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The cozy falafel bakery, located near Calvary Market, draws fresh pastries with a variety of fillings, a rack with Middle Eastern produce, as well as a hot oven and men fighting alongside it. But first you are curious to know who is the host of this place.
I am M. Alzzamas from Jordan, living in Lithuania with a short break since 1996. And here are the baked goods, the men from Syria are thrown into the oven, they have not lived in Lithuania for a long time.
Sigismund Gedvila / 15min photo / Cakes are formed
What winds did Alaszzam bring to our country? It turns out that the interlocutor had a great dream of studying abroad, because his two brothers were studying in India, so he also started looking for study programs for foreigners he could use.
With interest, he discovered that foreigners are admitted to English studies at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. “I remember that I took a map and started looking. Aha, Lithuania, it’s in Europe, well … ”, the interlocutor laughs now. Thus, in 1996, M. Alzzamas came to Vilnius and began to study. While still studying, he met his future wife in Lithuania and, although he had returned to Jordan a couple of years later, eventually everything began to take root in Lithuania: he started a family in 2003, now the couple is raising 2 teenage children. .
Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Moutasemas Alazzamas
M. Alazzam did not work in Lithuania according to the specialty studied. “You know, there was still a language barrier, so everyone would have preferred a Lithuanian. And I started working for my mother-in-law, who has a confectionery business in Kuršėnai, I became a manager, I took care of product sales”, He says.
Sigismund Gedvila / 15min photo / Variety of bakery cakes
Finally, M. Alzamas was visited in Lithuania by almost his entire family: brothers, sisters, parents and only one of the brothers had not yet come here. However, it was his visit to the interlocutor three years ago that prompted him to start his own business. “When my brother was visiting Vilnius, he asked me to take him out for a delicious falafel. I thought and answered that well, there are no such delicious falafels here, ”he remembers. “Then the brother offered: then create the falafel place!”
Sigismund Gedvila / 15min photo / Bakery “Petra”
Alas easily found the place that suited him both in terms of area and location, M. Alzzamas planned to open the falafel and the bakery on April 1 of last year. But we all remember perfectly what time it was. “We had everything installed, the oven was transferred from Jordan by plane, I was looking for Jordanians that I could use. And then the quarantine began and everything stopped: the walls were closed, all the people at home, neither Lithuanians nor Jordanians could fly nowhere. ”She remembers a strange time, then Petra opened just 9 months after the planned start, earlier this year.
Sigismund Gedvila / 15min photo / Furnace “Petra” flown from Jordan
Alasamas did not employ his compatriots as bakers, as previously planned, but a couple of male refugees from Syria, who found them through Caritas already in Lithuania. Being from the same region, they communicate with each other in Arabic, and also understand each other perfectly about food, as there are a number of common dishes in the so-called Levante region.
Although the interlocutor himself does not cook, as he laughs, “I can add spices”, but while Petra was preparing for the opening, she scrupulously improved the recipes: falafel, hummus, Jordanian sweet cakes. fatayer Y manakish, spicy soups.
Sigismund Gedvila / 15min photo / Cakes are formed
Some of the ingredients are imported: tahini, pickled vegetables, but I pick fresh vegetables every day and buy them myself.
“I chose the flour for a long time, there were many tests, I finally found the ones that I think were the most suitable. Some of the ingredients are imported: tahini, pickled vegetables, but, for example, I myself choose and buy fresh vegetables every day. They tell me “why are you wasting your time on this?”, But I want the best quality, I tried once with the suppliers and I did not like it “, says the interlocutor. He is convinced that it is necessary to prepare the best food in the restaurant As for him, in addition, so as not to expand the menu too much and not vomit. For this reason, for example, there are few sweets in Petra, M. Alzzamas says that pastry would already be a separate niche.
Sigismund Gedvila / 15min photo / There are not many sweets in “Petra”, but you will find something to enjoy
Do Vilnius residents value and like Middle Eastern food? Alaszzam confirms this, adding that he was even surprised by the positive comments he received. He is also pleasantly surprised by the number of Lithuanians who have been to Jordan, “Petra” is not a meaningless name for them – many have been to perhaps the most famous city in Jordan.
At the same time, we discussed that we can thank for this a low-cost airline, which has operated direct flights from Lithuania to Petra for almost a couple of years. “I approach a lot of people who already know food, I don’t even have to say much. Guests say they will test and compare if it is similar to what they ate in Jordan. It tastes good and says that it is tastier here, “says M. Alzzamas proudly.
Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Moutasemas Alazzamas
Sometimes an older person shows up, picks up a picture of falafel on the menu, and asks for “these chops.”
Of course, there are guests who can understand the cakes, but they have not tried the falafels. “Sometimes an older person turns his finger to a menu of falafel photos and asks for ‘these chops’. Then I ask him if he knows what it is, I tell him. I also feel that there are a lot of vegans in Vilnius, they also come to eat falafel and humus ”, describes the interlocutor to his clients.
Sigismund Gedvila / 15min photo / On the shelf – Middle Eastern products
And what does M. Alzzamas himself like the most and how does he feel in Lithuania? He is a bit surprised when he admits that he is very satisfied with the Lithuanian climate: he likes mild summers and last year it was too hot, winters and snow are neither scary nor liked. “In my first year in Lithuania, in the winter of 1996-1997, the temperature had dropped to -29 degrees for a short time. I remember calling my parents, she told me about it, and my mother was quick to explain that she couldn’t think in going out. You know, and Jordan is fasting every year, but then it’s an emergency right away, no one goes to work, the kids go to school. If that was the case in Lithuania too, after all, no one would work every six months, ”he laughs.
The owner of “Petra” also tamed Lithuanian dishes as well as possible, although he says that, for example, during his studies he did not even give too much importance to food: he ate something, took energy and was fine. But now he also eats zeppelins and loves cold borscht. “I remember I used to watch when Lithuanians told me that during a trip abroad they missed cold beets and rushed to eat them when they returned. Well, after a trip, I also came back to Lithuania and I feel like I want cold beets, ”he says with a smile.
Finally, when asked if there is something he misses about his native country, he does not even think for a long time and says: “Only the loved ones who stay there. Anyway, Lithuania is already my home, I live here longer than in Jordan ”.
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