The Gaza Strip might be off-limits for foreign foodies but the coastal Palestinian enclave is brimming with seafood restaurants, many owned by one local family whose culinary hook is their matriarch’s spicy fish tajine. Munir Abu Hasira arrives at the Gaza port’s fish market at daybreak, but holds back as traders snatch up sardines and other fish caught during the night. He is angling for more discerning catches like grouper, sea bream and large shrimp, which can go for around 70 shekels ($22) a kilo-a small fortune in the impoverished enclave, under Zionist’s entity blockade since 2007. “It’s expensive because of the economic situation, but we buy the fish to supply restaurants and to export” to the occupied West Bank, he says, as workers pile fresh fish into a van..For decades, the Abu Hasira family were fishermen, but since opening their first restaurant in the 1970s, they have gradually traded their fishing kit for chef’s tools. Sitting on a chair in a Gaza courtyard, Eid Abu Hasira, in his 80s, said he was the last of the family’s fishermen. “I sold everything in 2013,” said the head of the family, sporting a white moustache and wearing a traditional robe and headdress. “Today, we are in the fish trade, and have 13 Abu Hasira restaurants,” he said, clutching Muslim prayer beads as he leaned on a wooden cane.
If the name Abu Hasira sounds familiar to you - here's why:
One of his ancestors was a prominent Jewish Moroccan rabbi, who died during a trip to Egypt in the 19th century. A descendent in Egypt had a vision that “they had to go to Gaza”, Eid Abu Hasira said. “So we came here. My grandfather chose to live off the sea,” he said, adding that a Jewish branch of the family lives in Zionist entity, while those in Gaza are Muslim.
Actually, Rabbi Yaakov Abuhatzeira died in Egypt while on his way to Israel. Yes, he was a Zionist before Zionism.
The article goes on to say that before the first intifada, Israelis used to enjoy going to Abu Hasira's restaurants.
The Roma restaurant Facebook page has lots of videos of the establishment and food, with lots of heavily Islamic posts.
