Coffe Morning at the Belgium Ambassador's House

Today I was invited by Mrs. Kathlyn Verkammen, wife of the Belgium ambassador, to give a speech on my work at their resident. I had two teams of producers come and discuss their story and show off their goods too. Nelly and Mona, better known as Imm Ali, joined us to make their delightful man'oushe with their homemade cheese, chanklish, and the traditional za'atar. Amal Harb, from Ajaltoun, came to sell and showcase her mouneh items. I spoke of my work: Man'oushe, the coming book Mouneh, and about the Slow Food foundation and Slow Food Beirut. The women seemed very interested and the ambiance was very friendly. We all discussed the important issue concerning pesticides and its use and abuse in vegetables all around Lebanon. I fear that now it's time to go 100% organic when all these issues are going on, especially that my children are eating all these fruits and vegetables. Don't these farmers have children? I am really concerned! Is making a dollar so important that they have to poison the society? What a crime... I shall be going to the farmer's market very soon to make a deal with a farmer to get poison-free vegetables! What about you?

A New Address for Fish

Today went to a lovely restaurant apparently known to a few selected customers, the fish eating type! Nestled on the road going to Saida in Khaldeh overlooking the Mediterranean sea, this cozy restaurant serves a very tasty meal. My favorite dish, apart from the barbecued fish, was the tarrator sauce seasoned with coriander, garlic, slices of green hot pepper, and a sprinkle of lemon juice. Out of this world! The raw fish in lemon sauce is quite tasty too... I highly recommend this restaurant. The prices are fair, a bit on the high end. Ask for Sayah Hassoun, the owner and the name of the restaurant. He speaks German too... For reservations, call 05-801022 or 03-206030.

An Unexpected Call

I was taking a little nap Friday afternoon, before the kids came from school. My mobile rang, "no!" I continued sleeping, can't be bothered with this now... I need a rest! I looked at the number and did not recognize it. It was not the school calling, as far I was concerned it was not an emergency. I went back to my comfortable long-awaited sleep. Nothing like it! Ten minutes later, again, the same number...
I put on my best "awakened" voice, it was the Minister of Culture, Tammam Salam. It took me a minute to focus, then I remembered I sent him my book. What a nice man, he congratulated me on the book, said the photos were great and that he was very keen on taking pictures himself, having learned from his father. He spoke about the book for a while and apologized for not having seen it before. What a nice gesture to have taken the time personally to call me, I really appreciated it... It gave me a boost to continue my very strenuous endeavor - finishing mouneh!!! I told him that now he was obliged to attend my next book signing, he agreed and we promised to keep in touch. I don't know if he will continue in politics in the new government that is being formed, but it was a real treat to have met Mr. Salam, and now I have a new fan!

Spicy Potatoes (Patata Harra)

This is one of my favorite recipes (learned it in my training days too):

What you need:
potatoes - 1kg
chicken stock - a ladle or two
coriander - a bunch chopped
vegetable oil - a bit
olive oil - a bit
tomato paste - 2 tbs.
red pepper paste - 1 tbs., this will depend on how spicy you want it!
garlic cut very finely - 4-5 cloves
lemon juice - 1/4 cup
salt and pepper to taste

Method of preparation:
1. wash, peel and cut the potatoes into even cubes.
2. deep-fry them for 5 minutes (not more), strain through a sieve.
3. in a large saucepan, add vegetable oil and olive oil, fry the garlic.
4. In a mixing bowl blend tomato paste and red pepper paste, pour the lemon and the chicken stock. Add to the frying garlic in the saucepan. Heat for 2 minutes. Add the coriander.
5. Throw in the potatoes, cook for 3-5 minutes. Add the salt and pepper. Careful, don't break the potatoes and make sure the juice is evenly distributed.
6. Serve hot! Sahteyn...

This will make a large serving enough for a family of 5 - 6.



You will absolutely love it!

A Book for Children on the Mouneh

The book is entitled The Days of Mouneh. This is a book written and designed by a mother and her daughter Youmna Jazzar Medlej and Joumana Medlej. They make an excellent team because Youmna makes all the necessary research to write the book and Joumana, an artist, draws the story to bring it to life. The book The Days of Mouneh is a book depicting the Mouneh of our ancestors. It begins with a grandmother washing her jars and her grandchildren asking lots of questions...The grandmother starts her narration by explaining step by step the mouneh to her grandchildren. She speaks of village life, of harvest time, of pickling, of salt marshes,of dairy products, of meat preserve, of collecting honey, of preserving different fruits and vegetables, of arak making, and many other subjects. The book is full of so much information easily presented to children to understand and grasp the subject. You can understand how happy I was when the book came out. I bought it for every birthday my children were invited to because I wanted all children to know of the subject. I really hope they took the time to read it carefully. These two artists have many other books under their sleeves pertaining to Lebanon and its heritage and traditions.
Ask your librarian to show you were they are stacked, because sometimes they are hidden somewhere very deep. It upsets me so!!! It's really good reading for both Lebanese and foreign children alike.... and for adults too... I have read all their books cover to cover... Look out for their new release on the ancient city of Tyre.

Birth of Tawlet Souk el Tayeb

Got an interesting invite, it's open to all ...

Meet us for a meghli, a drink, and Tony Mouanie's food music to celebrate the birth of Tawlet Souk el Tayeb

Thursday November 5 at 5pm

Beirut, sector 79
Naher street, n˚ 12 (Jisr el hadid)
Chalhoub building, n˚ 22 - Ground floor
facing Spoiler Center, dead end street at the corner of Anthurium flower shop
left side, corner bldg

The Book Mouneh is Coming Alive

After a few trials and what not... the book is coming alive... I'm so pleased to see it all coming together... Years of work, research, and worries will now all go forgotten when the book will be printed. This weekend Mirna Hamady, the graphic designer working on the layouts, and I met to discuss the changes and alterations needed to make the book SHINE! Last night, she sent me the result... I was so happy! It's starting to look like an actual book. What is so exciting is seeing the words and photos come together in an artistic way. We are presently conquering the winter months (December-January-February). I can't wait until we work on Spring, my absolute favorite season. This is how the book starts because this is when life starts... Trees start blooming with spectacular ranges of colors. I will ask Mirna to give me a spread so you can get a glimpse. If you know of anyone who would be interested to buy a quantity before I start printing, please let me know, as this would help me to decrease printing costs.... How unromantic to talk about that!!! I am thinking of doing an Arabic version too. I want all the producers and farmers to read every single word of my book for it is their book too. I could not have done it without them. I appreciate all their advice, their hospitality, their generosity, and more importantly their friendship.

I must stop writing now, for I have to write about Hadi Sayegh, the pine nuts (snoo'bar) producer. He has left a job in construction to work in nature in the midst of pine trees and forests... I envy him... His story is quite interesting... I shall develop it for you in the Mouneh book :)

A relative of Hadi who owns a production plant which produces mass quantities of pine nuts.


Hadi and the Sheick... when I met the Sheick at first, he was very cold with me... thinking I was a foreigner, who knows... at the end of our meeting, he invited me to come with my family to spend a summer day with his family in this hut to have a picnic. He insisted that I visit him again. Meeting him was definately memorable and I learned so much from him.

The Women's League Event - A Lecture on Culture at AUB

Yesterday, I was invited to a lecture at AUB in the West Hall organized by the Women's League on Beirut's cultural influence in the area. It was raining and pouring and the streets were flooded, but my great aunt, Nina Djidejian a famous author who has written books on archeology for the past 40 years, insisted we go to this lecture. You can't never say no to dear Nina! I just love her so much and she inspires me with her continuous efforts and strenght. Actually, it was the ride to AUB that gave us the chance to discuss events of the past that dated to Nina's and my grandmothers childhood. I'm always intrigued to hear stories of our ancestors.

We arrived safe and sound to AUB. The lecturer was the minister of culture Tammam Salam. He gave a 15 minute speech on culture - defining it, discussing Beirut's influence in the region, pointing out our pride in major sectors concerning different cultural aspects. He was going on and on about many important cultural characteristics achieved in Beirut, but for a while did not mention FOOD CULTURE - AHHHH!!! But then he mentioned the influence of Lebanese restaurants in Arab countries and how Lebanese restaurants were franchising all over with very competitive results. OUF! It was brief, but at least he mentioned what to me is a major cultural influence that should not be ignored. I spoke to him after the lecture and asked if he knew about my book, he didn't!!! His wife, on the contrary, knew about the book and complimented me on the man'oushe's portrayal. So, something must really be wrong if the minister of culture of Lebanon does not know about my book... I shall send him a copy today, I really hope he reads it and appreciates its content. It might even inspire him to discuss the food culture of Lebanon more extensively during his next speech....

Aredna - Another Visit

Today I wrote about how to preserve apricots in the morning, then I got really tired... Too many more recipes to go dealing with apricots, so I stopped. I decided to go and visit Aredna again. You can't get too much of a good thing. I passed by every single stand asking them what they produced, where they were from, and how I could join them later. I intend to go and visit each and everyone of these producers in my life time. I did learn again something new... Zaarour jam, Zaarour syrup... a plant from the wild with red berries... usually the leaves are dried and used in the mixture to make zhourat. Also, I tasted a new jam made with pomegranate seeds. I found it very sweet, almost overwhelming, not very good. The producer explained that the seeds were cooked in syrup and put in jars, so basically what you are eating is sugar. It's too bad because I did get excited to learn about making this new jam, but was disappointed to taste it...

I also met Aaron, a radio journalist, who came with his wife and two adorable children. We carried out our interview, discussing why it's so important to focus on our Lebanese culinary heritage, which I believe may disappear with the future generations to come.... Aaron, an American, doesn't believe that there is a threat of that ever happening in Lebanon. I'd like to share his opinion, but I fear the opposite. That was our debate! It rained outside, cleaning all the pollution that was stagnating in Beirut - a new page is turned, winter is arriving, at last!

Restaurant Training - Day 3: Dough for Sambousik

On the 3rd day, I arrived and examined how vegetables were being cut up for the basic preparations. Vegetables included: radish, rocca, za'tar, purslane, mint, etc. I quickly went downstairs to chat with Imm' Tony, we discussed the making of sambousik. I quickly asked her the basic recipe of how to make these wonderful pastries.

Ingredients:
1 kg of flour (type o)
1/2 cup of butter
1/2 cup of vegetable oil (I use Slim, it's the lightest in the market)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of yeast diluted in water.
enough water to make dough... (I'll measure and tell you)

Stuffing:
meat, onion, parsley, and labneh

I'm going to make some today and tell you exactly how to proceed... I'll write later....