During Ramadan in Dearborn, the food comes out at night
On the second day of Ramadan, a young man wearing thick-frame glasses sets up his laptop at a small table in the light-filled Haraz Coffee House in east Dearborn. Once he’s situated, he approaches the register.
“I’m fasting, but I don’t want to sit here without buying anything,” he tells the shop worker behind the counter, combing his fingers through his voluminous brown hair. “I’ll pay now and pick it up later.”
His shoulder brushes the pastry case lined with milk-soaked cakes infused with rose and pastries filled with cheese and scribbled with sticky honey and black sesame seeds.
At a window table nearby, I watch in admiration of the man’s restraint as I slide a cardamom-spiced latte out of the way to toggle between bites of a warm date muffin in a puddle of silky honey butter and a plate of velvety tiramisu.
I notice that I am one of the few diners feasting on the fresh baked goods for which Haraz is known. As others tap away at their keyboards and sketch thoughts into their notebooks, it’s apparent that Haraz has become less a coffee shop and more a meeting ground for the Muslim community partaking in the Ramadan fast.
After dark though, Haraz joins the Middle Eastern eateries that become like flickers of light attracting droves of metro Detroiters with empty bellies and their appetites fixed on late-night eats.
During Ramadan, which this year spans the month of April, Muslims who observe the holiday abstain from food and drink between sunrise and sunset. In the wee hours before sunrise, Suhoor is served, a meal intended to sustain those fasting throughout the day.
Prohibited from drinking even a glass of water or herbal teas during the fast, many will incorporate ingredients such as chia seed and coconut water into the Suhoor, intended to help hydrate and retain water. After sunset, iftar is served, the meal that breaks the daytime fast.
In Dearborn, and at many Muslim-run eateries in Hamtramck, Detroit and throughout southeast Michigan, extended business hours encourage fasters to continue breaking bread well into the night. Beginning at 10 p.m. at Haraz, a crowd forms as members of the Arab Student Union drop whole bananas into a hot skillet and serve up boats of crisp, fried bananas rolled in cinnamon-sugar and topped with ice cream, airy whipped cream and fresh fruit or handfuls of nostalgic cereal flavors for a crunch.
Nights at Haraz, much like midnight dinners at Hamtramck’s Yemen Café or iftar takeout meals from Saffron De Twah, offer a glimpse of the after-dark energy within metro Detroit’s Middle Eastern communities during Ramadan. A food crawl of such late-night haunts is like an appetizer, but the main course is the Ramadan Suhoor Festival.
The weekly attraction transforms the old Sears parking lot at Fairlane Town Center into a bazaar of more than 50 food and beverage vendors, booksellers and clothing merchants.
Related: Ramadan Suhoor Festival returning after 2-year break, expands to Fairlane mall
As I approach the mall parking lot, just minutes from Haraz, Arabic music blares and hungry people hand over dollar donations as they file into the open-air market by the thousands. Women in hijab are seated on carpeted ground at the entryway under twinkling strings of light with ornate trays of tea and sweet treats at their feet. They look up at the passersby marveling at the magnificence of the scene. Food trucks are parked along the perimeter of the space next to food stalls and merchants walk customers through their offerings from underneath the white canopies that anchor the festival.
To no one’s fault but the Michigan weather, the antagonist of many an outdoor event in early spring, the inaugural night of the Ramadan Suhoor Festival is equally magical and miserable. At 30 degrees, scattering rain prickles my cheeks and drenches my coat. Puffs of vapor billow through the air, some from the steam rising off hot grills, others from laughing guests as their breath hits the cold wind.
The excitement of the event trumps all discomfort. Around me, a diverse crowd files into long lines that wind around wooden picnic tables drenched in rainwater to order dishes from their favorite vendors. My tactic is to follow the crowds. As the line inches forward at Corn on the Corner, a popular Dearborn food truck best known for its shaved corn, I stand on tiptoe and crane my neck for a glimpse of the menu. The festival menu is an abbreviated version of the truck’s usual offerings of hot, cheesy sandwiches, boneless wings and crisp fries. Here, Corn on the Corner sticks to its signature: corn with a range of toppings from cheese to Hot Cheetos. A mouthful of the 7th Heaven, shaved sweet corn topped with tangy lemon pepper and a scrawl of Sriracha, sets my palate ablaze. Wishing I’d ordered a bottle of water, I inhale deeply with my mouth agape, hoping huffs of cold air will chill my taste buds.
The tenets of the Ramadan Suhoor Festival are evident: Unity, community and charity. The $1 entry fee will be donated to local nonprofits. Unity and community manifest in the lines that demand hourslong wait times. At Tornado Potato, the festival’s most popular stall, guests of all ages, ethnicities and religions unite in pursuit of crispy twisted potatoes coiled around wooden skewers like edible corkscrews. Once we’ve gotten our hands on the helixes dusted in Cajun seasoning, barbecue sauce or ranch dressing, sounds of delight echo in English, Arabic and a hybrid of the two.
At Halal Tacos, I bond with a Toronto couple. We pack together tightly to form a human shield against hasty festivalgoers breaking the line to reach their next food stall. I cheer another new friend with hot birria tacos with their ruffled, griddled tortillas stuffed with fresh cilantro and spicy raw onions. At Blazin’ Burgerz, a mother dances with her toddler to keep warm and a quartet of college-age kids squeeze their faces into the frame of an iPhone for a TikTok video.
Desserts at the festival are plentiful. Knafeh, the vibrant Middle Eastern pastry soaked with perfumey rose water and sweet sugar syrup and filled with melted cheese that stretches as far as arm’s length, are available at AbuKnafa, a family-owned business that has been crafting the dessert for three generations.
There is Castle Creamery, where colorful waffle cones are molded into chewy taco shells and filled with dense scoops of vanilla ice cream and an array of toppings. And at Dough Dreamz, mini marshmallows and flecks of dark chocolate chips peek through mounds of sugar cookie dough. By far though, King Kone Ice Cream’s debut of its Jallab flavor is the festival’s biggest hit. The Garden City ice cream shop’s specialty waffle nachos layer medallions of waffle cone like chips; three large scoops of date syrup-flavored ice cream; fluffy whipped cream; a dusting of crushed pistachios, golden raisins and pine nuts; and a maraschino cherry topper.
The Ramadan Suhoor Festival is no gluttonous food festival. It’s a religious celebration in observance of the holy month of Ramadan. Though all are welcome, midnight prayers, Arabic song performances and Quran recitations anchor the event as reminders of the occasion’s true meaning: that in the Islamic faith, unity, community and charity can be honored through food.
Take-home tips
I consider myself a martyr for all who intend to attend the Ramadan Suhoor Festival. I’ve done everything wrong so that some festivalgoer can navigate the event with ease. Here are my tips for getting the visit right:
Go early
The festival draws great crowds — the first weekend alone brought nearly 55,000 visitors to Fairlane Town Center. Arrive as close to the start time as possible before lines start to pile up.
Start small
Vendors, such as Tornado Potato and Corn on the Corner, will begin to attract customers quickly. If you find that there are already long lines at the vendors you're interested in, grab small snacks at merchants with little to no wait time, then nosh on your appetizers as you wait in line for the more popular bites. If the weather is cool, grab a cup of hot tea or espresso from Qamaria Yemeni Coffee Co. — it'll keep you caffeinated into the night and dual as a hand warmer as you wait for your food.
Bring friends
It's important to divide and conquer if you want to sample multiple dishes. Bring a friend or two — or more — to ensure you try as many vendors as possible.
Ramadan Suhoor Festival
Dates: Thursday, April 14 and Fridays and Saturdays through April 30
Time: 11 p.m. to 3 a.m.
Location: Sears parking lot at Fairlane Town Center, 18900 Michigan Ave., Dearborn
Contact Lyndsay C. Green at LCGreen@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Dearborn’s Ramadan Suhoor Festival draws huge crowds to parking lot
