Arabic Coffee shop

[BHAN85]

It does not excuse such behavior. It is completely unacceptable and one of the reasons why some Spaniards (rightly) complain about Moroccan/Maghrebi behavior and why you see the rise of VOX and other such parties.

Similarly with a too big proportion of male (youth) engaged in criminal activities. This is also common among certain Berber communities (in particular) in Spain and France.

For example most of the Hashish trade to Europe is run by Moroccan Riffian Berbers (good people overall though).

Same with much of the drug trade arriving to Europe through Belgium and Netherlands from South America. A few Moroccan families and clans run this "enterprise".

Of course many other criminal networks are involved as well (Albanian Mafia, Turkish/Kurdish "mafia"/clans/families, locals etc).

Is the Netherlands becoming a narco-state?

The murder of a prominent lawyer ended a common misconception: that drug cartels only kill their own.

www.bbc.com

But such behavior is unacceptable and I will never side with such bad apples regardless of any type of kinship.

Similarly we don't want criminal/unwanted elements in KSA/GCC whether fellow Arabs or non-Arabs or Muslims or non-Muslims.

I agree in all, but I have to say something good about that kind of Magreb immigration: Once married, when they create families, they are a lot more stable and civilized than other groups.

Even being a minority I see more structured families among them, than among rest of Spaniards and other migrants groups.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

Yeah, it depends of what part of Spain we're talking about it.

I talked about South Spain.

You can see that difference in Spanish people origin in the language more clearly too.

In Spanish language we have pair of words with exactly same meaning, but different origin: Latin and Arabic.

And in some parts of Spain most people use the word of Arabic origin (South Spain), and in the rest the word of Latin Origin.

e.g of those pair of words:
Olive: Oliva (Latin), Aceituna (Arabic)
Scorpion: Escorpion (Latin), Alacran (Arabic).
Lizard: Lagarto (Latin), Fardacho (Arabic)

And so on.

Many people seem to have stereotyped the southern Spain as the representative of the whole Spain.

When I saw the current squad of the Spanish football team, they overall look very Iberian which strongly resemble the southern French people.

 

[_Arabia_]

The Thai Royal family might have Chinese blood, but they are not very pro-China by heart and being deeply westernized.

However, recently they are seeking a closer relationship with China not by embracing their ancestry, but to make more pragmatic approach amid a rising China.

BTW, the Thai people themselves originated from the Tai people from the Southwest China.

Tai peoples - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

BTW, the Lee/Li family from Singapore is being heavily disliked/despised by most Chinese from mainland or oversea, since they are self-hating their own Chinese ancestry and desperately wants to be associated with the western whites.

And China's pre-Confucianism philosophy was the Legalism, and the ancient China under Legalism was much more ruthless and brutal than the Confucianized China.

Legalism (Chinese philosophy) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

And China's true indigenous religion is Taoism where the symbol of Yin Yang derived from.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoism

Many westerners have often mistaken the symbol of Yin Yang as Buddhism, but it belongs to Taoism in fact.

Overall, Taoism is spiritual and philosophical religion that heavily emphasizes on the cycle and balance of the nature.

I would say that the rise of the Confucianism has eventually weakened those powerful Chinese clans/big powerful families that being contemporary from the Greco-Roman era.

And the later Chinese emperors and high ranked officials have become much more grassrooted compared to its early counterpart.

Wonderful post my friend with information that most non-Chinese do not know much about. Learned a few new things.

I need to read up on Taoism, the Tai peoples and Chinese Legalism. Some interesting topics that will make me understand Chinese culture, people and China as a whole more.

I knew about the dislike of Lee Singaporean family policy that many Chinese dislike. It resembles the policy of the Taiwanese but Taiwan and Taiwanese is much closer to home and a part of China after all. Almost all Taiwanese are Han Chinese from mostly Southern China next door if I am not wrong.

 

[_Arabia_]

Yeah, it depends of what part of Spain we're talking about it.

I talked about South Spain.

You can see that difference in Spanish people origin in the language more clearly too.

In Spanish language we have pair of words with exactly same meaning, but different origin: Latin and Arabic.

And in some parts of Spain most people use the word of Arabic origin (South Spain), and in the rest the word of Latin Origin.

e.g of those pair of words:
Olive: Oliva (Latin), Aceituna (Arabic)
Scorpion: Escorpion (Latin), Alacran (Arabic).
Lizard: Lagarto (Latin), Fardacho (Arabic)

And so on.

That is really interesting, now that you mention it. I was aware of all of those words but I did not know that their use (prevalence) was tied to the geographical region of Spain but it makes sense that the Arabic origin word gained a stronger foothold in Southern Spain where the Arab presence was the strongest and longest.

Speaking about Spain, I find it interesting that some of the most popular surnames in Spain, such as García is originally a Basque surname which is a completely unrelated language to Spanish and any other language in the world in fact (language isolate).

Many outsiders also forget about the Germanic (Visigothic) influence in Spain. It was in particular profound in the surnames that people adopted. Some of the most popular Spanish surnames are originally Visigothic.

For example Rodríguez, Fernández, and González are all Visigothic surnames meaning son of Rodri, Fernando, Gonzalo. Like the English Johnson (son of John), Peterson (son of Peter).

In Arabic son of is literally ibn x or y and for women bint.

Anyway the richness of Spain is the fusion of local indigenous Iberian cultures, Phoenician, Carthaginian (Semitic overall), Greek, Roman, Visigoth, Arab etc. fusion. Jewish too. Many layers in other words.

Later that fusion and culture, language, cuisine, people, etc. spread to much of the new world (Latin America) which is why the Arab connection with that part of the world is also so strong with later million big Arab migrations to Latin America in the more modern world.

To the point that mate the drink has spread to in places like Syria, Lebanon etc.

I agree in all, but I have to say something good about that kind of Magreb immigration: Once married, when they create families, they are a lot more stable and civilized than other groups.

Even being a minority I see more structured families among them, than among rest of Spaniards and other migrants groups.

Fertility rates in Europe are really declining and in many universities etc. in much of the larger Western European cities, Arabs and other non-natives almost outnumber the locals, in particular women. It seems that the European elites have done everything in order to make life as hard as possible for young people to marry, start families etc. due to their failed economic and social policies. Many people cannot afford it.

BTW I forgot the Canarians which are actually partially of Berber (Gaunches) ancestry who again are related peoples to Arabs and part of the Afro-Asiatic speaking peoples.

Guanches - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Many people from the Canary Islands migrated to Cuba (Fidel Castro was half Canarian for example) and other parts of Latin America. Their Spanish accent influenced Colombian, Cuban and Venezuelan Spanish as did Andalusian Spanish. Most Spanish settlers, if I am not wrong, in the Canary Islands, came from Andalusia and southern Spain.

Which is why local Canary people are more darker than regular Spanish people. You can see it in Pedri, Ayoze Pérez, Yéremy Pino etc.

 

[BHAN85]

That is really interesting, now that you mention it. I was aware of all of those words but I did not know that their use (prevalence) was tied to the geographical region of Spain but it makes sense that the Arabic origin word gained a stronger foothold in Southern Spain where the Arab presence was the strongest and longest.

Speaking about Spain, I find it interesting that some of the most popular surnames in Spain, such as García is originally a Basque surname which is a completely unrelated language to Spanish and any other language in the world in fact (language isolate).

Many outsiders also forget about the Germanic (Visigothic) influence in Spain. It was in particular profound in the surnames that people adopted. Some of the most popular Spanish surnames are originally Visigothic.

For example Rodríguez, Fernández, and González are all Visigothic surnames meaning son of Rodri, Fernando, Gonzalo. Like the English Johnson (son of John), Peterson (son of Peter).

In Arabic son of is literally ibn x or y and for women bint.

Anyway the richness of Spain is the fusion of local indigenous Iberian cultures, Phoenician, Carthaginian (Semitic overall), Greek, Roman, Visigoth, Arab etc. fusion. Jewish too. Many layers in other words.

Later that fusion and culture, language, cuisine, people, etc. spread to much of the new world (Latin America) which is why the Arab connection with that part of the world is also so strong with later million big Arab migrations to Latin America in the more modern world.

To the point that mate the drink has spread to in places like Syria, Lebanon etc.


Fertility rates in Europe are really declining and in Universities etc. in most of the larger Western European cities, Arabs and other non-natives almost outnumber the locals, in particular women. It seems that the European elites have done everything in order to make life as hard as possible for young people to marry, get children etc. due to economic and social policies. Many people cannot afford it.

It's curious because Mate is not popular in Spain, even having a lot of Argentinian immigration.

Maybe it was more easily spread to Middle East due to the prohibition of alcoholic beverages.

Here you can buy mate in all supermarkets, but only Argentinian people buy it.

And yes, even with the fusion, the provinces keep own old identity in the language: Andalusian people have own accent when they talk Spanish, different to the rest, Galicia people another accent similar to Portuguese. The same can be seen in cuisine.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

Wonderful post my friend with information that most non-Chinese do not know much about. Learned a few new things.

I need to read up on Taoism, the Tai peoples and Chinese Legalism. Some interesting topics that will make me understand Chinese culture, people and China as a whole more.

I knew about the dislike of Lee Singaporean family policy that many Chinese dislike. It resembles the policy of the Taiwanese but Taiwan and Taiwanese is much closer to home and a part of China after all. Almost all Taiwanese are Han Chinese from mostly Southern China next door if I am not wrong.

There are mainly two types of Taiwanese: blue and green

Blue Taiwanese: mainly descended from the KMT party who was the China's government from 1927-1949. Their ancestry is not exclusively from Southern China, but some also from the Northern China. Most of them fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing its civil war against the CPC.

Green Taiwanese: Their ancestry exclusively came from Southern China especially in the Southeastern coastal region. They migrated to Taiwan since several centuries, and became more indigenized and even partially Japanized due the colonization from 1898-1945.

Well, the Blue Taiwanese formally acknowledge that they are Chinese, but being bitter and sore loser of losing the civil war to the CPC, and they are also pro-US, and it is the coward puppet type of Chinese government that desired by the US to rule over China as their puppet nation.

The Green Taiwanese are now deeply loyal to Japan after 5 decades of brainwashing by the Japanese Empire, and the independence of Taiwan is just a pretext to be re-merging with Japan.

Japan was also considered as an offshoot of the Sinic civilization.

However, they always harbor the ambition to replace the main authentic Chinese civilization by themselves over millennium.

The WWII was really the closest chance for Japan, but they still failed.

And nowadays, they are still stubborn to not give up.

Japan and the US are manipulating each other.

The US is expecting that Japan could become its cannon fodder to weaken China.

Whereas Japan hopes that the US and China could fight each that leads into its mutual destruction.

 

[_Arabia_]

It's curious because Mate is not popular in Spain, even having a lot of Argentinian immigration.

Maybe it was more easily spread to Middle East due to the prohibition of alcoholic beverages.

Here you can buy mate in all supermarkets, but only Argentinian people buy it.

And yes, even with the fusion, the provinces keep own old identity in the language: Andalusian people have own accent when they talk Spanish, different to the rest, Galicia people another accent similar to Portuguese. The same can be seen in cuisine.

Mate is unknown in most of the Arab world outside of Syria and Lebanon. Maybe some areas of the West Bank as well. This is due to most of the Arab migrations to Argentina and Uruguay (where that drink is most popular) being originally from Syria and Lebanon. Many Palestinians (many Christian) migrated to Chile and Colombia where the drink is less popular or not known (Colombia) at all.

I can give you another example of such fusions. Some very popular Saudi Arabian and Yemeni dishes (now spread to most of the Arab world) such as murtabak https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murtabak is a fusion of Arab and South East Asian (Indonesian) cuisine. Originally Arabic in origin (word too) but it spread to South East Asia with the Arabs and there it was influenced by local culinary influences and later that fusion was brought back by Yemenis (Hadhrami people mostly) and Hejazis and influenced/inspired the local versions.

Actually Arabs have alcoholic beverages, mostly in Sham (Levant) but it was/is mostly consumed by local Christian Arabs. Jewish Arab also used to drink.

It is part of the anise family so related to raki (Greek).

Arak (drink) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Actually alcohol is an Arabic word and the first traces of wine and beer occurred in the Arab world/Middle East. Pre-Islamic Arabs used to drink a lot of alcohol and maybe this is why Islam started prohibiting it because it was/actually is harmful for the body.

But long and complicated history:

Khamr - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Yes, also you have Catalan language which is more familiar to French and Italian than rest of Spanish local dialects and languages. Which is also spoken in Valencia, Belearic islands (called Mallorca and Valencia language but very similar).

Speaking about surnames, many popular Spanish surnames are of Arabic origin. For instance Almodóvar (famous Spanish film director), Alcaraz (like the famous Spanish tennis player) - it means fortress or castle, Medina, Aguilar, Almeida.

Actually some of the main Spanish towns are also of Arabic origin, including the capital Madrid.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

Many outsiders also forget about the Germanic (Visigothic) influence in Spain. It was in particular profound in the surnames that people adopted. Some of the most popular Spanish surnames are originally Visigothic.

I see that Spain being politically and culturally independent to the Anglo world, and Germanic ancestry being a true minority in Spain.

Only France has been often regarded and embraced by the Anglo-Germanic world as their fellow cousin and accomplice.

That's why Spain has been politically more embracing of China rise than France.

 

[BHAN85]

Mate is unknown in most of the Arab world outside of Syria and Lebanon. Maybe some areas of the West Bank as well. This is due to most of the Arab migrations to Argentina and Uruguay (where that drink is most popular) being originally from Syria and Lebanon. Many Palestinians (many Christian) migrated to Chile and Colombia where the drink is less popular or not known (Colombia) at all.

I can give you another example of such fusions. Some very popular Saudi Arabian and Yemeni dishes (now spread to most of the Arab world) such as murtabak https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murtabak is a fusion of Arab and South East Asian (Indonesian) cuisine. Originally Arabic in origin (word too) but it spread to South East Asia with the Arabs and there it was influenced by local culinary influences and later that fusion was brought back by Yemenis (Hadhrami people mostly) and Hejazis and influenced/inspired the local versions.

Actually Arabs have alcoholic beverages, mostly in Sham (Levant) but it was/is mostly consumed by local Christian Arabs. Jewish Arab also used to drink.

It is part of the anise family so related to raki (Greek).

Arak (drink) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Actually alcohol is an Arabic word and the first traces of wine and beer occurred in the Arab world/Middle East. Pre-Islamic Arabs used to drink a lot of alcohol and maybe this is why Islam started prohibiting it because it was/actually is harmful for the body.

But long and complicated history:

Khamr - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Yes, also you have Catalan language which is more familiar to French and Italian than rest of Spanish local dialects and languages. Which is also spoken in Valencia, Belearic islands (called Mallorca and Valencia language but very similar).

Speaking about surnames, many popular Spanish surnames are of Arabic origin. For instance Almodóvar (famous Spanish film director), Alcaraz (like the famous Spanish tennis player) - it means fortress or castle, Medina, Aguilar, Almeida.

Actually some of the main Spanish towns are also of Arabic origin, including the capital Madrid.

Yes and a lot of places names have Arabic etymology too.

The more past Arabic presence, the more of that current presence in words.

There is also ruins of past Arabic castles even in little towns, in south east Spain.

Almoravid dynasty - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[_Arabia_]

Yes and a lot of places names have Arabic etymology too.

The more past Arabic presence, the more of that current presence in words.

There is also ruins of past Arabic castles even in little towns, in south east Spain.

Almoravid dynasty - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Arabs in Spain build or partially constructed 10-15 World UNESCO Heritage sites in Spain alone.

List of World Heritage Sites in Spain - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Alhambra, the most visited tourist attraction in Spain, was build by the Emirate of Granada and the ruling Hejazi (from KSA originally) dynasty as I talked about earlier.

Emirate of Granada - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

As for city names (major ones);

Major towns, cities and regions​

• Albarracín City of Aragón. Derived from Al Banū Razin, name of the Berber family of the town.
• Alcalá de Henares City in the Community of Madrid. Derived from al-qal'a (القلعة), meaning citadel or fortress. Henares may also come from the Arabic name for river: nahar.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influence_of_Arabic_on_Spanish#cite_note-37"><span><span>[</span>37<span>]</span></span></a>
• Alcántara (several places) from Arabic al qantara (القنطرة), meaning "the bridge".
• Alcarria Large plateau region east of Madrid covering much of Guadalajara as well as part of eastern Madrid and northern Cuenca. From Arabic al-qaryat.
• Axarquía Eastern region of Málaga province, From Arabic Ash-sharquía(الشرقية): The eastern/oriental (region).
• Andalucía Most populated and 2nd largest autonomous community in Spain. Derived from الأندلس, Al Andalus, the Arabic name for Muslim Iberia, traditionally thought to come in turn from the name of the Vandals.
• Albacete city and province of Castilla-La Mancha. Derived from Arabic Al-Basit (البسيط) (the plain).
• Algarve Region of southern Portugal. From Arabic Al-Gharb (الغرب), the west.
• Algeciras City and port in the province of Cádiz. Derived from Al Jazeera Al Khadra (الجزيرة الخضراء) meaning the green island.
• Almería City and province of Andalucía. From Al-Meraya, the watchtower.
• Alpujarras (originally Alpuxarras) Region extending South of Granada into Almería. From Arabic al-basharāt: The grasslands.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influence_of_Arabic_on_Spanish#cite_note-38"><span><span>[</span>38<span>]</span></span></a>
• Calatayud City of Aragón. Derived from Qal'at Ayyūb (Arabic قلعة أيوب) meaning "(Ayyūb's) Job's Fortress".
• Gibraltar British overseas territory and name given to surrounding area in Southern Spain (Campo de Gibraltar). From Arabic (جبل طارق pronounced Jebel Tariq), "Mountain of Tariq", or Gibr al-Tariq meaning "Rock of Tariq".
• Granada City in Andalusia. Originally Garnata in Andalusi Arabic. From Gar-a-nat, Hill of pilgrims.
• Guadalajara City and province of Castilla la Mancha. From Wādī al-Ḥijārah (Arabic وادي الحجارة), River or canyon of Stones.
• Jaén City and province of Andalusia From Arabic Jayyan, crossroads of caravans.
• Medina-Sidonia: Town and municipality in the province of Cádiz, from Madina, city.
• Tarifa town in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Originally Jazeera Tarif (جزيرة طريف): the island of Tarif. Derived from the first name of the Berber conqueror Tarif ibn Malik.
• La Sagra, an arid region between Toledo and Madrid. Name derived from Arabic ṣaḥrāʾ (صحراء) "desert".
• Úbeda, a town in Jaén province, Andalusia. From the Arabic Ubadat el Arab.
• Sanlúcar de Barrameda, a city in the northwest of the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. "Sanlúcar" may have derived from the Arabic shaluqa (شلوقة), the Arabic name for the Levant wind called sirocco or jaloque; "Barrameda" was derived from bar-am-ma'ida, an Arabic phrase for "water well of the plateau".

Geographical features​

• River Almanzora. Derived from Arabic: Al-Mansura.
• River Guadiana. Meaning "River Anae" (from the original Latin name Fluminus Anae, "River of Ducks").
• River Guadalquivir. Derived from Arabic Al-Wādĩ Al-Kabir الوادي الكبير, "the big river".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influence_of_Arabic_on_Spanish#cite_note-39"><span><span>[</span>39<span>]</span></span></a>
• Javalambre. Mountain in southern Aragon, Jabal 'Amr, meaning "Mountain of 'Amr".
• Mulhacén. Highest mountain in peninsular Spain. Named after 15th century Sultan of Granada Ali Muley Hacén Abu al-Hasan.
• Pico Almanzor. Mountain in the Gredos Mountains of Central Spain. Named after "Almanzor" Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir, de facto ruler of Al Andalus in late 10th - early 11th centuries.
• Cape Trafalgar. From Andalusi Arabic Taraf-al-gharb ('Western Cape' or 'Cape of the West').

Influence of Arabic on Spanish - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

But that list is misleading and misses many examples:

For instance the capital Madrid.

"The name Madrid comes from the 9th-century Arabic word Majrīṭ (مجريط), meaning "source" or "water stream". This name was given by Andalusi Muslims who built a fortress—known as Mayrit or Magerit—by the local streams to protect Toledo. Over time, this Arabic root phonetically evolved into the modern Spanish name Madrid. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madrid

There is literally 100's if not 1000's out there.

Spanish Toponyms of Arabic Origin — Louis Werner

A is for Abdalajís, Z is for Zuqueca The atlas of Spain is laden with place names of Arabic origin, owing much to the nearly eight hundred year period of Arab rule there. It seems as if every other village, river, or mountain in Andalusia has an Arabic etymology. The term Andalusia itself owes so

louiswerner.com

 

[Haz]

Mate is unknown in most of the Arab world outside of Syria and Lebanon. Maybe some areas of the West Bank as well. This is due to most of the Arab migrations to Argentina and Uruguay (where that drink is most popular) being originally from Syria and Lebanon. Many Palestinians (many Christian) migrated to Chile and Colombia where the drink is less popular or not known (Colombia) at all.

I can give you another example of such fusions. Some very popular Saudi Arabian and Yemeni dishes (now spread to most of the Arab world) such as murtabak https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murtabak is a fusion of Arab and South East Asian (Indonesian) cuisine. Originally Arabic in origin (word too) but it spread to South East Asia with the Arabs and there it was influenced by local culinary influences and later that fusion was brought back by Yemenis (Hadhrami people mostly) and Hejazis and influenced/inspired the local versions.

Actually Arabs have alcoholic beverages, mostly in Sham (Levant) but it was/is mostly consumed by local Christian Arabs. Jewish Arab also used to drink.

It is part of the anise family so related to raki (Greek).

Arak (drink) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Actually alcohol is an Arabic word and the first traces of wine and beer occurred in the Arab world/Middle East. Pre-Islamic Arabs used to drink a lot of alcohol and maybe this is why Islam started prohibiting it because it was/actually is harmful for the body.

But long and complicated history:

Khamr - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Yes, also you have Catalan language which is more familiar to French and Italian than rest of Spanish local dialects and languages. Which is also spoken in Valencia, Belearic islands (called Mallorca and Valencia language but very similar).

Speaking about surnames, many popular Spanish surnames are of Arabic origin. For instance Almodóvar (famous Spanish film director), Alcaraz (like the famous Spanish tennis player) - it means fortress or castle, Medina, Aguilar, Almeida.

Actually some of the main Spanish towns are also of Arabic origin, including the capital Madrid.

Mate is not very popular in Syria, it's mostly in Lebanon. Same with Arak, even though it's also found in Syria, it's mostly associated with the Lebanese.

Mate is indeed popular with Argentinians apparently, but not sure if that was a Lebanese influence when they migrated there or some other reason. I have both Lebanese and Argentinian friends that enjoy it.

 

[_Arabia_]

Mate is not very popular in Syria, it's mostly in Lebanon. Same with Arak, even though it's also found in Syria, it's mostly associated with the Lebanese.

Mate is indeed popular with Argentinians apparently, but not sure if that was a Lebanese influence when they migrated there or some other reason. I have both Lebanese and Argentinian friends that enjoy it.

I know but Mate is practically unheard of in the Arab world outside of Lebanon and Syria and partially Palestine (Christian Palestinian community mostly and West Bank).

No, the drink (mate) itself (from what I am aware of at least) has no relationship with Arabs as such. It is just due to the large (historical) Arab migration (more modern one - last 150 years or os) from mostly modern-day Syria, Lebanon and Palestine (there were also limited migrations from what is modern-day Jordan, Iraq and Northern KSA) so those Arab communities in question, when they went back to Lebanon, Syria and Palestine, they took that drink with them.

It is similar to the Murtabak ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murtabak ) example that I gave. This time around an original Arab dish that was spread with Arab (mostly Yemenis (Hadhramis) and Saudi Arabians (Hejazis) communities in South East Asia (there are around 5 million people of Arab origin in Indonesia alone - not including Malaysia, South Philippines, Brunei, Singapore) and later it was modified by local (culinary fusion) with some of that fusion coming back to KSA/Yemen and enriching the culinary versions of that particular dish.

Another, among many pan-Arab dishes, that has similar undergone regional fusions and influences, are the mandi (originally a Hadhrami/South Najdi dish) now spread across the entire Arab world.

Mandi (food) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Falafel - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Same story with falafel - every Arab country has their own unique versions now.

Many of the regions foods are a fusion of various cultures to begin with.

For instance some of the most famous Turkish kebabs (Adana kebab for instance) is a fusion of local Anatolian Turkish and Arab (Anatolian/Turkish Arab communities).

Adana kebabı - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Another example is coffee. The plant originated in Ethiopia (highlands) but was first used as a drink by Arabian Sufis in monasteries in Yemen and South KSA. Later coffee culture spread to the rest of the world due to Arab trade (hence mocha coffee for instance being named after the town of mocha which was the main coffee trade hub for centuries).

Caffè mocha - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Mocha coffee bean - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Mokha - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

History of coffee - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Same can be said about scientific discoveries and civilizations etc. Or human history as a whole.

BTW, I have never tried mate and don't know what it is about but it is some kind of plant that is apparently a mild stimulant of some sort.

Probably a very mild version of khat of some sort turned into a drink. Or a more accurate comparison would be probably tea and tea leaves.

 

[Haz]

I know but Mate is practically unheard of in the Arab world outside of Lebanon and Syria and partially Palestine (Christian Palestinian community mostly and West Bank).

No, the drink (mate) itself (from what I am aware of at least) has no relationship with Arabs as such. It is just due to the large (historical) Arab migration (more modern one - last 150 years or os) from mostly modern-day Syria, Lebanon and Palestine (there were also limited migrations from what is modern-day Jordan, Iraq and Northern KSA) so those Arab communities in question, when they went back to Lebanon, Syria and Palestine, they took that drink with them.

It is similar to the Murtabak ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murtabak ) example that I gave. This time around an original Arab dish that was spread with Arab (mostly Yemenis (Hadhramis) and Saudi Arabians (Hejazis) communities in South East Asia (there are around 5 million people of Arab origin in Indonesia alone - not including Malaysia, South Philippines, Brunei, Singapore) and later it was modified by local (culinary fusion) with some of that fusion coming back to KSA/Yemen and enriching the culinary versions of that particular dish.

Another, among many pan-Arab dishes, that has similar undergone regional fusions and influences, are the mandi (originally a Hadhrami/South Najdi dish) now spread across the entire Arab world.

Mandi (food) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Falafel - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Same story with falafel - every Arab country has their own unique versions now.

Many of the regions foods are a fusion of various cultures to begin with.

For instance some of the most famous Turkish kebabs (Adana kebab for instance) is a fusion of local Anatolian Turkish and Arab (Anatolian/Turkish Arab communities).

Adana kebabı - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Another example is coffee. The plant originated in Ethiopia (highlands) but was first used as a drink by Arabian Sufis in monasteries in Yemen and South KSA. Later coffee culture spread to the rest of the world due to Arab trade (hence mocha coffee for instance being named after the town of mocha which was the main coffee trade hub for centuries).

Caffè mocha - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Mocha coffee bean - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Mokha - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

History of coffee - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Same can be said about scientific discoveries and civilizations etc. Or human history as a whole.

BTW, I have never tried mate and don't know what it is about but it is some kind of plant that is apparently a mild stimulant of some sort.

Probably a very mild version of khat of some sort turned into a drink. Or a more accurate comparison would be probably tea and tea leaves.

Only tried it once, it's similar to tea, not much of a stimulant anymore so than regular tea or coffee is, definitely not the same as khat, which has more of a narcotic effect, akin to weed or chewing coca leaves (very popular in South America especially with farmers apparently for it's pain sedation and hunger suppression properties).

Obviously there has been great culinary, and even linguistic and culture fusion across the entire region, that's not surprising in the slightest, we all interacted with each other for millenia, this is not a surprise to anyone.

Hell, for centuries people have been sailing all across the globe to India for their highly sought after spices, we all know the origin stories of Columbus and how he supposedly accidentally discovered the Americas while trying to find a new route towards the Indian subcontinent. The most popular drink in Syria and across the Levant is Chai (tea), sourced from South India and Sri Lanka. Every single cafe across the Levant region serves it and it's the number one drink there. We've had these cross-cultural exchanges forever.