Yesterday, in celebration of the first day of Ramadan, Vancouver’s popular Syrian-Lebanese eatery Yasma launched its new month-long takeout menu featuring a selection of authentic iftar meal kits. Iftar literally means "break fast" and is the meal eaten after a day of fasting.
Since fasting traditions during Ramadan can vary, Yasma has created four unique set menus that will be available during the celebration of Ramadan, each with its own culturally-significant main feature and paired with an array of accompaniments that are customary on the iftar table.
Options include traditional main dishes such as Kebab Karaz (charcoaled lamb meatballs) with black sour cherry sauce, parsley, and pine nuts, lamb Kibbeh cooked in hot yogurt with garlic and mint, Freekeh layered with slow-cooked lamb, chicken, rice, and nuts, and a Mini Mashawi platter that includes two chicken skewers, two Aleppo lamb kebabs, grilled vegetables, and Lebanese mezze dips with bread.
Each of the four sets come complete with a lentil soup topped with sesame seeds and crispy bread strips, fattoush salad, artisanal pastry platters of Kibbeh, Sambousak, Yalandji, pickled vegetables, and Qatayef (a fried cheese and walnut filled folded pancake) for dessert.
The eatery's Ramadan iftar meal kits are available until May 15 and can be pre-ordered online. Yasma is open Tuesday to Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m.
