(light orchestral music)
- [Man] And we gonna fry this.
(light orchestral music)
(pleasant violin music)
- Hi, I'm Beryl and we're doing another community video.
This month is the holy month of Ramadan.
And around the world,
over one billion Muslims are celebrating.
Before we go too far, I do wanna say this.
I am not a Muslim.
And I live in a generally speaking Christian country.
That being said,
I've always felt that there is a huge lack
of positive Muslim representation in the media
in general, and especially when it comes to Ramadan.
I think that the world over knows when it is Christmas
but it don't know if everybody knows when it's Ramadan
or even what Ramadan is.
So I wanted to use my platform to give you guys a voice
and a chance to talk about a holiday that means a lot to you
and to share it with some of us who might not celebrate.
The month of Ramadan is marked by 30 days of fasting
from sunrise to sunset.
And while the fasting is a huge part of the holiday,
it really is about a lot more than just that.
- Ramadan is not only fasting.
- It's about that togetherness.
- Regardless of our differences.
Okay, if they are Muslims, not Muslims,
fasting, you not fasting,
you are welcome to join our table.
- It's a month where I can feel the warmth of other people.
- It's all about self control, about patience, about caring,
about actually enjoying the moment.
- And then in this fast paced world,
good self control is really nice and beneficial.
- You focus on your spirituality
and your religiosity increases a lot more.
(recites Quran)
- It just forces you to be more at peace with yourself,
to be more connected to your spirituality.
- But what's more important than that,
is to apply what we have learned during Ramadan
for the rest of the year.
- I know that, that might've seemed like
a really nice ending.
Gathering everyone together
for their final thoughts about you know
what everything means.
I just wanted all of us to be on the same page
to understand the sentiment behind Ramadan
before we talk about the food part of Ramadan.
I mean, this is a food channel, you know.
(laughs)
According to a recent study,
there are around 1.8 billion Muslims around the world.
They comprise about 24% of the world's population.
And while many people might think that Muslims
only live in the middle East,
that's actually not true (chuckles).
The majority of them actually live in Southeast Asia.
And can you guess,
what country has the largest Muslim population?
- Indonesia.
(laughs)
- Yup, it's Indonesia.
With around 12.7% of the world's Muslims.
(pleasant violin music)
After Indonesia, you've got Pakistan, then India,
then Bangladesh, Nigeria, Egypt, Iran,
Turkey, Algeria and Iraq.
So to start, let's find out where all of you are.
I feel like I'm very handsy right now.
(shivers)
(laughing)
(engine roaring)
- I live in Jakarta in Indonesia.
Marhaba (مرحبا)
- This is how to say "Hi" in Arabic.
I'm from Mecca.
I do live in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
I live in Tripoli, Libya.
- We are from Tegal, Central Java, Indonesia.
- I'm from Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh.
- The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
- Toronto, Canada.
- Indonesia.
- India.
- Saskatoon in Canada.
- I'm in Ontario, Canada and I'm Bangladeshi.
- I live in Penang, Malaysia.
- My name is Amira and I am from Cherchell,
a coastal town in Algeria.
It's considered one of the oldest towns
since it was established around eighth century
before our time by the Phoenicians.
- I live in Amman, Jordan.
- We live in Oakland, California in United States.
- While of course
there's tons of diversity across cultures and regions.
Ramadan has a lot of similar traditions country to country.
The biggest differences come
when we're talking about the foods
that are eaten during iftar.
Iftar is the meal that breaks your fast
at the end of the day.
I asked all of you if we could join your iftar tables
and so many of you graciously said yes.
So let's figure out what you all are eating
because while you might be fasting during the day,
a lot of that time is also spent cooking
for that evenings' meal (chuckles).
- There are a couple of dishes are staples on our table.
The one that I really love and it's my favorite is ful [cooked beans].
And here in Hejazi region,
we usually smoke our ful.
(sizzling) (pleasant music)
- So that's Beguni [fried eggplant] or Alooni [fried potato] deep fried potatoes, eggplants
- And we have dolma, which you can take any type of vegetable
and then stuff it with a mix of rice, meat, veggies
and parsley and then steam it.
- So we're gonna make some fritters,
vegetable fritters or called Bakwan or bala-bala.
It's my mother's hand over here.
(laughs)
- This one is sup buah [cold fruit soup].
- My favorite dish to eat during Ramadan are samosas
because my mom makes the best ones.
- So I'm going to get some lemon grass here see,
and this is what we can use for cooking.
- From appetizers to entrees, drinks and desserts.
There is a lot going on.
And as you get closer to sundown the speed increases
because people need to get ready for the Maghrib,
which is the final call to prayer
before you can break your fast.
(indistinct chatter)
- All right, so we've prepared all the food
and all the ingredients.
And then Surya is doing the fruit with my mother
and now you can see her face.
Hello mama <3
(drum snares)
- Thai lemon basil will bring the freshness
into the fish soup.
And it has a really, really good smell.
Mmmmmm
- Smell so good oh my God Beryl I hope you can smell this.
(indistinct chatter)
(drum snares)
Am I gonna be on camera?
- And then suddenly it's time.
(Call to Prayer)
That Maghrib echoes across cities and towns
marking the end of that days fast.
With water and dates the fast is broken
and it's finally time to eat.
- Lets eat for iftar.
- Happy break fasting!
- Hey hey!
- Even though our religions might make us different
our languages might make us different,
where we live, how we dress, how we look.
There are a lot of themes that you see in Ramadan
that are quite universal.
It's about family and it's about togetherness.
(loud laughs) (indistinct chatter)
- Ramadan time is actually the time for us
to get together with our family to get close
in this particular time like your togetherness with family
it's the number one.
- You know the entire family comes together and you know
share meal together.
- We have this great memories of what we did special
during our childhoods in growing up
and its really great to share that.
- The essence of Ramadan is to be so thankful
and grateful for everything you've been given
and everything you've been blessed with
whether it's food or your possessions
or just life in general, just feels so special.
- I wanna thank everybody so much for being
a part of this and for sharing a really special holiday
with all of us all around the world.
And for me to all of you who are celebrating
I'd love to wish you a healthy and happy Ramadan.