Cooking up tradition

By Meredith Hines-Dochterman/The Gazette

CEDAR RAPIDS - Tima Smejkal remembers shadowing the women of the Islamic Center of Cedar Rapids, pen and paper in hand as she tried to write a recipe for fatayer.

“I'd ask them how much flour to use, how they knew the dough was ready,” Smejkal says.

Her questions were answered - sort of.

“They'd tell me ‘Oh, about a handful' or ‘You just know,'?” Smejkal recalls.

The women weren't trying to be evasive; this was simply how they made the traditional pastry pie. It's how their grandmothers and mothers made it, how they learned to make it, and how they're teaching their own daughters and granddaughters.

It isn't a recipe. It's a tradition.

“The older generation, who was here before us, they taught all of us,” says Betty Igram, Smejkal's mother. “Every time a group comes in, they pick up what we teach them. We hope it goes on for generations.”

Preparations for the Islamic Center of Cedar Rapids' annual Middle Eastern Dinner begin nearly two weeks before the event, with the making of fatayer. The pies will be frozen and reheated the day of the event, but everything else on the menu - from the green bean stew to the rice - is made the day of the dinner.

The women may bake and freeze the pies early to make the dinner itself run smoothly, but it's still a long day. A small group meets in the center's kitchen at the crack of dawn to make the pastry dough. Eight hours later, all of the meat pies are finished and work on the spinach pies begins.

By the end of the day, the group of about 20 women will have made roughly 2,000 pies. They work in makeshift assembly lines, floured fingers pinching the dough closed. The clang of metal trays can be heard in the kitchen as dishwashers prepare for the next round of baking. There's laughter and conversation. More often than not, a woman gives a one-armed hug to a friend as they pass by each other.

The day is 50 percent baking, 50 percent reunion, 100 percent family.

“As soon as you can reach the table, you're there helping,” says Shadia Igram. “There's something in us. I don't know if it's the culture or the religion, but we thrive off feeding others. It's almost selfish, we enjoy it so much.”

In fact, Igram traveled to Cedar Rapids from Washington, D.C., to help with the preparations. A family wedding on her husband's side will keep her from attending the dinner, but she plans to Skype with everyone on the day of the event.

Reema Ajram also grew up watching her mother prepare for the dinner, waiting for her turn to lend a hand.

“It's been a tradition forever,” says Ajram, 21, a University of Iowa junior. “It gets busy, but it's so much fun.”

The first dinner was held in 1978. Smejkal says the event stopped for some time, but was brought back by popular demand about 10 years ago.

“It's a lot of work, but we enjoy it,” says Boushra Igram. “A lot of the ladies, we don't see each other that often, so we're able to see each other now and catch up.”

For Noor Azmeh, 10, that means listening to a lot of women comment on how much she's grown in the past year.

“Five people just came up to me and said that,” says the Pierce Elementary School fifth-grader with a laugh.

If you go

What: Middle Eastern Dinner

When: 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday

Where: Islamic Center of Cedar Rapids, 2999 First Ave. SW

On the menu: Lebanese bread, hummus, salad, green bean stew, rice, fatayer, cabbage rolls, baklava and a beverage. Carryout is available.

Cost: $12 for adults and $6 for kids ages 10 and under; available at the Islamic Center of Cedar Rapids or Cedar Graphics Inc., 311 Parsons Dr., in Hiawatha, before the event. Tickets also will be sold at the door on Sunday.

Fatayer

(Meat Pie)

Dough

3 cups flour

1 package yeast

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup warm water

Filling

3 pounds of 85 percent ground beef

1 large onion, grated

1/2 cup lemon juice

2 tablespoons salt

1 tablespoon pepper

1 1/2 cups crushed tomatoes

Dissolve yeast in warm water, add salt and sugar. Mix flour with liquid mixture, knead until smooth. Cover the dough with plastic or dish towel, let rise until dough doubles in size.

Cut the dough into pieces the size of an apricot; set on floured board or work area. Cover and let rise again.

While the dough is rising, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Mix together the ground beef, onion, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and crushed tomatoes in a bowl.

Pat dough ball into circle shape. Spread meat mixture evenly onto dough. Be careful not to overfill.

Bring each side to center of dough, pinch closed. Bring up bottom of dough to center, forming a triangle shape.

Bake meat pies until brown.

Note: For a vegetarian option, fatayer can be filled with spinach or cream cheese.