Zaatar/Oregano rolls
I have become quite fond of this Bedouin lady, Nujud, who roams the streets of Beirut with her knapsack hawking her wild herbs; I can hear her from four stories up “khobbeyzeh w zaatar!” she repeats in her direct and farm-like intonation. I hurry down and get some fresh, wild,...
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Stuffed turnips (Mehshi el-lefet)
One of many stuffed vegetable dishes (mehshi) from the region; this one is most likely Aleppian (Syrian) or Palestinian. It is very simple, with minimal spices (black pepper, a touch of cinnamon). The only difference with the Lebanese-style stuffed veggies is the sauce. The sauce is made with tamarind and...
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Seville orange syrup (sharab al-busfeyr)
This delicious syrup is made with the juice of Seville oranges (busfeyr) and sugar. Now is the season for these types of oranges, which are prized in Lebanon (and the Eastern Mediterranean in general) for their sweet and sour flavor. Their season is short, so folks would either freeze their...
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Duck in walnut and pomegranate sauce (fesenjan)
I was recently gifted a duck from Salah, an Egyptian farmer who returned from a visit to his farm and family in Egypt carrying with him seven ducks on the airplane; he explained to me that he’d made sure they were totally frozen. His family’s farm raises ducks as well...
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Orange and milk pudding (Balouza)
Winter season offers one redeeming value: The availability of citrus of all kinds. I could easily drink half a gallon of fresh orange juice every day. This pudding is a tad fancier than the traditional muhallabieh that my grandmother used to make weekly with powdered milk. I used blood orange...
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Crescent with Turkish delight (Laffafate bel-raha)
I am unaware of the exact origin of this pastry; however, since I saw it mentioned in two Armenian cookbooks, it is probably Armenian. The dough is very similar in texture to rugelach dough, and is very simple to make (only flour, butter and cream); it is a bit fragile...
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Myrtle liqueur
We have a myrtle bush (called hemblass) and I wanted to do something else besides eating the berries raw. Well my aunt told me that her 85-year young friend Milady makes ” a delicious” liqueur with these myrtle berries. I got on the phone to ask for her recipe...
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Black-eyed peas and chard stew (fassoolia wselek)
This dish can be made either with fava beans or black-eyed peas. It is vegan, comforting, delicious, healthy, economical, in short, perfect. We made it last week, adding a squeeze of Seville orange juice (bousfeyr) at the end, instead of the usual lemon (because these oranges are sweet and sour...
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Tip in the Lebanese kitchen
I thought it might be of interest to share some of the tips I have learned while cooking Lebanese dishes; some of them are recent, like this one. I had always been told to insert a smaller dish (inverted) over the stuffed grape leaves or zucchinis (or any kind of...
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