The Seville Orange

On my fourth day of work with Iskashitaa, I joined Barbara at a Food Workshop at First United Methodist Church based on the Seville orange. It was my first time being introduced to the orange and at the same time my first time getting acquainted with Iraqi food. Sinbad's (a restaurant here in Tucson) owner and cook Amna came to show those participating in the event that the once thought only ornamental fruit had very good uses with food. The Seville oranges were a key ingredient in the house dressing served over pita chips, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, green peppers, and house dressing that includes freshly squeezed Seville orange juice.  Talk about an amazing combination. Fallowed by a freshly made Seville orange Marmalade and the combination were perfect. For a first introduction to the Sour orange of Tucson and Fattoush, an Iraqi salad, I was not disappointed. One of the best parts of this is anyone can go and try this amazing dish out themselves for only $7.00 at Sinbad's located at 810 E. University Blvd in Tucson, Arizona.

I enjoyed going along with Barbara to the event at First United Methodist. It was a fun way for me to further my experience Tucson and see an outside portion of the UofA campus. Not only did I see the campus and the different sort of fruit trees on it, I also spent my time meeting new people of Tucson and interacting with a Refugee from Iraq. Though I did not get one on one time with her, I did get to hear her tell us about her life in coming to the US and then a bit about her religion and family dynamic. Her introduction on the differences between Sunni and Shiite Muslims was really interesting because she talked about how she and her husband were the opposite as were her parents. Learning this really opened my eyes to viewing Muslims differently and that helps me to become more tolerant.

~Elizabeth, Intern with Iskashitaa