Spaghetti cake
“AAh...Fotini’s macaroni…” This is what my dad says every time a plate of baked pasta is set in front of him. I have heard this woman mentioned throughout my childhood, and even now, her name still pops up every time. (Then he lets out a sigh) My mom would...
Read More »
Loquat
The highlight of this month of April in Lebanon for us kids was getting a crate of loquats; they would be gone in a couple of days! When I moved to Southern California in the eighties, I used to see these loquat trees everywhere; yet nobody seemed to care...
Read More »
Strawberry and Raspberry jam with agar-agar in 10 minutes
Agar-agar is the latest darling of French chefs; chef Stéphane Bour was doing a demo on a tarte and he said this about agar-agar: it allows you to make a very speedy jam that will retain the flavor of the fruit, so you won’t get that cookedtaste. That’s all I...
Read More »
Frog legs with garlic and cilantro
Yesterday, I had a vision of my grandmother and I sitting down in her favorite hotel in Chtaura, a town in the Bekaa Valley, eating frog legs with garlic and cilantro. I wanted to relive that moment; what better way than to find some frog legs and prepare them?...
Read More »
Eggplant dip (Baba Ghannouj)
I attended a French high school in Lebanon, Lycée Franco-Libanais and in France as well. Literature was an important portion of the curriculum and we studied all the French authors, from Rabelais to Molière (every single play) to Balzac and Zola and Flaubert; we did’n’t bother with Shakespeare. However,...
Read More »
Carrot and fresh almonds salad
Have you ever had fresh almonds? They are super crunchy and inside, the nut is soft and moist. We used to eat them doused in salt as a snack out of school, buying paper cone bags from cart vendors. The middle-eastern store is displaying mounds of these fresh almonds;...
Read More »
Date Bars
I saw a cookie recipe on Kalofagas.ca that really got my attention; why? it listed orange rind, orange juice and mastic in the dough. Mastic is used a lot in Lebanese puddings, breads, ice-cream, and even in lamb shawarma! I just had never seen mastic and fresh orange combined!...
Read More »
Bulgur, yogurt and walnut salad (Kishke Khadra)
About a year ago, my son Nick announced he was going vegetarian. I thought sure you are; someone who ingests triple-decker cheese and bacon burgers for breakfast, lunch and dinner? he was serious. He turned into a health and nutrition nut and lost a ton of extra fast-food pounds. To make...
Read More »
Cheese sandwich (Kellage)
This simple and delicious sandwich is one I associate with summers in Lebanon, sitting by the pool with my friends Jacqueline and Anne-Marie Bassoul and the rest of the gang; we would order it every single day after a swim. Crispy and gooey with the softened white cheese inside,...
Read More »
