Charlee Aktaş was sitting in the back of a taxi in Istanbul’s notorious gridlock when her cab driver gleefully invited her and her friend over for dinner. “He’d been fasting all day and he was looking forward to downing tools and breaking for iftar (the meal to celebrate breaking the fast),” she tells me. “We didn’t know him from a bar of soap, but we were still at least thirty minutes from our hotel so we agreed to join him.” Aktaş was thrilled with her decision – when they got to his place just around the corner from where they were stopped in traffic, his wife had a large buffet of sorts waiting, filled with all sorts of çôreks, bôreks and desserts. “She was so thrilled to have some new faces at the table, that she just kept serving up dish after dish!” Aktaş and her friend eventually made it back to their hotel four hours later, but she says she made a friend for life. “That’s the beauty of travelling during Ramadan,” she says. “People are warmer, there’s a charitable feeling flowing through the air, and you get to see a side to a city that you’d normally never get to experience.”
Lee McGurren agrees with that sentiment, having travelled through the Middle East during Ramadan (the month of prayer and fasting observed by millions of Muslims around the world) with his two young children two years ago. “Dubai with kids wasn’t so tough because all of the restaurants in the major hotels and food courts in shopping centres had boarded-up sections so you could feed your family without offending locals,” he says. “But we did have an interesting experience in Turkey where I took the kids to an amusement park in a small town and spent twenty minutes waiting for a ride only to be told the place was shutting down for Iftar once the kids got to the front of the queue.” It was a lesson learned, he admits. “You need lots of forward-planning if you’re thinking about travelling in an Islamic country at that time of year.” Forward planning and plenty of snacks in your children’s pockets, perhaps.
Muslims gather to break their fast in Istanbul, outside Sultanahmet Mosque. Source: Getty Images
There’s a charitable feeling flowing through the air, and you get to see a side to a city that you’d normally never get to experience.
I personally love travelling back to Turkey during Ramadan. Cooking during this period is particularly competitive, for a start (“Oh, Gűl made five dishes last night, did she? Well tonight I’ll make EIGHT!”), and there’s a sense of expectation as we gather around my aunt’s heaving Iftar table waiting for the countdown on the television as though it’s NYE and we’re waiting for the ball to drop. The eating frenzy is fast and furious – and since I’ve come all the way from Australia, my aunt will have made all of my favourite dishes – fried dough sprinkled with caster sugar (I never said it was a healthy meal), mince and spinach bôrek, sűtlaç (rice pudding), and plenty of tea. Between mouthfuls, my cousins will talk about how amazing it is I’ve managed to attract a man with my thin frame (they like their women with a bit of meat over there and regularly ponder what it is that my husband could see in me – sparkling personality aside, of course), while everyone else bolts to the windows to chain-smoke in a bid to make up for lost time.
For dinner you’ll be spoiled for choice as many venues hold Iftar events with a smorgasbord of mouth-watering offerings.
The food coma claims everyone individually but not for long – about an hour before dawn, we’re all woken to the sound of a lone man walking the streets below our windows, banging the drum strapped to his chest . Sleepy-eyed and still in our pyjamas, we each stumble back to the table to continue with the eating (also known as suhoor), chain-smoking and more eating. Believe me when I tell you that after a night like this, eating throughout the day is the last thing anyone wants to do.
Not everyone has the opportunity to spend Ramadan at my aunt’s house of course (although I have no doubt she would love to feed ALL of you if given the opportunity), but if you do happen to find yourself travelling through a Muslim country during this time of year, the following food and eating tips will go a long way:
Remember that many venues are operating with limited hours and staff during Ramadan so you will need to plan and book far in advance if you’re looking to eat at your regular times – particularly within hotels. International hotels usually continue serving food, as do some high-end restaurants, but you may need to reserve a table for brunches and lunches. For dinner, you’ll be spoiled for choice as many venues hold Iftar events with a smorgasbord of mouth-watering offerings.
Iranians shop at a bazaar in Tehran during Ramadan, ready to break the fast that lasts from dawn to dusk. Source: Getty Images / Atta Kenare
Other things to keep in mind
• Always keep some snacks and water on you as you’ll never really be sure where and when you’ll find your next meal. This is especially important if you’re travelling with the very young, the very frail, someone who is pregnant or someone who is ill.
• In most Islamic countries, non-Muslims aren’t expected to fast themselves, but eating, drinking and smoking in front of others who are observing Ramadan is considered pretty poor form. To avoid offending locals, only eat or drink privately or within screened areas offered to visitors, and remember not to leave the venue clutching your takeaway coffee (some habits die hard).
• Remember that alcohol will not be widely available at this time of year – even after sunset.
• If you get a chance, stop by one of the tents which spring up roadside in many countries to offer those who are fasting a nutritious Iftar meal. Run like soup kitchens and staffed by kind-hearted volunteers, there’s no better place to meet locals and get involved in what's happening.
And above all, get into the spirit of the occasion! Pay for someone else’s meal at dinner time, or pay for the loaves of bread for the next five people waiting in line behind you at the bakery. Ramadan is a time of generosity, doing good deeds and loving your neighbour. How much better would the world be right now if we could all do a little more of that?
Read more about , the three-day festival celebrated at the end of Ramadan, or check out our of feast-worthy dishes to mark the occasion.
