JEDDAH: The site of hungry Ramadan customers lining up impatiently outside ful and tameez shops is one that is repeated thousands of times across Jeddah.
Ful (mashed fava beans with spices) and tameez (Afghan bread) is a popular dish that often proudly sits on many a Ramadan iftar table. As iftar time draws closer, people throng to shops to buy ful and tameez. With lengthy queues the norm and people on the edge due to fasting, arguments and even physical altercations flare up over the most trivial of matters.
“Demand is sometimes so high that customers at the end of the line do not get any,” said Ma’alam Ahmed, an owner of a ful and tameez shop near the Jeddah Islamic Port.
“Customers sometimes feel it’s the fault of the seller and they start insulting and scolding our workers. It’s true that standing in these lines sometimes causes people to get angry. The problem is further compunded as people are in a rush to return home as iftar time draws closer,” he added.
Problems such as these have led to some shops implementing a number system. Customers at Abuzaid, a popular ful tameez shop in Jeddah, have to collect a numbered receipt when they come in. Numbers are then called out by the cashier, leading to no queues.
“I think it’s convenient to have something like this. I wish other popular ful and tameez shops followed suit. Queues at some shops can go on for ages. It can get dangerous when they end up in the middle of roads,” said Marwan Ahmed.
“However, I think ful and tameez are part of the Ramadan food culture here. I also think ful overshadows other popular Ramadan dishes such as sambousa and oatmeal soup,” he added.
“I have been in this business for 40 years now. Every Ramadan, customers gather in long lines just before sunset to buy ful. Trouble begins when people start jumping queues,” said Ma’alam.
“We start heating up the ful right after Dhuhr prayers. We start taking orders from around 4 p.m. until just before iftar. We also open up after evening prayers until sahoor time. By the end of the day we have usually served over 700 customers,” said Ma’alam.
“Ful and tameez have a special taste in Ramadan. That’s why we wait all these long hours to get it. A bowl of ful and a piece of tameez is a must for iftar,” said Rayan, a ful customer.
“The crowds and the shouting is all part of the ful-buying-experience. You only get this experience once a year in Ramadan,” said Rayan.
Jeddah houses some well-known ful and tameez outlets including Al-Emir in the Hindawia district, and Ba’nimah and Abuzaid which have several branches across the city.
