Mediterraneans Far From the Sea

This week, we’re sharing a sweet story about two much-loved Albuquerque places. Written and illustrated by artist Zahra Marwan, this tale first appeared in one of The Bite’s print issues several years ago. Thankfully, both featured businesses are still humming along—as is the artist, whose children’s book Where Butterflies Fill the Sky earned praise from the New York Times. We’ve also heard from another source that Casa Blanca Market is a great place to find lavash—just be sure to arrive early.

Alquds Mediterranean Grill & Grocery and Casa Blanca Market sit just two minutes apart on foot, separated by an oddly bustling Red Lobster. One of the two brothers working the register at Alquds laughs when he talks about the owners of Casa Blanca: “We’re both from Ramallah. From two different neighborhoods that are just two minutes away from each other.”

The name Casa Blanca carries a kind of Andalusi romance—Mozarabic, almost—evoking a Hispanic Middle East that feels familiar to Westerners, a place of classic films rather than exclusion. At first, I wondered if it was another way to bend or hide identity, something hyper-marginalized people learn to do. I was wrong.

When I ask if they have Iraqi bread, the owners answer in Arabic. They speak Spanish with each other and with customers. They speak English, too. “And I speak Hebreo,” one owner adds.

“My mom took me back for a few years when I was a child so I could learn Arabic,” he tells me. “Ramallah was under Israeli governance at the time, so I learned it in school. Now it’s Palestinian.” They’re Palestinians by way of South America. “Try one of these cookies first,” he says, handing me a date cookie and giving me the box for free.

I pick up za’atar to send to my brother in Japan—he can’t find it there. I grab Puck cheese, the Danish cream cheese in a glass I grew up eating in Kuwait. Halloumi. Black tea. An advertisement for Vimto catches my eye; Ramadan is close. I forget the green olives. I add a can of foul (fava beans) for breakfast, and tamarind for my favorite Kuwaiti fish stew with cilantro.

Tamarind etymology: the name comes from Arabic—تمر هندي (tamar hindi), meaning “Indian date.” Medieval European herbalists wrote tamar indi, which eventually became tamarind.

At Alquds—Arabic for Jerusalem—I admire the cigarette stand and water pipes while ordering fresh mutabbal, mashed eggplant from the Sham countries. I wonder who in the family makes it. A long line of red booths sits behind glass, separating the grocery store from the café where food is served—though, I’m told, not on Sundays. As I head out, I hear one of the brothers ask the woman behind me, “Hey, how’s your family?”

I like being in both places. The mix of languages on the shelves, the sense of familiarity, the warmth and bustle. Arabic, Spanish, English, Hebrew, French—people holding on together within displacement.

Alquds Mediterranean Grill & Grocery and Casa Blanca Market are located in a strip mall at 5555 Montgomery NE, Albuquerque.