Culinary & Food Program

Dinner at Beit Sitti

Begin your culinary journey through Jordan by learning the basics of traditional cuisine as you cook your way through the evening and then sit down to enjoy the meal at Beit Sitti, which is Arabic for "my grandmother's house". It is set in a traditional house in Amman, you will work with your group to make appetizers, a main, and Jordan's favorite dessert Knafeh.

Hike in Ajloun

• Head north to Ajloun for a walk through the ancient olive groves, past local villages. You will visit the soap house, where local women make olive oil soap by hand, incorporating traditional herbs and oils. Then visit the Biscuit House and try some home-baked olive oil and molasses biscuits. Have a traditional lunch at a rest-house along the trail, where local women make dishes typical to the area such as Makmoura.
• If it is the season, take part in the olive harvest by helping the locals pick olives.
• Spend the night at the Ajloun Nature Reserve or head back to Amman.

A meal in Madaba

• In the morning depart to Madaba, stopping on the way at an olive press to learn about the process and have an olive tasting. Enjoy fresh mana'eesh for breakfast, made with Jordanian olive oil.
• Then head to Madaba to see the Byzantine mosaic map of the Holy Land and other sites. For lunch, try sajjiyeh at Dana restaurant, or an Arabic mezze at any other restaurant in Madaba or on the way to Mount Nebo.
• After lunch, transfer to Mount Nebo for a visit then wind your way down to the lowest point on earth and spend the night at the Dead Sea.

Tomato time

• In the early afternoon, move on to the village of Ghor Mazra'a tomato picking, where you can meet the community living there, learn about their customs, and help them make gallayeh, a traditional tomato dish, for your lunch. If it is tomato harvest season, you can help them pick tomatos.
• After lunch, transfer to Aqaba for overnight.

Buried under the sand

• Explore the beautiful corals of the Gulf of Aqaba with a morning snorkeling trip and lunch on the boat.
• In the late afternoon, head to Wadi Rum, the magnificent red desert that recently became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and which is home to several Jordanian Bedouin tribes. Watch the sunset as you sip on some traditional Bedouin sweet tea.
• Spend the night at a campsite and enjoy a Bedouin zarb for dinner.

Cardamom and coffee

• Tour the spectacular desert of Wadi Rum and lunch in a Bedouin tent, followed by the traditional cup of Bedouin coffee made from freshly roasted coffee beans and cardamom.
• Following lunch, transfer to Petra and overnight.

Cooking in Petra

• Tour the ancient rose-red city of Petra, which was built by the Nabataeans more than 2000 years ago.
• For dinner, you will be honing your local cooking skills at the Petra Kitchen.
• Overnight in Petra.

Mansaf and wine

• After breakfast, enjoy a morning visit to Beidha to see some ancient wine press and learn about the significance of wine to Nabataean rituals.
• Travel along Kings Highway, stop at vegetable markets in Tafileh for tea, and continue to Karak, the heart of Jordan's national dish - mansaf. Learn about jameed and dig into some mansaf for lunch.
• Return to Amman and spend the evening at the Winemaker for dinner and tasting of local wines produced by St. George winery, several of which have won international awards.
• Overnight in Amman.

Downtown delights

• Begin your morning with a tour of the Amman Citadel, where civilizations have resided going back thousands of years, including Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic.
• Then head downtown for a walking trail, tasting the various street food along the way, including fresh fruit cocktails, shawerma, falafel, knafeh and other sweets, and so much more.