Abdul Rahman winced slightly as he pulled on the metal straw, his friends anxiously awaiting his approval. "Not bad," he said slowly, as he looked into the glass tightly packed with green mate leaves. Mate, a herbal drink that originated in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, and long popular in Damascus, has recently hit cafes and coffee stands in the Jordanian border city of Mafraq. "Better than Jordanian tea," was his verdict.
Abdul Rahman is among thousands of Jordanians embracing a new cultural phenomenon in their country, with Syrian cuisine, fashion and even dialects gaining ground with the entry of almost 200,000 refugees. Many feel that the Syrian impact will be felt long after the refugees return.
Mohammed Zoubi, a Jordanian trader based in the border city of Ramtha, says he was one of the first to spot the trend when he began receiving special orders from Syrians trickling in from nearby Daraa - the cradle of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
With limited funds and expectations of a swift return home, the refugees' requests were modest, traders say: Several packets of mate, a handful of cartons of Syrian cigarettes, and a few kilogrammes of syrupy-sweet dried apricot "qamr-al-din" candy. As the intensified fighting between regime and rebel forces has driven the number of Syrians fleeing to Jordan from dozens to 5,000 a day, the import of Syrian goods has grown into a booming enterprise. Now Jordanians devote entire warehouses and outlet stores catering to the rapidly growing community.
"It seems that each time a shipment arrives from Syria, it's sold out before sunset," Zoubi said, as he informed yet another disappointed customer that he had sold his last mate packet a few hours earlier. "We just can't keep up." Dozens of Syrian investors, who are suffering from sluggish sales and security crackdowns because of the conflict, have also decided to pick up shop and move to Jordan, opening more than 20 well-known franchises in the country.
Over the past three months, establishments serving Syrian staples such as Aleppine custard, Damascene shawarmeh sandwiches and Syrian waterpipe have sprouted among the falafal stands and roadside lamb-and-rice stalls that had so far dominated the Jordanian culinary landscape. The most iconic establishment is Bakdash - the cultural landmark that has for more than a century churned out hand-made ice-cream in Damascus' Hamadiya Souk, and in August brought its famous frozen delicacies to the northern Jordanian city of Irbid.
"In Jordan you have both a growing Syrian market and a local market that has long enjoyed Syrian products and is being deprived of the opportunity to get them because of the war," said Jordan's Bakdesh manager, Abdul Wahab Ababneh. "From a business standpoint, you can't afford not to come to Jordan." Hamzeh Hashish, a Syrian national who made the transfer from Bakdesh's flagship Damascus outlet to Jordan to serve its famous pistachio-blanketed cups of hand-kneaded ice cream, said at times he feels more of a "rockstar" than a restaurant employee.
"Sometimes Jordanians come and just watch me work for hours," Hashish said, as he dramatically thrust a large wooden pistil into a vat of ice-cream. Mariam Husseini is among a growing number of young Jordanians adopting the style and mannerisms of their neighbours to the north. Donning a colourful headscarf fashionable on the streets of Damascus, the 18-year-old said she and her friends have become "obsessed" with the cuisine, music and fashions of their Syrian peers, even admitting to switching to the more delicate Damascene accent. "Just two words in a Syrian accent and people are ready to stop traffic for you," Husseini said, as she queued up for a bowl of freshly churned Bakdesh ice cream.
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