Zit Basleh (Throw an Onion)

Throw an Onion (1986)

["Throw an Onion" is a recipe for cooking traditional Middle Eastern cuisine, complete with salad and dessert,

and includes references to hosting habits when inviting people over for a meal.

And as in most Khauli songs, popular sayings and parables are used to highlight the message.]

I lived alone for a while, away from parents and loved ones

And I was forced to cook by myself, without assistance from others

Since then people have come to consult me on matters related to cooking

From the preparation of stews and stuffings, to the secrets of sweets and cakes

And many have asked: "What do you know about cooking? You're but a young man"

My reply has always been: "Friends, cooking is very easy."

Throw an onion in butter, in ghee, or in oil

Add a kilo of lean meat, a leg of lamb, or some shanks

Add to that a kilo of green beans, or okra, or eggplant 

Fry them to a blonde color, add salt, and pepper, liberally

Extinguish them with a little water, raise the flame, the water boils

Cover them up over a gentle flame, for about an hour or two

In the meantime clean the rice, soak it, and drain it

Prepare vermicelli by the same method, twenty minutes, that's it

For the salad, tomatoes and lettuce, parsley, a couple of cucumbers

A clove of garlic, juice of lemon, oil of olive, "Dinner is served"

(Table scene, with typical table talk, including the entire family and guests)

We wrap things up with sweets, chocolate cake, a bowl of cream and honey

All sorts of fruits, coffee and tea, a gallon of water, "May your table be forever"

(What follows is a typical after-dinner conversation with the hosts)

Hostess: "Munir, what can I get you?"

Guest: "Thanks madam, everything was delicious but I am full"

Hostess: "Come on, you didn't eat a thing"

Guest: "I did, I ate three or four plates of food"

Hostess: "Let me serve you another helping"

Guest: "No, you're very kind, thanks"

Hostess: "It seems you didn't like our food"

Guest: "Oh, but I did. You just didn't see how much I ate"

Hostess: "One last bite, one last bite"

Guest: "I beg you madam, I'm going to burst, I'm going to pop"

Host: "What do you smoke? Marlboros?"

Guest: "No thanks. You're very kind"

Host: "Winston? Kent?"

Guest: "No, I don't smoke, thank you"

Host: "L&M? Du Maurier?"

Guest: "No thanks mister, I stopped smoking long ago"

Host: "Then take a bonbon"

Guest: "Oh wow, thanks"

The choir repeats: throw an onion, and an onion, and an onion, and an onion

In truth, people's opinions have differed widely concerning food and eating

One faction insists: "Where the bellies are concerned the brains are lost"

"After lunch lay down, after dinner walk around"

"Man does not live by bread alone"

Other people disregard that and say: "Eat what you want, wear what others want"

"The key to appetite is one bite"

"A man without a belly is not worth a penny"

"The rice took all the credit and the wheat hung itself"

"Haven't you thrown enough onions Chef?"

"Oh how my stomach aches. Oh my stomach"

Two tablets of Alka Seltzer are dropped into a glass of water