Breaking the fast

What to eat next....

This post is slightly overdue as we saw the end of Ramadan a few weeks' back. I didn't get to experience fully all the offerings of iftar, or breaking the fast, due to our holiday but we got some good buffet action in.


All Muslims are expected to fast during the month of Ramadan. Fast is counted from dawn to dusk, when a pre-meal can be enjoyed. The suggestion is to break the fast gently with an odd number of dates and a sip of water. In Brunei, the Sultan's gift to his people was more than 128 metric tonnes of dates, equating to 300g each citizen.

 In reality, I am not sure how often this advise is followed, as most of the dates are the only things left at the end of an evening meal. A more popular way to break fast, at least locally, are the sungkai buffets. Most restaurants offer a buffet for a special price during the fasting month, mostly being all you can eat. Restaurants see friends and families gathering together to enjoy food. A lot of food. The international "food" chains are equally getting into the spirit; you can sit down for your delicious McSungkai family value meal, or grab an all-you-can-eat Pizza Hut buffet...

Food tends to bring people together in their homes too; whilst driving around you can spot mini tents and stacks and stacks of plastic chairs mushrooming everywhere for an evening's buffet entertainment. Food markets are full of people who book their place for a month to get a piece of the Ramadan pie; this year the regular vendors were complaining how competition is fierce in running the local food stalls and were afraid that the takings will diminish. To get an idea of the sheer volume of chicken and rice shifted per night, think of 150 chickens portioned into 600 containers (and don't think of the litter!) and multiply this by tens and tens of vendors - per night. It is more usual during Ramadan not to prepare food at home, and the markets must be prepared for the raise in demand.

Let's not forget that Ramadan is also about spirituality, and more people than normal also gather to Mosques; this is not a traffic jam but cars parked at a roundabout to rush in for the Friday prayer.

Ramadan is considered the holiest of the 12 months of the Islamic calendar to mark the time when The Qu'ran is said to have been revealed to Prophet Mohammed. It finishes when the crescent of the new moon is sighted again, thus always causing chaos and guessing as to when people should be off work. (Although I am sure this is not what they say in the official guidelines.)