As a precocious sprout growing up in an agrarian hamlet in Northern New Mexico, I dreamt of travel and adventure. My voracious reading habits included hours immersed in world book encyclopedias, world atlases and National Geographic magazines. By my eighth birthday, I was creating maps of the world free-hand and knew more about history and our planet than most of my teachers. I longed to visit and plunge myself in wonders and cultures that existed for me only in books. My longing to experience the world outside of Peñasco was, in fact, the primary reason I joined the Air Force days out of high school. While my service career did broaden my experiences, my desire to see and do even more has never waned. Alas, now that my Kim and I have the financial means to travel virtually anywhere, health issues have left us more homebound than we would like.
Thankfully, I can still travel vicariously through my brothers and sisters, all of whom have traveled the globe. In 2024, my brother Mario and his better half Diana visited Petra in Jordan, one of the sites I first read about in preadolescence. I don’t have a jealous bone in my body and don’t begrudge my siblings being able to travel to faraway lands. It does, however, bother me somewhat that they don’t always sample or enjoy the broad expanse of culinary opportunity offered to them. Neither Mario or Diana was particularly impressed by Jordan’s Middle Eastern cuisine. Aargh! I sometimes wonder if I’m related to my five siblings, only one of whom has an adventurous palate. Sure, they’re jetsetting far and wide, but so much of the experience should center around every country’s culinary culture–especially the unfamiliar.
As for Petra, I can only dream of the civilization that more than 2,000 years ago, built a spectacular ancient city and archaeological site in Jordan. Carved into beautiful rose red-colored rock with exquisite artistic details and surrounded by large, vibrant mountains and canyons, Petra is considered one of the seven wonders of the world. Petra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for breathtaking structures carved directly into pink sandstone cliffs. In its halcyon days, Petra was a thriving center of commerce until trade routes changed and the city was abandoned in the 6th Century.
Not surprisingly, Petra is referenced in the Old Testament, albeit by its Hebrew name, “Sela,” which means rock. Specifically, Isaiah 16:1, enjoins: “Send lambs as tribute to the ruler of the land, from Sela, across the desert, to the mount of the Daughter of Zion.” Some biblical scholars believe Petra is a potential place of refuge for the Jewish people during the end-times period of the tribulation. This belief stems from interpretations of passages in Zechariah, Daniel and Revelation that seem to suggest that God will protect a remnant of Israel in a hidden location within the region of ancient Edom (modern-day Jordan), where Petra is located.
While my Kim and I might never make it to Petra ourselves, we would surely have gained a few pounds feasting on the wondrous Middle Eastern cuisine for which Jordan is renowned. Nora’s Cafe, a 2025 addition to the Duke City’s burgeoning culinary scene, is the next best thing to dining in Jordan. Not since the San Pedro Middle East Restaurant (now known as Al-Qud’s Mediterranean Grill & Grocery) launched in 2010 have we been so excited about a Middle Eastern restaurant as we are about Nora’s. That means Nora’s is in rather rarefied air as one of the best Middle Eastern eateries in Albuquerque…