Fish spiced with wheat berry salad
An easy and flavorful meal in minutes, if the wheat berries are cooked ahead and safely stored in the fridge. A symbolic dish too, to celebrate the New Year. All the main components (fish, pomegranates and wheat berries) have significance in a lot of cultures located in the Middle-East. INGREDIENTS:...
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Chicken mussakhan triangles
This is a delicious appetizer version of the now famous mussakhan, a Palestinian dish. In Lebanon, it is made and sold at fancy markets and deli shops. In order to replicate it exactly, markuk bread (aka lavash, or Iranian bread or tannur) is needed. Furthermore, it needs to be extra...
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Chocolate fondant
Foodies will be able to relate to the following statement: I remember the exact time and place I first tasted a fondant. It was in Paris, about twenty years ago, and my brother had taken us all to a restaurant not far from where he lived. Nothing fancy, kind of...
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Sahlab
Sahlab is the name of a popular drink in Lebanon. It was introduced here by the Ottomans who ruled the region for four centuries. That is why one can find it served at cafés in Istanbul as well as in Beirut. It is made by stirring milk with some sugar...
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Bakewell tart
I was in London for a couple of days and was delighted to visit my English cousin and his family. He even cooked from scratch an exquisite meal, (save for the dessert), a quintessentially English Bakewell tart. A Bakewell tart is originally from Derbyshire, and if you have ever been...
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Bulgur pilaf
While the food world is getting entranced with quinoa, I am steadfastly sticking to bulgur. I was delighted to find out that it is a whole-grain created by Kurdish tribes during the Crusades, around the 11th century. So much for some historical trivia. This is super easy and satisfying in...
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Armenian cured meat (Basterma)
There is no tradition of cured or even smoked meats in Lebanon; however, after the Armenians settled in the country, locals started to get familiarized with the basturma and sujuk, both spiced and cured meat and sausage. Now these meats are popular all over the country. In Burj Hammud, the...
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Fig preserves
An easy and quick homemade jam to make for a holiday party and present as a special gift. This jam (called m’rabbah al teen) was always taken out of the cupboard by my grandmother (and later my aunts) for a bit of sweetness at night after dinner with a piece...
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S’Mores cookies
The sight of freshly puffed marshmallows on chocolate cream, served on a plain cookie elicits delight on a universal scale. Then, why not serve s’mores on a holiday table, for a dessert made in a jiffy? You can whip these in under 5 minutes flat and make adults and children...
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