At our place in Iraq, we didn’t use to eat things (made) of dairy (on Passover). And we came here (and also did) the same thing. On Passover we didn’t eat neither cream nor yogurt nor cultured milk, and we did not drink milk. We said, “this is hametz”. When you leave it outside, it becomes sour, so it’s hametz.
In Iraq it was - Shavuot - it was called “eid ez-zyaġa. The day after Shavuot, (people) would take food and drinks and go to the river. And they would sit by the river and would bet who would (be able to) cross the river from side to side and return. The whole day they would spend by the river. They would make kahi, only during Shavuot they (would) make kahi. And they would put either sugar or honey on it and they would eat. The neighbours would gather, and each woman would take out plates, and everyone would sit and eat together.
Stuffed vegetables, my mother would make - stuffed vegetables. My mother would make stuffed vegetables. She would make kechri, she would make chicken with rice, she would make engriyi…all types of those foods. She would make stuffed chicken, tbeet for Shabbat. They would slaughter the sheep and cows day by day. What was made today would not be eaten tomorrow. Every day they would make new food. That’s how they did it in Iraq. Day by day. They (would) eat in the afternoon, and at night…they (would) eat meat, chicken. And the next day they would cook again.