By Joel Denker
Four radiant, yellowish-orange apricots were pictured on each of the cellophane packages stacked on a shelf near the entrance to a Middle Eastern grocery in Adams-Morgan. On the store’s counter were packages of dates, a popular dried fruit among Arab Americans. Boxes of figs and prunes were displayed nearby.
An avid fan of dried apricots, I was drawn to the sheets of dried apricot paste from Damascus, Syria that the Khartoum grocery was selling. Amardine, as it is called, is especially beloved in the Ramadan season, when it is used to make a juice that the faithful drink to break the fast or simply enjoy during the festive time after sundown.
The tart fruit I knew basically as a snack took on new significance. Owner Alaaeldin Mustafa, who also carries Mira apricot juice, a brand manufactured in Egypt, says that amardine’s fame has spread throughout the Islamic world. The Sudan native remembers it from his homeland. Deeply embedded in Muslim tradition, apricot paste is coveted not only by his Middle Eastern customers, but also by shoppers from Senegal and India as well.
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To learn more about apricots, see The Carrot Purple and Other Curious Stories of the Food We Eat, coming in October from Rowman & Littlefield: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442248861/The-Carrot-Purple-and-Other-Curious-Stories-of-the-Food-We-Eat.
