That Translator Can Cook: Bazeen
A barley-based dough, formed into a ball and steamed, surrounded by meat and potatoes, and immersed in a tomato-based sauce.
I chose this dish, not because I've eaten it before, but because I am trying to present at least one dish that is immensely popular from each country in the MENA region (at least from those that speak Arabic as there official and everyday language). I was also intrigued by the dough, I mean it's shaped into a perfect ball. Respect.
Bazeen is an immensely popular dish in Libya. Families/friends gather around the dish: pulling pieces of the dough and soaking it in the sauce, tearing off bits of meat and potatoes. Putting boiled eggs in this dish is also very common. It is also a very old dish: it was around during Ibn Khaldun's time (1332-1406) and some other historiograhers have mentioned the dish when they had visited Libyan cities.
Bazeen is so popular among Libyans that refugees (and immigrants) from Libya either cherish the experience of eating it to remember their homeland or pine for it because the ingredients, people, and atmosphere can’t be found where they’re currently residing. I encourage you to read Danya Hajjaji’s article about what bazeen means to her because (1) it’s a beautiful essay, and (2) it reminds you that food isn’t just about sustenance, nutrition, or taste, but also about how it makes you feel and how you share it with others.Here’s how to make bazeen!
The recipe and pictures belong to Sabriyah Jabri (صبرية الجابري)
Ingredients
Sauce
3 medium cuts of meat
1/4 cup of oil
2 tbsp. of tomato paste
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp. of black pepper
1/2 tbsp. of chili powder
1 onion, peeled and julienned
1.25 liters of water
A dash of fenugreek
3 medium cloves of garlic
4 medium potatoes
Bazeen
1/2 kilo of sifted barley flour
Water
A bit of oil
A dash of salt
The most important thing is to have a ladle
Important note: put the potatoes in the sauce after cooking the meat
Steps
Take a pot and pour the oil into it. Heat the oil, then add the onions. When the onions soften, add the rest of the ingredients.
For the bazeen: Take a deep pot and put in all of the ingredients except for the flour. Place a ladle in the middle of them, and after they start to boil, place the flour in it without any stirring.
After about 45 minutes, strain the water from the pot without stirring and keep the strained water because sometimes you’ll need it.
Move the pot off the stove and stir water in with the ladle as shown in the photo so that the somewhat thick dough becomes very thick. Add a tiny bit of water you drained from the pot, and stir until the color of the dough becomes uniform.
Then, on a plate, knead the dough into a ball as shown in the picture.
Next, pour the sauce onto it as shown in the picture.
With this, the dish is finished. Bon appetit!
Translators’ Discussion:
The “3 medium cloves of garlic” was the translation result of “3 فصوص ثوم متوسطة”, so while I don’t quite know what exactly a ‘medium clove’ of garlic is, but that is what was written. What would you do in this situation?
As I’ve written before, I’ve noticed a curious thing when compiling these recipes: when referring to tomatoes, onions, potatoes, or the like, the authors use حبات (الخضار). In this case, it was حبات بطاطا 4 (4 potatoes), they could have just said 4 potatoes, which makes me think the حبات was for emphasis, but I can’t quite tell what is being emphasized. Thoughts?
When instructing the reader about cooking the onions, the author used the verb دبل (the colloquial version of ذبل), which means ‘to wither’ or ‘to shrivel’. ‘Shrivel’ and ‘wither’ have negative connotations, and I have seen onions that are done cooking being referred to as onions softening. I thought that sounded much more appealing. What do you all think?
There was quite a bit of trouble with عصّد and تعصيد, and we (my fellow Arabic translators and I) settled on it meaning ‘to stir.’ However, there was already the verb حرك being used as ‘stir’ and the pictures above don’t quite illuminate the exact motion the recipe’s author uses when forming the ball of dough. Can anyone (especially those who speak the Libyan dialect) elaborate on this verb and its meaning?
It took me a while to come up with “a somewhat thick dough” because the source text was “عجين متوسط السمك”, which means “dough of medium thickness.” That disrupted the flow of the sentence, so I chose ‘a somewhat thick dough.’ How would you have translated it?
I’m not happy with “stir until the color of the dough becomes uniform,” but the source text is “عصديه الى يتجانس لون العجين.” How would you have translated this statement?
As you can tell, this recipe gave me quite a bit of trouble, so I would appreciate any comments or critiques you may have. I only ask that you please be respectful.