12 • FOOD
Jordan has one of the world's most elaborate and sophisticated cuisines, mostly taken from its neighbors. Few dishes are unique to Jordan; one unique dish is mansaf, chunks of stewed lamb in a yogurtbased sauce served with rice. Mansaf, also called fatiyyeh, is the traditional Jordanian meal served for special occasions. Kishk is required for the preparation of mansaf. Kishk dough is made of yogurt, salt, and semolina flour. The kishk is shaped into pellets or balls that fit into the palm of the hand, and then allowed to dry and harden. A recipe for mansaf that uses pasta in place of kishk, follows.
Jordanians love sweets and eat lots of them. A favorite kind of sweet is layers of a thin pastry called filo , filled with nuts or creams, similar to baklava .
13 • EDUCATION
Jordan is a very well-educated country. It has the highest number of university graduates per person in the Arab world. Its main export is skilled labor and professionals to other Arab countries. At 82 percent (with a target of 92 percent by the year 2000), Jordan also has one of the highest literacy rates in the Arab world.
Education is free and required from grades one through ten, and then it continues to be free for another two years. Literacy training is free to all Jordanian residents.
Girls must attend school through the tenth grade and are encouraged to finish secondary and even higher education. More than half of the 20,000 students at the University of Jordan in Amman are women.