your intro to Jordanian culture

Experiences you can share around the table.

A warm welcome into our home, our kitchen, and our way of doing things. Hosted personally by Maha and the family — small groups, slow meals, real conversation, and whatever's in season, cooked with you or for you.

i.
slow mornings

Family Breakfast.

Durationan hour and a half
Time of daymornings

The slowest, kindest way to start a day in Jordan. You'll sit at the long table on our terrace — Petra hills in the distance, the morning light still soft — and we'll keep refilling your tea until you tell us to stop.

Breakfast is the most generous meal in a Jordanian home. We bring everything to the centre and share — hummus, mutabbal, foul, gallayet bandora, and the spread of small dishes that take a Jordanian morning to assemble. Local dairy from the village: ghee, fresh butter, yogurt, labneh. House-baked bread, still warm. Olives from our trees. And on the other side of the table, muaajanat — small savoury pastries to dip and pass around.

on the table, typically
  • hummus & mutabbal
  • foul
  • gallayet bandora
  • muaajanat
  • house-baked bread, warm
  • labneh, yogurt, ghee, butter
  • olives from our trees
  • seasonal jams
  • endless tea
come for breakfast
ii.
the midday meal

Family Lunch.

Durationan hour and a half
Time of daymidday

Lunch is for the dishes you came to Jordan to try. Maqluba flipped at the table — the moment where everyone holds their breath, then claps when it comes out right. Or mansaf, our national dish, if you've never had it. Or whatever's on the stove that day. If you have a Jordanian dish in mind you've been wanting to try, ask Maha when you book — she'll make it for you.

Everything is shared from the centre, eaten with the right hand or with bread. Second helpings are expected. Conversation slows down. By the time we get to tea, you've usually stopped looking at your watch.

what you might be eating
  • maqluba
  • mansaf
  • or another seasonal Jordanian dish
  • fresh salads
  • bread
  • yogurt
  • mint tea
come for lunch
iii.
long evenings

Family Dinner.

Durationtwo hours
Time of dayevenings

Our longest meal. Several courses, the lights low, Arabic coffee or sage tea afterwards — the kind of evening that wanders from Petra to your kids' schools to what Maha's grandmother used to say.

Dinner here is when conversation really opens up. Guests usually have questions by now — about Jordan, about Islam, about how we cook, about how we live. We have questions for you too. Plates keep arriving. Nobody hurries.

an evening might include
  • soup to start
  • several mezze
  • a main Jordanian dish
  • fresh salads
  • seasonal dessert
  • Arabic coffee or sage tea
come for dinner
iv.
hands on

Morning Baking.

Durationan hour and a half
Typehands-on

Stand at the counter with Maha and the family. Roll out ka'ak, shape manaqeesh, pull bread out of the oven warm. You'll work with your hands, you'll learn the rhythm of it, you'll get flour on your shirt — and you'll eat what you made before it cools.

This isn't a demonstration. You're at the counter, mixing, kneading, shaping. We share the recipes, but more than that, you'll learn the little things — how to know when the dough is right, why we add nigella seeds, when to fold and when to roll. Things that don't go in cookbooks.

what we usually bake
  • manaqeesh za'atar
  • manaqeesh cheese
  • ka'ak
  • fresh bread
come bake with us
v.
cook with the family

Cooking Class.

Durationtwo hours
Typehands-on

Pick a dish and we'll cook it together, shoulder to shoulder. Maqluba is the favourite. Kibbeh, warak enab, fatteh, mansaf, sawani, sambousek — whatever you've been curious about since you arrived in Jordan, we can make it. Choose when you book, or we can choose for you based on what's in season.

You'll start with the prep — washing, chopping, soaking — and work through the whole dish. Layering. Stewing. The bit where you flip the maqluba and pray it lands. By the end, the table is set, the food is yours, and you've earned it. Then we eat together.

dishes to choose from
  • maqluba
  • mansaf
  • kibbeh
  • warak enab
  • fatteh
  • sawani
  • sambousek
  • and more — just ask
come cook with us
what's next

More hands-on experiences, coming soon.

We're thinking about what else to share — beyond the kitchen, beyond the table. The kind of small, hands-on things that don't usually make it onto a tourist's itinerary. Help us decide what to add next.

henna evenings embroidery with the women of the village farming with Abu Zaid olive harvesting in season Arabic over coffee …or whatever comes to mind

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