I experienced my first shopping mall in the Middle East, City Mall in Amman. Entering the mall means passing through metal detectors and the gentlemen should expect an additional check with the metal detector wand. The shopping mall itself is reminiscent of the standard American shopping mall and there were a mix of stores/brands I am familiar with from the US/Europe as well as several that were unfamiliar. In addition to passing through a metal detector to enter, there were two main differences I noticed: 1) the mall is multistory (as in 3-4 levels), and 2) there is a grocery store in the mall. Carrefour is a European grocery chain so there are many familiar brands and offerings. This location was also multistory with household goods, laundry, and other dry good essentials on the upper level and meat, dairy, bread, and grocery items on the lower level. 

Being a meat scientist by training, I had to check out the meat counter! I was somewhat surprised to see whole lamb carcasses hanging in a cooler, clearly visible to patrons. I expected lamb to be more prevalent than it is in the Atlanta area but I didn’t expect to see whole carcasses. It was interesting and I like that the carcasses are broken down for individual customer needs. It definitely felt more local than my neighborhood Publix or Kroger where all the red meat is on a styrofaom tray with clear overwrap.

Carrefour offers clay pot meal kits of marinated meats which looked amazing. The selection of marinated meats was impressive too. My neighborhood grocery store may have 2-3 marinated meat options but Carrefour had 6-8 options. The rest of the grocery sections seemed pretty standard in terms of what items were offered. There were some unique seasonings and spices, produce grown in the area, and things of that nature. There is plenty of milk powder and shelf stable milk but fresh milk represents a smaller percentage of total milk items and sells out quickly. Other big differences include: a large section of bulk fresh spices, a honey section that would rival a deli meat counter in the US, and, most noticeable to me, labels in Arabic and English. My nerd heart was very happy walking through the grocery store and taking it all in! 

I’m on vacation so no cooking for me! We decided pizza sounded good for dinner so we walked from the apartment to Sweifieh Village and ate at Dough Union. I was tasked with choosing which pizzas we ate and selected the buffalo chicken and all creamy pizza. Both were amazing and definitely hit the right spot! The buffalo chicken had a nice balance of heat/buffalo flavor and cool ranch and the chicken was crisp yet tender. The all creamy pizza was a cheese lover’s delight with mozzarella and ricotta and a bit of fresh basil on top. Dough Union is in a small shopping center area so we walked around there after dinner. 

On the walk back to the apartment we stopped in a couple other stores to look around. Most stores in Jordan are specialty stores meaning they specialize in one range of products like meat, fruit/vegetables, pharmacy, etc., rather than a big box store that offers everything. I was excited to visit the Meat Master Gourmet Meat Store which is a higher-end specialty butcher shop. They have a good selection of fresh and marinated meats including  a range of beef, lamb, chicken, and sausages as well as a small range of seafood items. There was also a reasonable selection of seasonings, condiments, and cheeses. Effectively, Meat Master could be a one-stop-shop for your barbecue or meat smoking needs and the prices were reasonable.  

We also stopped in Alharmel Fresh which is a fruit and vegetable store just down the block from Meat Master. I was drawn in by lemons the size of my palm, tiny zucchini, and bunches of herbs the size of a floral bouquet. The thing that really got me excited was seeing fresh green chick peas! I hadn’t seen them before and had no idea that they grew in a little pod … thinking about it now I would say they almost reminded me of small edamame pods. 

Day two in Jordan was a complete success with a beautiful combination of ancient history and learning something new about agriculture and food production!

Before I call it a night and get some much needed rest, a few “pro-tips” for traveling in Jordan (and presumably elsewhere in the Middle East): 

1) Whenever you see a toilet facility, use it. We followed the mantra of “when in doubt, pee it out” and, trust me, it will serve you well.

2) It is a good idea to carry toilet tissue with you. This is particularly applicable to the ladies but can be helpful for everyone. Bidets are common in the Middle East and many toilet facilities do not offer toilet tissue. Being unfamiliar and not quite comfortable with the bidet concept and how-to, I decided not to push my adventure level that far. 

3) Toilet tissue goes in the waste bin after use, not in the toilet. The plumbing here is not built to handle it. This is a little strange for Americans and Western Europeans at first but you get used to it. 

4) If you see a tip jar in the toilet facilities, please tip. This is common in the more maintained facilities, meaning an attendant is present and toilet tissue is more likely to be offered. 

5) Facilities range from modern and new to permanent port-a-potty. It’s fine, do what you need to do, and get back to exploring. This is absolutely no different than visiting National Parks in the US so don’t let that deter you from an amazing time!