“What kind of Middle Eastern food is this exactly?” my friend asked me as we approached the Saint George Melkite Catholic Church last Thursday. At the time, I wasn’t entirely sure, but I was definitely sure that I wanted every pastry I could begin to afford.
As soon as I walked into the serving space for the church’s annual food festival, I knew I had to have it all: choklava (a variation of the traditional baklava), burmas, kaaks, and garabees. “Want to just throw in money for a variety box?” my friend asked. I didn’t. I wanted to share the deliciousness with no one. After missing last year’s Middle Eastern Food Festival, I was definitely excited for this year’s festivities. The festival lasted from Thursday to Saturday with a special event each day, including a photo-op with a camel named Judy Saturday night.
To raise awareness for the thirtenth anniversary of the food festival, high school students and members of the church performed a traditional Middle Eastern dance on “Good Day Alabama.” Later Thursday night, the group, who was identified simply as “Alec and the Girls,” previewed their skills for the audience before the major performance on Saturday. Similarly, two women, who had apparently been dancing together for ten years, wowed the audience with their skillful belly dancing, complete with jingling skirts and tops.
The dinner plates themselves were relatively expensive, with the average plate being around $15, but the food was enjoyable enough that no one seemed to particularly mind. Admittedly, the options for dinner plates for vegetarians were somewhat limited, with the large pieces of chicken breasts, meat pies and kibbee dominating the plates, but side orders of humos, manakeesh or grape leaves would have sufficed.
In the true tradition of church service, the Saint George Melkite Catholic Church uses its community support, including money raised from the annual food festival, to give back to the community: cooking three meals a month for a woman’s shelter, serving food to the homeless in the downtown area on a regular basis, and donating money to various Melkite Diocesan charity funds.
Between the dancing, animals and amazing food, this year’s festival was an undeniable success. Not only does it raise money for the church, it also raises cultural awareness for the population of UAB and its surrounding areas. For more information on the food festival or the church and its services, visit www.saintgeorgeonline.org. Also, for the record, the food is primarily Lebanese and Palestinian.