Fish restaurant, Zawita, Duhok, Iraq. September 2018
Only 20 minutes from Duhok by highway lies Zawita. Similar to Duhok, the original town is just under a cleft in the Zagros mountains that forms a pass for travelers headed onward to Amedi {See: Amedi}. Zawita has a higher elevation than Duhok and is the beginning of the remaining green in those mountains. Today Zawita's main claim to fame is a series of fish restaurants built right into the sides of the mountain where the road passes through.
In the "good old days" under Saddam Hussein (people actually say that) when Iraq was wealthy and functioning "normally", Zawita was a weekend destination for the people of Mosul, formerly one of Iraq's largest cities. In the summer, Zawita would be cool and provide a mountain backdrop for a day or weekend outing to escape the sweltering heat on the Nineveh Plain. The tradition continues until now. In the very narrow space of the mountain pass there is a four-lane (!!) road, and restaurants to the left and right climbing the sleep sides of the ravine. In the evenings it is awash in neon signage partially obscured by the smoke of the fires grilling all that fish - it looks mysterious. At certain times the restaurants create an hours-long traffic stoppage since they flank the main road in the area. All those cars desperately competing for limited parking create chaos and tempers flare. Nonetheless, the place is beloved of the people of Duhok and living there REQUIRES at least one pilgrimage to eat wood-grilled fish in Zawita.
The method for grilling the fish is simple. Stack some wood on a circular platform. Then lean grills with splayed fish teepee-style around the fire (as seen in the photo). The fish tastes smoky and is served with the usual array of tapas-style side dishes. Fresh Arabic bread comes in an unlimited supply. Although Zawita has a few Yazidi-owned liquor stores, all the restaurants in the valley are dry - only water and soft drinks are served in addition to a digestive strong, sweet tea at the end of the meal.
The fish grilling, bread baking, and small dish creating are all done on the ground level, but the tables are set above on increasingly smaller terraces carved into the rock. The waiters spryly carry huge trays up and down the stairs like some kind of human-mountain goat hybrids. Their skill is amazing to watch. Definitely "slow food" - from being seated, order taken, and receiving the food - a LOT of time passes. One should dine in Zawita with a companion who enjoys conversation or face a lot of quiet, uncomfortable silence between ordering and eating. I went with my Kurdish work supervisor, Khedir Ramazan, who had a LOT to tell me about his life and his wonderous years getting a PhD in Arkansas - woo hoo, lucky me.
I guess there is a reason I haven't mentioned the taste until now. The fish is farm-raised carp, my least favorite fish. It is simply too boney for my taste although the fish is adequately spiced and cooked quite well. Having grown up fishing on the Susquehanna River, carp was a junk fish. I don't think I ever got over that prejudice no matter where I ate carp. I had the same problems in China and Singapore. The grilled fish is not bad, but I ate so many other things in the Kurdish part of Iraq that tasted better. Mediocre grilled carp is just not something I would recommend to anyone traveling there. Additionally, many of the fish farms get their water from the Tigris or Great Zab Rivers, both dubiously "fresh" water.
One other problematic issue with this kind of fish (actually prepared all over the region, Zawita is just famous for it) is that it uses wood fire. Northern Iraq has been largely deforested and the Kurds penchant for "wood grilled" everything (including tea) is putting intense pressure on the remaining green. I was extremely vocal with my students and friends about it, but they always pushed back with "It is our culture" or "Don't be ridiculous. There are SO MANY trees around". (sigh) I even used "Lifting of the Lorax" in my American Literature course and the students saw NO connection between the barren Zagros Mountains fore-range and their love of all things "wood fire grilled".
Why do people need a near total loss to understand their actions?
The northern edges of Northern Iraq are still kind of green. Hurry up to catch them before they, too, go up in a puff of boiling tea-water smoke.
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