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Australian-Lebanese comedian Mahmoud Ismail looks forward to Ramadan every year. "Obviously, there's the religious part, but the cultural part is really amazing as well because all the people come together from different backgrounds," he says.
With almost half a million followers on TikTok, a lot of his content revolves around food, most often in Western Sydney. He usually films during the day, so he needs to switch things up during Ramadan.
Like many other Muslims practising the month of fasting, he'll wake up before sunrise, around 4am, to have water and a snack, like cheese or dates. "You don't want to eat a lot of things that make you thirsty so sometimes I’ll have watermelon and things that can hydrate me really well," he explains.
During the day, he films content that is not food-related or edits videos he has filmed the night before. "Outside of Ramadan, fasting would be really hard to do, but during Ramadan, somehow, it feels like you can do it, it's not as hard as you think to go through the whole day without food or water," he says.
Then, at sunset, Ismail breaks the fast with his family, most often with dates and water. His mum oversees the feast. "There's a lot more variety in the food that my mum makes. Because you're fasting, you crave a lot of different things so there’s soup, salads, rice, meats and sweets," he says.
It's a month of reflection and culture.
Among his favourites are rich fatteh made with yoghurt, meat and chickpeas, as well as vine leaves stuffed with rice and meat (his grandma's specialty). You’ll also find chicken soup, lentil soup, chicken and rice, tabouleh and fattoush on the Ismail table, in addition to desserts like knafeh.
The comedian mostly eats at home during the month, but also at his grandma's and at various aunts', uncles', cousins' and friends' homes. "Those dishes you can eat them when you’re out, but home-cooked is the best way," he says. "That's one of the good things about Ramadan: every day the family eats together."
After a good half hour on the couch to recover from the feast, he'll go to the mosque for the Tarawih prayer, a special prayer during Ramadan.
A few nights a week, he'll hit up popular night markets like Lakemba or Green Acre. "It's a really nice vibe," he says. "You can get Asian food, you can get Lebanese food, you can get whatever you want. There's all these different types of food and they stay open from sunset all the way to 4am for 30 nights," he says.
His go-to's are the camel burger, which he describes as a bit smokier than beef, which is only available during Ramadan. He also can’t go past the knafeh from Yummy Yummy, which goes heavy on the cheese and syrup.
"The actual vibe of Ramadan is just very different. You stay up later, you fast, and then they have all these amazing foods. It's a month of reflection and it's a month of culture. I feel the most culture during Ramadan because I have the most Lebanese food and family around me."
