Picnic, Iraqi style!

The fare at Quentin Rashid's farewell was all traditional Iraqi--even the Coke cans were in printed in Arabic! We had grilled lamb kebobs prepared with several different spice combinations. To eat them, you put them on a piece of pita bread, add tomatoes, pickled red onion strands, Iraqi pickles and more spices; roll them up in the pita and eat it like an egg roll or taco. They also had Iraqi pastries for desert. They're a lot like souvlaki (spelling?)--light and very flaky. Of course, I had to try at least one of each! My favorite were the ones where the pastry was wrapped around honey and pistachio nuts. The pistachios are different--and better tasting--than the ones we get Stateside. I've found most of their produce to be smaller, but fresher and tastier than typical U.S. stuff.