The word “vinegar” is from the French “vin,” meaning wine, and “aigre,” meaning “Sour.”  Now we know what people mean when they say the wine turned “vinegary.”

Making wine requires in oxygen -in fact, oxygen would ruin the wine as it’s being made.  Vinegar, on the other hand, requires oxygen when it is being made.  This why some of the best wine when opened and left for a while will turn into vinegar.

My father’s mother, who was as tightfisted as anyone I’ve ever seen, used to have three barrels sitting outside her home in Syria.  She would put some vinegar and water in the barrels, but more importantly, she would throw any item of fruit waste she could find into the barrels.  A half a fig would be good enough to o into her barrel.  The good part of a bad apple would go in.  Most people upon finding a worm in an apricot would throw the entire piece of fruit sway, but not my grandmother.  She would throw the worm out and put the remainder of the apricot into the barrel.  While making araq, a liqueur made from grapes with anise seed, she would squeeze the grapes and throw the peels and the stems into the water, vinegar and fruit mixture.  The flower trimmings of herb plants also would be part of it.  There was a joke in the village that went something like this: If someone had a basket of fruit that was overripe, the word was, “Give it to Umm Yousef (Mother of Joseph, who was her eldest son). ” Because vinegar needs oxygen, her barrels were left open but covered with cheesecloth to prevent the adding of insects to the vinegar recipe.

The result was, as you might expect, the best-tasting vinegar. We used to mix it with extra virgin olive oil and zaatar, dip fresh pita into the mixture and have the best snack.

If you recall, a village in Italy went to the International Court to safeguard the name of  its prized balsamic vinegar, preventing other vinegar makers from labeling their vinegar “balsamic.” Their concern is understandable, as balsamic vinegar takes years to cure, which is why it is so good and expensive.

We all use vinegar in the kitchen in one way or another, but it is used in some cultures as a cure for dandruff when it is mixed with water and applied to the scalp.  Also, mixing three parts water and one part vinegar makes an excellent cleaner for hardwood floors.  Mixed with honey, vinegar makes a good gargling agent for sore throats.

Here is a recipe for a wonderful French vinaigrette salad dressing.

Walnut Oil and Tarragon Dressing

Makes one cup

4       Tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/2   teaspoon salt

Dash of freshly ground pepper

1       Tablespoon cognac

3       Tablespoons wine vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped tarragon

1/4   cup plus 2 tablespoons walnuts oil

-In a chilled bowl, combine the mustard, salt, pepper, cognac, vinegar and tarragon, and whisk until blended.

-Pour in the oil in a thin, steady stream, whisking continuously until thoroughly incorporated.

Use this dressing with grilled vegetables or any mixed green salad.

2

4       Red bell pepper

1       cup Kalamata olives, pitted and coarsely chopped

2      scallions, chopped

1/2  cup crumbled feta cheese

2      tablespoons Dijon mustard

3      tablespoons Balsamic vinegar

3      tablespoons olive oil

pinch of cayenne pepper

salt to taste

-Place the pepper on cookie sheet and broil until charred on all sides.  Remove from the oven, place the peppers in paper bag and allow the pepper to cool.  Remove from the bag, peel the skin and the seeds.  Cut the pepper, lengthwise,  into 1 inch thick slices.

-Whisk the mustard with the vinegar, olive oil cayenne pepper and the salt.  Pour this mixture over the pepper and toss gently.  Spoon the pepper with the dressing into shallow serving platter.

-Sprinkle the pepper with the kalamata olives, the scallion and the feta cheese.

We are looking for a T-Shirt design that reflects Sanaa’s personality, the food, and the mission of the restaurant, which is healthy gourmet food on a budget.

To enter, bring a design in to Sanaa’s at any time before the last day of February.  The design should be no smaller than 8 x 10 inches, full color, with your name and contact information at the bottom.  If you are out of town, you can mail the entry to Sanaa’s Mediterranean Gourmet, 401 E. 8th Street, #100, Sioux Falls, SD  57103.

The judges will be three very opinionated ladies, from as young as 15 years and as old as 85 years.  So please be very creative.

Here are the prizes:

First Prize–$500 cash.

Second Prize–$100 gift certificate for Sanaa’s Mediterranean Gourmet.

Third Prize–$50 gift certificate for Sanaa’s Mediterranean Gourmet.

If you have no plans to use a gift certificate if you’re out of state, we will send you instead one copy of each of Sanaa’s two most recent cookbooks.

Everyone is eligible to enter except for members of Sanaa’s extended family, or current employees of Sanaa’s Mediterranean Gourmet.

serves 6

1       pound lentil

6      scallions, chopped

1      red bell pepper, diced

1      yellow bell pepper, diced

2     cups chopped parsley

6     tablespoons olive oil

zest of one lemon

1/2  cup lemon juice

salt to taste

1/2  cup crumbled feta cheese, optional

-Place all the vegetables in a salad of bowl.

-Wash the lentil, cover with water and bring to boil.  Boil the lentil until cooked but not mushy, drain and add to the vegetables.  Drizzle with the olive oil and toss gently.

-Add the lemon zest, the lemon juice and the salt.

-Sprinkle with the feta cheese, if using, and serve.

Lentil Pilaf

serves 4-6

1/2      cup olive oil

1          large onion, thinly sliced

2         cups lentil

1         cup short grain rice

salt to taste

-In a pot, place the lentil with 8 cups of water and salt.  Bring to a boil.  Boil until the lentil cooked but not mushy.  Drain, save the lentils and 2 1/4 cup of cooking liquid.

-In heavy pot, heat the olive oil and cook the onion until golden brown.  Remove from the heat, remove the onion with slotted spoon and place aside.

-Return the pot to the stove, add the saved lentil cooking water and bring to a boil.  Add the lentils and the rice, stir, cover and cook covered for 15 minutes.  Turn off the heat and allow the rice pilaf to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

-Spoon the pilaf on a shallow serving platter, sprinkle with the caramelized onion and serve.

Lentil Cilantro Soup

Then he brought out a tray of dates and dried yogurt for them.  He apologized for not having killed a sheep to offer the group, saying if he had been given a little more notice, he gladly would have done so.

That anecdote demonstrates desert hospitality perfectly.  It also came to mind when I recently saw a movie titled “The Story of The Weeping Camel.” It was a movie made in Mongolia, in the Gobi Desert, about a family of Mongolian Bedouins who, like their counterparts in Saudi Arabia, lived in tents and offered fres milk to their guests, as well as dried yogurt.

Living in a desert without modern refrigeration, these people have learned how to store dairy products that are essential to their health.

For example, fresh milk is mixed with yogurt starter, and  when the yogurt is made, some of the liquid is removed, mixed with salt for preserving and made into small balls.  It is similar to cream cheese without the sugar.  That product is allowed to dry in the sun, covered with a thin cloth, until it becomes a hard consistency.  It can be stored for a year without refrigeration and is carried with the people as they move around the desert  to find grazing and watering areas for their animals.

When a mensef (rice cooked with clarified butter, raisins and nuts, stuffed inside a lamb, then roasted in its entirety) is served, the dried yogurt is mixed with water, making a sort of soup that is served with the mensef.

Another way of preserving dairy is Kishek which is soured yogurt mixed with bulgur wheat that becomes almost like dough.  It is made into small balls and allowed to dry in the sun.  Kishek is used in many different ways.  It can be reconstituted as a stew with meat and tomatoes or ground into flour and baked on top of bread, similar to a pizza topping.  It also can be used as a soup stock.

The genius of this method of storing dairy products is that it provides protein, fiber (from the bulgur wheat), minerals and vitamins.

In Tibet and Mongolia, yak or sheep milk is churned, which allows the resulting butter to float to the top and be collected in leather bag.  The remaining milk is boiled until the protein solidifies and then is collected and made into cheese.  The butter is used as candle fuel or as a gift to honored guests or to priests.

In Syria, milk is made into a cheese called shankleesh and stored in olive oil.  It can be kept for long periods of time.  It is a strong cheese, highly prized by Syrian in the coastal areas.

Shankleesh is made by boiling yogurt with lemon juice.  Just as it starts to boil, the protein becomes solid, at which time the mixture is taken off the stove and drained.  Then it is mixed with salt and pepper, made into 2-inch balls and, after it dries, put into a clay pot, completely sealed and allowed to age.  After two months, it is removed, the mold washed off (if you do not pass out from the smell); then it is rolled rolled in dried oregano and stored in olive oil.

When I was in school in Washington, D.C., my father came from Syria to visit my brother and me.  He brought shankleesh with him, and, at the customs gate, he had checked “yes” and “no” when asked if he was bringing food into the country.  A customs officer asked what he meant-either he had food, or he didn’t have food.  As my father was trying to answer with his broken English that he didn’t know whether shankleeh was food or not, he opened the jar.  The smell over powered the customs officer, who ordered him to close the jar and move out of the area.

serves 4-6

3        large eggplants

2        large onions, julienne

1        red bell pepper, cut into thin slices

4       tablespoons olive oil

1        32-ounces can diced tomatoes

1        clove garlic, sliced

1/2   teaspoon thyme

salt and pepper to taste

4        tablespoons crumbled feta, optional

-Cut two 1/2-inch thick slices from top of each eggplant and place on cookie sheet.  Cut the rest of eggplants, lengthwise, into 1/2-inch thick slices and place on the cookie sheet.  Brush each slice with olive oil on both sides. Place the cookie sheet under broiler and broil until golden brown.  Remove from the oven  and set aside.  Take the round slices and set aside for decoration.

-In heavy pot, heat the olive oil and saute the onion for 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and the thyme, stir and cook for couple of minutes.  Add the diced tomatoes, the salt and the pepper.  Bring to a boil and cook over low heat for 10 minutes.

-Spoon half of the tomato sauce into baking dish, place the broiled long eggplant slices on top of the sauce.  Spoon the rest of the sauce on top of the eggplants.  Cut the eggplant round in half and arrange them with the cut pepper on top of the sauce.  Cover with foil and bake in 395 degree F. oven for 25 minutes.  Remove from the oven, remove the foil, sprinkle with feta cheese and serve. YOU CAN SKIP THE FETA CHEESE TO MAKE VEGAN DISH.

For Example, the other day I went shopping at the mall.  I tried on a skirt that fit me perfectly, and, being happy with it, I looked at the size.  It was size 4.  Never in my life have I been able to wear size 4, not even when I was in the fourth grade.  I also knew I wasn’t losing weight-after all, the holiday eating binge had just ended.

I bought the skirt, brought it home and measured it against a size 8 skirt hanging in my closet.  It was exactly the same size.

It is the same principle used by the food industry  super-sizing everything.  Chain restaurant make “make one serving” a larger size, almost equal to what four servings were in the past.

The best part of this “size creep” is what my husband has done to his clothes, I don’t want to come right out and say he has gained wight, but what I can do is quote him.  “This has shrunk,” he has said to me time and time again.  It makes no difference what fabric he’s talking about, it is not him expanding but the clothing shrinking.  What he wants now is for the men’s clothing industry to do the same as the women’s industry.  He wants his size 48 jacket to become a size 18.

But no matter what size we can fit into, it is true America’s waistlines, as well as the rest of their bodies, are expanding. Theater and restaurant seats have been made bigger to accommodate his larger torso.  It seems to have happened everywhere except in the airline industry, where seats are smaller to cam more people int those metal tubes we fly in.

It is obvious all the weight-loss fads that have come and gone in the past several years are not working.  If we think of our body as an investment in the future, it’s easier to protect it.  It amounts to cutting out junk foods, eating more healthy and doing some sort of exercise to keep our pump working better. It is a long-term deal, one that cannot be solved by a fad diet but by becoming more aware of what and of how much we are eating.

Like a long-term investment in stocks and bonds, this will give us all the best result.