»Brot, Salz und verrückter Käse«

Text: Muhammad Al Ajeel
Zeichnungen: Julia Kluge

Essen, so meinen viele, sei das beste Integrationsmittel. Doch wer sich am Frühstückstisch näher kennenlernen will, muss auch mal Hürden überwinden.

According to many people, food is the best means of integration. But those who want to sit together at the breakfast table have to first overcome a few hurdles.

Bread, salt and crazy cheese

Ulrich/I met him for the first time in Aldi. He seemed friendly somehow./“Do you speak English?”/“Yes!”/Later I called Samer and asked if he’d be interested to come to my office for a coffee./That day he invited me and my wife to have dinner with him and his family.

Samer/Syrian ingredients are hard to find in most German supermarkets./The bus ride from Heringen to Bad Hersfeld is nearly 27 km./There we buy Halal meat, spices and Arabic bread in a Turkish market.

Fatima/I hope they like us./I have to admit, I’m a little anxious./Who knows whether these people are good or bad.

1—Kapsah/2—Moutabal/3—Hummus with meat/4—Fattoush/5—Green tea/6—Tabbouleh/7—Arabic bread/“This paste is delicious!”/“That’s hummus!”/“They like the food! We’ve done well!”/It was nice to eat in great company. Ulrich and his wife had many questions about the different Syrian dishes.

Ulrich/“Hello? I’d like to invite you to a typical German breakfast!”/On Saturday I buy fresh rolls from the bakery./In the meantime my wife makes some coffee.

1—Filtered coffee/2—Sausage/3—Butter/4—Jam/5—Cold cut meats/6—Rolls/7—Jibneh mshallaleh/“Why aren’t they eating the stuff I bought?”/“It’s nice to be around others. These people are very friendly.”/Strange that Fatima, Samer, his wife and his sister hardly tried the rolls and other things we set out for them. They preferred the things they brought along themselves. That salty cheese in a glass, for example, which they called “jibneh mshallaleh”. What a crazy cheese!