Chicken with zaatar and tahini sauce
I met Anas Chao first through a series of e-mails. He was a follower of this blog, and was going to be in Beirut and suggested we meet. We became fast friends and ended-up exploring the old souks of Sidon together. Anas speaks fluent Lebanese Arabic, resides in Taipei, but grew...
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Peas and carrot stew
It is thanks to my dear aunt Wadad (90 years-young) that I discovered this stew. She had summoned me to her place telling me “it is urgent”. I got there, and was told to sit down; she proceeded to tell me why she had called; “you know”, she said, “next...
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Corn tabbouleh
Easy to a fault; I made this when I really was in no mood to cook; I conceded I’d soak some bulgur and chop a bunch of parsley (it had been washed and dried and waiting in the fridge, wrapped in kitchen towels and a plastic bag for at...
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White Gazpacho
I wanted to try this soup, from Chef Zouhair Zairi’s Moorish Fusion Cuisine. One of the reasons is that I have not seen, to my knowledge, anything remotely like this in the Lebanese or Near Eastern cuisine; almonds are always used as a garnish in savory dishes; there is one pudding,...
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Rosewater, homemade
Rosewater in Lebanon is homemade in the villages with a certain type of rose, called ward joury (Rosa Damascena); the sweetest and most delicate rose ever! The traditional procedure is to use a distiller (karaké). I just wanted to see if i could make some rosewater without having to buy...
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‘Akkoob (Gundelia)
He sits by his shop in the Chouf Mountains and steadily and calmly cleans-up ‘akkoob for his customers. I could not help asking him where he goes to forage it. He told me he and his buddies drive two hours way up the mountains to the best spot to find...
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Carob brownies
I did not know we had some carob trees in our orchard . Salah grabbed a few pods and started chewing them, saying that back in Egypt (that’s where he is from), they make a juice with the pods and drink it for Ramadan; carob is super nutritious and keeps hunger...
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Zucchini hummus
I can imagine a Lebanese or Near-Eastern reader raising an eyebrow at the title of this post. In Lebanon, only chickpea-based dips (mixed with tahini) are called hummus. The reason is simple: Hummus means chickpea and the chickpea dip is actually called hummus m’tabbal, meaning seasoned chickpeas. In the US, hummus...
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White bean fritters
This dish of small white bean fritters comes from Aleppo, Syria. It is very easy to prepare (once the beans are cooked, or canned), light, and served with a salsa I improvised. The neat thing here is once can vary the spices or herbs; just about anything goes with...
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