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oh it’s so tender oh all the lamb yeah when you say comfort food this is comfort [Music] food in this video we’re on a mission to eat some of the best Syrian food in Damascus we’ll explore the extremely busy Al hamadia souk try an ice cream parlor unlike anywhere else on Earth Ramy this place is hectic drink a unique beverage at a 500-year-old cafe oh that’s like human soup almost and have a giant lunch Feast at a restaurant where you can taste Homestyle Syrian cooking but what makes Syrian food so good yes oh yeah oh that’s spectacular to begin we’re starting with a quintessential Syrian breakfast at our beautiful old Damascus Guest House hey everyone good morning it’s Mar Wiens it’s a beautiful day in Damascus and we’re starting this food tour today with breakfast at Our Guest House OH [Music] Turtle so this is the breakfast spread beautiful spread a lot of different cheeses actually Damascus is known for their cheese so we have a number of different cheeses we have some of the great levantine dishes like hummus olive oil is a must and zatar oh zatar is one of my favorite seasoning ingredients on Earth vegetables all the olives and yeah nice spread here I’m may even be waiting for more dishes but I think we should get started eating now okay I’m going for the the cucumber zatar dip in the olive oil and you can dip in the the zatar so it sticks oh perfect the the sesame seeds in there the time oh yeah okay let me grabb some of the bread and I love the Syrian bread is so thin so thin so you can I mean you can use a lot of real estate and use it to pick up bites but not have too much breadin and for hummus usually make a little you can make a little scooper let’s scoop in nice hummus [Music] formation I never get tired of hummus I could get hummus every meal of the day oh man and they do it so well in Syria that’s creamy Rich the tahini the fragrance of the olive oil oh yeah humh one of the the ultimate simple delicious foods on earth oh this is a you can see it’s a shredded cheese very stringy cheese oh yeah it’s extremely stringy I’m just going in for this oh it’s an incredible texture quality salty oh that cheese is really really good like an amazing string cheese Damascus Syrian string cheese okay and then I’ll try one of these two different versions one looks like chili one looks like zatar in olive oil oh man is so creamy it’s like a incredible cream cheese hard to get better than humus for breakfast thank you thank you yes wasn’t going to miss coffee I could drink this type of coffee all day I love the the strength of the coffee and then the the flavor of the cardamom excellent oh Ry good morning Ramy how are you doing today fine how are you yes oh great another beautiful day in Damascus another beautiful day yes we have a lot of things to film a lot of things to see a combination of sightseeing and food so let’s do it all right oh we’re in for a day of perfect weather in Damascus we have a lot of food to eat and more exploration of the city of this incredible city so we are on our way do things sort of start off uh later later or are things open early in the morning in Damascus um actually in Damascus uh because it’s Saturday it’s a weekend so people are little lazy oh it’s weekend that’s why it takes a little bit more time for the people to open wake up drink their cafees and next up on this Damascus food tour Ry where are we at yeah so we are uh uh next to this little shop it’s called abush Shaker it sells the milkshakes and it’s very popular from what I’ve heard they have some of the world’s best milkshakes hello okay so we decided to go for the avocado um and it’s combination of avocado and banana which they recommended for the season [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] on [Applause] [Music] [Applause] oh they’re huge it’s like the size of your face and what’s cool is they they do have some seating indoors but then they have just some plastic chairs sitting out on the side of the road that I think most people choose to just sit out here or just stand in the middle of the road drinking these amazingly Giant face sized smoothies cheer oh Cheers Cheers [Music] yes oh that it’s so thick you really need to suck for a while before you get it all the way up to the top of that straw but the sweetness of the honey I mean I love anything with avocado I love avocado in smoothies because it gives it such a nice creamy texture yeah really thick and creamy sweetness of the banana condensed milk in there the avocado taste is kind of disguised with the banana and the condensed milk and the Honey MH so and the way he layed in all the the honey and the condensed milk it start sort of just starts to swirl and melt into your entire smoothie yeah what a cool spot though I mean I love the Heritage the preservation of history since 1953 and this just this entire atmosphere slotted in a little sized shop in [Music] Damascus Abu Shaker that was such an iconic Place such a cool place to have a smoothie a fruit smoothie a little bit on the sweet side very sweet but actually really really good next time maybe a little reduction in the honey and condensed milk then it will be perfect [Music] so yes so we walked uh to the edge of the old city the ancient city of Damascus and we’re walking through the market now this is a bustling Market that’s an ancient Market been used for hundreds of years and it’s still one of the the bustling main markets in Damascus where you can come to buy just about everything from clothes to trinkets to food to jewelry to instruments they’re all available in this market [Music] oh here he is so immediately step into the old Bazaar the old souk and it’s such a cool environment so much action stores on either side and we found immediately a man who is selling the traditional Tamarind juice from the backpack copper bottle on the backpack and he pours it oh it’s such a cool such a cool scene thank you very much shakran shakran oh yeah Ramy let’s try it out cheers man cheers oh this is great wow it’s cold fresh yeah it is wow oh yeah he might use the the spring water from Damascus as well in this you can taste the spring water of Damascus here and it’s such a such a cool such a a form of Art and tradition in Damascus yeah it is a a bustling Market more like a flea market of all things oh hello hello lots of kids accessories and toys a place to come if you’re looking for the latest in underwear sweatpants uh wedding dresses towels but yeah it’s all available within this Market Market quite a colorful buzzing atmosphere as well okay we made it oh man this environment it feels like a carnival this is incredible just so many things going on and this is the legendary pistachio ice cream spot yeah let’s dig our way inside it is packed oh man you got to see this place and all they make is pistachio ice cream that’s what everyone comes here far what a spot okay oh man yeah yeah oh this is incredible oh hi hi nice to meet you nice to meet you oh this is the most incredible ice cream shop I’ve ever seen in my life [Music] oh that was awesome one guy was in in this this crowd and just took a bite of his ice cream this has to be one of the world’s busiest ice cream shops oh man this place is incredible it’s incredible full of people and this is the famous pistachio ice cream the components of this ice cream is the sahb you know the Turkish sahb milk rose water and the pistachio oh there it goes in that’s the mixture okay this is an unbelievable one of the coolest ice cream shops I’ve ever seen and they make the unique Syrian ice cream uh which we’re going to see a little bit of the process I mean they pound it right here in front of us uh but they have the ingredients they pour it into these rounded cylindrical freezers which then they pound then they have to crack it crack that ice cream and then take it out and then it’s going to be rolled with the pistachios but it’s such a cool such an iconic what a tradition here here comes a fresh batch it’s starting to harden it’s starting to freeze you see it’s starting to to harden a little bit but he has to keep on using a spoon taking the liquid at the bottom and just kind of sosing around to the sides of the entire Frozen cylinder waiting for it to going to get stickier stickier and harder before he’s then going to like pound the whole mixture [Music] together once it’s to a certain point you can start using the Trel method instead of the spoon you can see it’s all starting to harden now oh and now you can start slicing it too [Music] he drops in some pistachios to the freezer drops in one of those chunks quick pound [Music] and there’s the fresh roll ice cream coated in pistachios oh thank you oh the pistachios the sticky texture that’s really cold so at the front here is where they dish out the ice cream it is intense it’s one of the great ice cream parlors I’ve ever seen just the action and energy and the scooping out and then they go on these giant trays and these guys are the guys that are tasked with carrying the trays above their head to make it to the customers Ry this place is hectic but one of the I mean it definitely one of the iconic quintessential experiences culinary experiences ice cream dessert experiences in in Damascus you wouldn’t want to miss this just for the process the tradition the top they put like a whipped cream on it and then the bottom is the sticky ice cream oh yeah it’s it’s so sticky all right all right [Music] M oh it’s so cold when you start biting it just sort of dissolves and melts away wow oh man and the pistachio the pistachio is something else yeah that’s the pistachios are what make it I think they’re sliced really thin so you get all that fragrance from the pistachio and it has this really like buttery texture to them oh wow well the curd is amazing yeah love those pistachios the ice cream the curd on top a musty when you’re in Damascus the action the energy is unparalleled in here there’s so much going on I don’t think I’ve ever seen an ice cream parlor this packed with this much going on anywhere at the end of the souk Market when you pass through you’ll enter into the gates of the Temple of Jupiter which then leads to the umad mosque which is a place you can’t not visit when you come to Damascus it’s one of the most iconic sites with just thousands of years of religious history incredibly fascinating and we’re going to go visit right now oh man and this entire atmosphere this square is just stunningly beautiful hello people are so friendly and again just so many colors people come here to I mean to shop to walk around to hang out and to visit the mosque as well but it’s a just an incredible environment so this is the backyard of the umad mosque okay and the umad mosque actually is the Masterpiece of the old city of Damascus and it is 1300 years old and the Islamic message actually started to spread all over the world from here from this very uh quarter we’ll get a whole overview of umad mosque and the history uh but before anything this is what exists still of the Temple of the Jupiter which exists since the Roman period over 2,000 years ago right here on this very site Okay so step into the main area of the mosque and it’s just it’s breathtaking it really is one of the gems of ancient Damascus Ramy can you just quickly give us a a brief history ofad musk and all the different stages that it’s been through yeah actually you know the theay mus it talks about itself with these visuals with this Mosaic with This brilliant architecture it’s really lovely but actually the history of the umad MOs actually this sport has always been a religious spot if you go back to the third millennium before Christ uh it is religious so the first Millennium before Christ 3,000 years ago it was aramic Temple ah for the god of gods in the aramic mythology Hadad right on this same spot the same spot and then during the Roman time 2,000 years ago it was dedicated for or Jupiter the god of gods in the Roman mythology and then in the 4th Century it’s turned into a church St John the Baptist Church and actually it’s believed that the head of St John the Baptist is inside that’s what I was reading exactly yeah in the 7th Century uh it it it was turned into a mosque okay yeah and and since then it is a mosque okay so since the 7th Century it’s been a mosque yes from this angle from this side you can really see that it does look like a [Music] church okay and now we’re stepping inside wow yeah this is just unbelievable look at [Music] this yeah and you can see from the architecture and the design really does look like a cathedral rectangular in shape oh really absolutely stunning uh from the architecture to the design the marble the and when you I mean look at the Grand scale it’s impressive but if you look on the the micro scale all of the details the doors the Mosaic the mother of pearl intertwined into wooden pieces and the decorations it’s truly stunning we’ve come to a shrine which is believed to be the place where John the Baptist’s head is buried even the Christian people in the anniversary of John the Baptist they come here and they uh revive his anniversary wow yeah wow [Music] uh Ramy where are we at for lunch this restaurant it’s one of the best restaurants in Damascus it’s called Nar and so they serve the local meals of Syria okay and they do it the authentic way all right so let’s go and see inside okay welcome to Nar and this is a restaurant that aims to preserve the traditional dishes especially home-cooked dishes and so we just met with the owner and they really have a passion and they they’ve traveled all over Syria collecting recipes and then brought them back to their restaurant which is a very well restaurant in Damascus and actually throughout the Middle East so we’re going to head straight back to the kitchen though see some of the recipes cooking before we eat before the machine it was the big knife yep he’s making a batch of Kebabs fresh lamb seasoned with salt and pepper that will be ground for the kebabs [Applause] [Applause] the back oh man he has turbo mixing skills and chopping up that those a red and a green pepper chopped It Up by hand rocking the knife back and forth and he just massages that meat into the kebab and one thing you can see about the kab me is it’s a really fine grind and let’s go directly over to the hot charcoal okay kebabs come off oh it just slides right out with that Sizzle oh man those look so juicy Tomatoes go on and then the roasted onions as well okay so to also served with the kebabs they make this bread which is filled all filled with seasonings lots of parsley and onions in there pomogranate molasses goes in and then he grills that bread and that’s served with the kebabs we’re going to try that Kebab straight off straight off the [Music] grill oh man the freshness of that meat the seasoning I love that you still get the crunch of those peppers in there it’s so Smoky as well oh wow really good and for the tender we have special places in this area there’s that there’s no heels so the N will stay in a flat area ah so his muscles will not get tired and that will be very lean when you cook it that’s just a quality of yes very important and then that bread is grilled okay okay so next we’re going to see the kib this is the raw lamb kibbe so this is bulgar bulgar going in first yeah this is bulgar going bulgar wheat going in is that a pepper paste yes pepper paste pepper paste salt not the most chili one okay oh and more chili powder goes in white pepper black pepper paa okay and go with Virgin Olive Oil all right and then it must be done in hand okay he will make the moisture inside the burer okay yeah because the burer is kind of dry so you have to kind of hydrate it massage it and also keep it cold in this in this clay pan is that raw lamb R we put it inside the machine with some ice in order to keep it very cold that’s why you you see the color it’s like pinky yes because of the very light very light pink yes cuz it’s kept very fresh and very cold so that raw lamb gets mixed in to that bulgar mixture original way of plating oh okay so you make like a hand hand squeeze you start with hand you end with hand yep some diced onion and some that’s Walnut so okay bell pepper okay and diced onions yeah some spices okay you like you can add extra spices to it as well nice want to add it and sure with olive oil all right St with meat we start always with the fried uh bread we add the still cooked tomato sace oh yeah oh and that gets doused in some flaming hot ghee oh that smells incredible we use a special oil it’s very thick oil they will extract the olive oil out of Olive in a cold uh way not with heat now you can see the difference in color the extract of this oh yeah it’s on cold process okay and it’s very different and taste and very heavy oh man we are just moving around the kitchen now there’s so many dishes next up we’re going to see uh the red Bulger which is cooked in a clay served cooked and served in a clay pot and The Clay Pot is actually made with olive olive oil as well yeah mud yes mud and olive oil chickp on top and a drizzle of the special cold pressed olive oil moving on now to the bakery section an essential part of the Syrian kitchen and they bake all their breads fresh you have to have fresh bread when you eat Syrian food right yeah it’s always served with fresh bread oh so you take some of the ground lamb mixture ground meat and that goes directly into the oven ready you have to try it thank you here we’ll all try together yeah we’ll try all okay we got all the meat breads yes the lamb is so juicy wow good perfect ratio of meat to Fat what I like is it’s cooked so fast that the meat is cooked and juicy but you still got the crunch of the bell peppers the sweetness of the peppers and the onions and the the tomatoes in there I think what stands out about it to me is how juicy it is it’s not dried out at all that is tasty that is quality lamb okay and so for this one it’s a different version with the sliced very thinly sliced meat goes directly onto that dough and it will go twice in the oven you’ll see oh okay oh and a little bit of the fat right in the center okay so that pretty quick starts to Bubble Up starts to Brown okay so it’s ready no now the first oh okay fav puts the dough on top flips it over oh transfers the meat over to the other bread okay [Music] ready all that meat with the juices is just like embedded within that bread it’s very juicy one more bite no oh next one no next one okay next one is that you have to try this they move the other one thank you next one is the the whole pieces of lamb those thin thin slices okay ready yeah hot and fresh right out of the oven hot and fresh it’s tender mhm so tender oh that one immediately when you like you bite you smell the flavor of that beautiful Aroma of lamb and I think that maybe that little piece of fat that they put on top of the Lamb that’s the aroma that’s coming out that that fat is where that real like jolt of lamb flavor comes from oh it’s so tasty okay now he’s making just a normal typical Syrian bread that you eat with every meal almost oh you can immediately almost instantaneously that starts to Bubble Up puff up like a balloon that air pocket on the inside [Music] side okay so we’re back from the kitchen ready to sit down for this this beautiful restaurant for this meal and we tried a few things in the kitchen there’s still a lot more that we’re going to try here at the table oh look at that tray all the different mzes the different cold dishes thank you for this incredible meal you’re more than welcome it’s such a huge assortment of things such a variety so many different colors but actually I desperately want to try that K the raw the raw lamb oh incoming bread oh it’s choose your own bread you try go get the the Syrian bread yes all that pocket also try one of these yeah okay actually for this one for big this one we add we add some yogurt make it like this okay okay so we’ve got some arak here and you pour water inside and it immediately turns turns milky in color the kib okay so the ca the raw lamb meat Boger goes in into the bread with the pepper paste all those topping ingredients go in with the walnuts green peppers let me add some spice a little bit of your own seasoning spice cumin and pepper okay and then that super green fresh pressed olive oil oh what a bite now are you ready yes cheers with a bit yes cheers oh man thank you oh my god oh wow the smoothness of the lamb and the Boger just kind of dries it out but also adds that the flavor with the texture as well the crunch of the walnuts and the the freshness of those onions in there oh that’s so good wow no incredible Cheers Cheers Cheers oh oh the perfect combination yeah that goes to yeah that’s it doesn’t get better than that I’m just putting some oh you can even hear how crispy they are just in that spoon like crackling around I’m going to dip this into garlic sauce the potatoes I’m from inside wow oh man that’s what olive oil will give you crunch crunchy from outside that’s right they’re so good yep olive oil so this is not the french fries this is the Syrian fries yes what’s the potato dish called bata bata yeah you have DED it with your finger okay here guys go for it yeah oh look at the way these are grilled until crispy you almost think they’re deep fried cuz it’s so crispy but they’re grilled mhm it’s just about a perfect grilled chicken wing the skin is totally crispy not gelatinous at all Crispy Crunchy fragrant Smoky that one is MCU MCD with LEP with yogurt oh okay so it’s fermented eggplant or aged eggplant fermented EG and then with L and red pepper P okay just melts in your mouth and it’s so creamy with that lemonade yeah the sour to chew mhm it’s like a spread moving to the main the main curses are are coming in the kebabs yeah mix tell you something about the Syrian Habit to welcome the guests actually this is kind of hospitality we put like extra food so that the guest will feel welcome oh you feel warm you feel incredible Hospitality oh it’s so tender oh oh the lamb what a dish oh man that bulgar just cooked in so much olive oil the thick olive oil with the lamb 3 to 1 yes when you say comfort food this is comfort food oh yeah oh that’s spectacular the lamb itself is just melting I love the texture of the bogar and then it’s just like embedded with the layer upon layer of that really thick green olive oil it’s just giving it so much flavor that really is a spectacular dish so warming so comforting you can tell it’s heavy too like this that’s one you what you’d want to be eating if it’s cold if you need like to warm yourself all the way from the inside out so now we have the other style of bulgar again with lots of olive oil but instead of lamb this one has the crispy onions oh yeah and immediately I love that Aroma the fragrance of the crispy onions on top you w yes but it tastes like it’s been cooked down for so long that the tomatoes are have this really like condensed flavor to it should be we put we put the tomato with it skin with everything and just like so it’s slow SL slow cooking and smashed inside it until all the Tomato all that liquid is dehydrated just leaving the full force of the Tomato oh it’s [Music] incredible we go with this with some wine Le V Le oh man juy one yeah what’s the sauce what’s the sauce the stuffed lemony sauce okay the same we cook the vine Lea in it okay and then we add some lemon we’ll go with cooked in the lemon sauce yeah stuffed with rice and meat okay and you said stuffed inside is rice plus and lamb also okay mhm when you want to when you want to know if the vine leaves is good yeah you don’t have to chew oh okay it melts should it should melt otherwise the pepper is not good it’s so tender that lamb is incredible so now we’re moving on to the mixed grill here kebabs go with them cutlet oh yeah Cheers Cheers man cheers tender the lamb is so flavorful we’re also speaking about the quality of Syrian lamb and just the the freerange organic natural flavor of it and I mean when you just have a grilled piece of lamb like this that’s how you can really taste the quality of the Lamb oh yeah and I will add some hummus to it oh nice Kebab hummus with that special bread incredible meal just outstanding Syrian food no meal is complete without the desserts without the fresh fruit without drinking tea and just I think a meal like this also calls from for some just relaxation as well yeah sure gathering around the table hanging out with friends and family social time just Leisure and just enjoying enjoying life actually going to try some of the the desserts especially that one that I’m interested to try is the one that they make with bitter orange [Music] perfect with [Music] tea really nice really crumbly and also the the flavor of that bitter orange in there too the combination between The Spider and the sweet it’s almost a a dessert Buffet at the end of your meal here all you can eat desserts also to balance with all the fruit and this one is seasonal look yeah you have to try some food it will stop the heart so dark one piece of fruit to balance it all W oh this is incredible oh man it’s almost like a peach in flavor but way it’s so juicy oh this is incredibly good it just demonstrates the generosity of incredible yeah generosity the The Unbelievable hospitality and culture of [Music] syan okay yeah and couldn’t leave without a final Syrian coffee oh it’s good oh the flavor of cardamom freshly pounded cardamom the thick richness of that coffee oh it’s so good oh he just came up onto the Terrace after that incred ible lunch or meal right behind me is the Jewish section of Damascus then you have a mosque right here and then a church right there all within distance all within right here within this square and then right below here is one of the ancient Roman arches lunch was it was is an extended a very long lunch really good we sat there and just hung out and ate uh but now we’re going to try the next snack which is a a dessert and Ramy says it’s one of his favorites Ramy that’s your favorite oh my God I love tamari so much so actually tamari this site is very unique and you can find it in Damascus it’s one of my favorite and basically it’s a thin bread and uh there is the syrup of the date and the tahini and the B of the sugar let’s try this [Music] okay okay okay [Music] ready look at the texture of the BR yeah nice so here it is the date syrup tahini in here two pieces of bread and it’s served kind of like Shawarma style kind of Sharma style yeah rolled up okay very cool looks great let’s TR thank you thank you very much thank you thank you okay all right W that is good oh man the sweetness of the date syrup and the creamy nuttiness of the tahini and the sesame seeds that’s nice oh yeah shakan thank you very much take care man oh take care on the outskirts just on the outside of umaya mosque is where you will find the oldest Cafe in Damascus over 300 years ago this is the noara cafe they keep the tradition of Storyteller the Storyteller is someone who will get this outfit and who will tell a story from Arabian Knights yeah Bo dressing right here on stage okay and then the beverage one of their most famous drinks is a cumin tea which is so cool you smell the aroma of cumin I mean this is incredible where else in the world well actually nowhere else in the world can you be sitting here sipping on cumin tea listening to a traditional Storyteller this is in a 300-year-old cafe M oh that’s like cumin soup almost oh the flavor of the cumin and it’s salty and then you can squeeze in lemon as well oh I love [Music] this pour in the whole slice that is delicious yeah straight up human human soup that’s such a cool I mean it’s before movies before phones before pretty much all yeah before all pretty much all um computer technology this is the way that they entertained and kept people’s attention and focus telling stories like this keep people coming back because it was like a it’s like an episode so he would tell the tell the story and then leave a cliffhanger at the end so then tomorrow you need to come back and then tomorrow you need to come back for a whole year he’d be telling the story that’s fascinating oh I love this too and you have to be careful he might slap his sword catches people not paying attention [Applause] [Applause] I’m [Music] okay so it’s been another just incredible day in Damascus thank you Ry most welcome thank you too really enjoyable uh time with you thank you thank you and again uh Ramy is from Syrian guides yes um they can arrange like I mean the best tours Food Tours historical tours tours around Syria go check them out and highly highly recommended and I’ll have some information in the description box below but also make sure you watch this entire Syria food series we’re going around the entire country eating some of the best local food um and we’ll be with Ramy the entire trip so you’re going to you’re not going to want to miss any of it and also some other episodes in Damascus as well but that’s going to be it for today good night from Damascus thank you so much for watching good night and we’ll see you on the next video see you next time
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