The Table:
Nothing is more beautiful than a colorful table. Even if your table is a cloth on the floor! Color bring vibrance and life to eating. Recent studies in the field of dieting psychology have proven that your appetite can considerably increase because of decoration or plates of particularly bright colors (red, yellow, orange, peach) Whether you are serving family or guests, you will receive many compliments on your food by the way it is presented, as well as how it is cooked.
Recommendations:
Most food-cooked through out the Islamic world is a combination of meat or fish with rice, sauce dishes and soups! These platters are perfect for serving those types of foods. Not to mention that they are extremely beautiful.
The oil and vinegar sets are perfect for the table during breakfast with Zatar and bread or at diner for salads. You can substitute the vinegar with fresh lemon juice if you don't like vinegar on salads. The main point is that it's easy to serve and very presentable. For soups, a covered deep bowl type-serving dish with a matching spoon is perfect. You'll especially appreciate this type of dish during Ramadan. An antipasto dish is great for serving cut vegetables, cheeses, olives and pickled foods.
A pitcher for water will save you from running back and forth to the kitchen and it looks better than a plastic jug. Psychologically a nice jug makes water taste better. Imagine getting water from the bathroom sink and the kitchen sink. Which one is more appealing? Of course the kitchen sink is. Now imagine serving water in a plastic jug as apposed to a ceramic or glass one! It's the same idea. For serving fruit I suggest a large slightly rounded platter. It's also ideal for leaving out on the counter top or the kitchen or dining room table.
What to look for:
Some of the most colorful pottery is found in France, Spain, Portugal and Italy. Mexico is also known for it's colorful pottery. For French pottery you will want to search pottery made in Province and Avignon and also in Mougins. For Spanish pottery you will want to find pieces from Sevilla, Granada, Talavera de la Reina, Valencia, Majorca, Palma, Tambor in Aragón and Puente de Arzobispo in Toledo. The most beautiful Portuguese pottery in this class is from Estremoz. I love Portuguese pottery and find it the best priced and some of the most beautiful. In Mexico you will want to look for Talavera pottery. It is also well priced and gorgeous. For Italian pottery which is featured here, you will want to look for Majolica or Maiolica as it is also called, which originated in Mesopotamia and traveled to the major port in Majorca and into Spain and Italy where the art thrives to this day. Italian pottery from Deruta, Ubria and Arno River in Tuscany is also very beautiful.
Building a collection:
It’s not necessary to buy an entire set all at once unless you have extra money or are a really good bargain shopper. To build a nice collection can take years of careful searching. Buy one piece per month and within 6 months you will have the beginnings of a set that if you take care of, will last a lifetime serving friends and family inshallah! -Badreya
'Abdul-Rahman bin Abi Bakr, may Allah be pleased with them, reported:
The people of Suffah were very poor. Once Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said (to his Companions): He who among you has food for two persons should take three (guests with him), and he who has with him food for four persons should take five or six (guests with him for entertaining them). It was (in accordance with these instructions of the Holy Prophet) that Abu Bakr brought three persons, and the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) brought ten persons (as guests to their respective houses). Abu Bakr had brought three persons (he himself, and myself), my father and my mother (along with them). I do not know whether he also said my wife and one servant who was common between our house and that of Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr had had his evening meal with Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him). He stayed there until the Night Prayer had been offered. He then came back (to the house of Allah's Messenger) and stayed there until Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) felt drowsy and (Abu Bakr) then came (back to his own house) when (a considerable) part of the night had been over, as Allah had desired. His wife said to him: What held you back from your guests? He said: Oh! have you not served them the evening meal (till now)? She said: It was in fact served to them, but they refused to eat until you came. I slunk away and hid myself. He (Abu Bakr) said: O you stupid, and he reprimanded me, and said to his guests: Eat, though it may not be pleasant now. He said: By Allah, I will never eat it. By Allah, whenever we took a morsel, from beneath it appeared more until they had eaten to their fill, and lo! it (the food left) was more than what it was before. Abu Bakr saw that and found that it was more than before. He said to his wife: Sister of Banu Firas, what is this? She said: By the coolness of my eyes, it is three times more than before. Then Abu Bakr ate saying: That was from the Satan (i.e. his vow for not eating the food). He then took a morsel out of that and then took (the rest) to the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him), and it was kept there until morning. During (those days) there was a covenant between us and some other people, and the period of covenant was over, and we had appointed twelve officials with every person among them. It is Allah only Who knows how many people were there with each of them. He sent (this food to them) and all of them ate out of it.
Hadith number in Sahih Muslim [Arabic only]: 3833
