Once upon a time, Kraken came to visit me in the big city where I then lived and I decided to introduce him to Lebanese cooking. There was an exceptionally good restaurant very near to me and altho’ I had tried many of the dishes on the menu, my heart belonged to their riz-bi-djaj. (I know there are alternate spellings but that’s the one they used, so I’m sticking with it!)
Kraken carefully scrutinized the ingredients and said, “That sounds good. I’ll have that, too.”
Soon, our food arrived, rice delicately steaming, spiced chicken sending up aromas to tease the nose… and a little cup of yogurt sauce to pour over the top.
“That goes on top of it all.” I informed him.
“Nah, I’m okay without it.”
“You really should try it with the sauce…”
“Nope, I’m good.”
“It’s much better with the yogurt...”
“But I don’t want it.”
At which point, I grabbed said sauce and dumped it all over his rice.
(#unrepentant)
He gave me his best patented Kraken Glare…
and simply received Jz's famous Politely Enquiring Face in return.
He was stuck and he knew it. So he took a teeeeny, tiny little bite, fully prepared to spit it out and declare that I owed him another dish of riz-bi-djaj, untainted this time. As he chewed, he looked more and more disgruntled.
“Okay - that’s actually quite good with the sauce.”
How you know you’re good friends with someone:
They don’t begrudge you an honest victory.
You don’t crow, “I Win!!” and do a victory dance right where you sit.
But I might just whisper “riz-bi-djaj” whenever he gets ornery, even 30-odd years later.
It could happen…
just sayin’…
9 comments:
Love it! I've got a few “riz-bi-djaj” experiences in my history. :)
Amy
As i used to say to the children, you don’t know if you like it until you try it! Yes, you are obviously very good friends to be able to get away with that.
That picture looks very delicious. Another craving sets in, except I've quit eating chicken. Hmmm...let's see.
Am glad I know riz means rice and djaj means chicken. Should've done better with 8 years in the Middle East, but at least I can recognize food names in Arabic!
R is for #RallyforRivers
Hi Jz - as it's getting towards lunch ... this sounds rather good - and what fun to have Kraken agree that you were right: well done - cheers Hilary
A-
Hopefully yours are easier to spell…!
;-)
mm-
Yes, we’ve been very good friends for a very long time - and his bark (or glare) is a lot worse than his bite. But also, I knew he didn’t mind yogurt or cucumber, he just didn’t think they’d go on the dish. I was 98% sure he’d like it once he tried it, so I took the chance! (And was quite prepared to buy him a second dish of it if he really hated it. I may be a pill - but I'm not an unreasonable one.) :-D
A-
chocolate, chicken, what shall we do next? - Cheese?!? ;-)
*(Please insert “Wallace” voice here*)
Yes, I looked for a better link to describe the dish but all I could find were menu options or recipes, so I decided to just rely on people’s innate curiosity… (Or pre-existing knowledge! ;-p)
H-
It is VERY good - if you ever get the chance, give it a go!
And yes, Kraken was fairly gracious about it all. Actually, Mrs. Kraken wants to know my secret for correcting him and not getting grief. She’ll say, “I’m going to practice saying that the way Jz does…” - - and she purses up her lips to speak - then giggles, calls us two peas in a pod, and sits back again, reveling in how he adores her. ;-D
Ha ha! Only something you can do with a good friend. It is good that he liked it, too.
Emily In Ecuador
E-
True, dat!
I really was sure he'd like it - in hindsight, perhaps overly confident but then again, we'd been eating meals together for several years by that point, so there was reason behind my arrogance. :-)
You may not be surprised to learn that here in the Ozarks, we don't have Lebanese restaurants. Our ethnic food is limited to Mexican (and we do have some very good, authentic Mexican food), Chinese (only it's Ozark Chinese and not like anything you probably get) and one Thai and one Vietnamese restaurant. The end.
D-
I feel your pain. I moved out of the city, back to the land of my upbringing and no, no Lebanese around here, either. Excellent Italian, small pockets of very good Asian, Mexican, fusion, and seafood to die for. But no good Middle Eastern within easy distances.
*le sigh*
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