver jewelry, embroidered jackets, brass knives, antiques (including antique brass coffeepots), and mirrors with Arabesque designs.

Tourist Street, Wadi Musa, Learn how to cook typical Jordanian dishes such as mutabbal (aubergine dip a little like baba ghanoush), shourabat 'adas (lentil soup) and cardamom-spiced chicken with rice, then eat it all. It's a sociable and enjoyable way to learn about the local culture and acquire new recipes.