L'Orient Le Jour Food Videos - Culinary Travels through Lebanon

L'Orient Le Jour, the French daily Lebanese newspaper, has recorded a series of food-related videos and has posted them on their site. I absolutely love to watch these culinary travels, it reminds me of my own. Of course I would have liked to see the traditional ways of doing these dishes,for example the pounding of the meat on a slab of marble. They have been adapted to present life and its convenience. I have left LBC and Helwi Beirut a while ago when all the problems began. It just felt right. I've been told that one of the presenters is doing a similar attempt to create a culinary tour. I wish them all the luck and success. My vision towards this subject remains authentic. Nowadays, I'm careful about traveling in fear of being kidnapped. Ok, I'm being dramatic maybe - but when I get warnings every week from the US embassy in my mail box. I tend to cool down and think that maybe it's a good thing to slow down. A lot pending in my life (work wise). While in the US, I had made up so many dreams of building and now that I am back home (Beirut) every single one of them is beginning to disappear. It's hard to build in a country that could erupt into a fiery mess, a volcano in the making. Still, in my head, I'm planning my next move. Mouneh in Arabic is the next step. That is a promise!

If you are interested to watch more, here enclosed are all the links. Thank you L'Orient for taking the time to document our most valuable asset (Lebanese food).

1. La moujadara de fassoulya de Hammana OLJ
2. Les kebbes de Zghorta et Ehden - OLJ.
3. La moujadara hamra du Sud-Liban - OLJ.
4. Les sfihas de Baalbeck - OLJ.
5. La mouwaraqa d'Amchit - OLJ.
6. Le Qerban de Khenchara - OLJ.
7. Hreeseh of Bhamdoun  OLJ.
8. Seniora of Saida OLJ
9. Le Helewet el Jebn de Tripoli OLJ 
10. La Moufataka de Beyrouth OLJ

Mamnoon Tasting - 1st round

The hungry bunch

On the table

We had a tasting on Saturday where my Seattle hosts (Wassef and Racha Haroun) invited a group of friends to a preview of Mamnoon's menu items. We served saj and oven baked goods with an assortment  of mezze items. Beverages included: arak, yogurt (ayran) drink, homemade pink lemonade, and wine. The ambiance was very friendly and everyone had the opportunity to voice his / her opinion. Thankfully, most were positive. Thing is with Seatlle products (which I am not putting down), garlic is milder, lemon is less acidic, and tomatoes are not as sweet as the ones we are used to in Lebanon. Barbara (me) is adjusting to all these factors. The chef I work with, Chef Garrett, is used to kosher salt, here again the taste is milder. When we work with dairy products in Seattle, it just screams "fresh and delicious". Amazing! If I stick around, I am going to become a large cow. Chef Garrett has made us some fresh cheese with some farm milk. You can imagine how that turned out.  He topped it with cherries soaked in honey, reduced in a sugar syrup —flavored with cinnamon, pomegranate molasses, and a few drops of lemon juice. Food is about sharing. This event was an opportunity to introduce the restaurant's food concept and basic mood (authentic/ fresh / modern). Mamnoon will use local products to bring out Middle Eastern flavors to the Northwest in a setting that will definitely leave an impact.

Wassef and Racha Haroun

Chef Garrett on the saj with his homemade basterma

Man'oushe in Paris

Notice this is a photo of a woman dj cooking man'oushe, taken in a snack in Paris by Racha Haroun, owner and partner of Mamnoon restaurant in Seattle.

A Nice Welcome to Seattle

This is the article that was published in the Seattle Weekly this week. What a great welcome for us! Thank you Miss Hanna!

Mamnoon's Menu Consultant Arrives From Beirut

By Hanna Raskin Tue., Jun. 19 2012 at 6:00 AM

Categories: News

When Barbara Massaad this week arrives from Beirut to start her on-site work as menu consultant to Mamnoon, a Lebanese restaurant opening across from Melrose Market, she'll be bringing more than her expertise. Owner Wassef Haroun's mother "gave me a tray to cook the kibbe in," Massaad says. "She's very involved. It's a family thing, it's their roots."
Haroun and his wife Racha, former Microsoft employees, decided to open Mamnoon after years of showcasing their native Lebanese cuisine at successful dinner parties. They hooked up with Massaad through a consulting firm in Beirut: She's never before worked on a U.S. restaurant project, but her father briefly owned a Lebanese restaurant in Fort Lauderdale.
"When I was 15, my dad opened a restaurant, and now my son is 15," Massaad says. "It's like a cycle. It's meant to be."
When Massaad turned 18, her father decided to return to Lebanon. "They Lebanese, they always feel like they have to go home," Massaad says. "It was so difficult for me because I was like the all-American girl."
Back in Beirut, Massaad continued cooking: She spent over a year in a Lebanese restaurant kitchen, and plotted to travel to Italy so she could write a book about traditional Italian dishes.
"Then I woke up and I was like, 'what an idiot'," she recalls. "'You're living in a country where you can write so much.'"
Massaad wrote Man'oushe, the first cookbook dedicated to the seasoned flat bread known as Lebanese pizza. While the pies are sold on the street in Lebanon, Massaad says man'oushe will be in the bakery case at Mamnoon, along with other snacks and sweets popular in the Middle East. The restaurant will serve various mezzes and grilled meats.
"We won't say Lebanese 100 percent, because (Racha's) mother is Persian, and the chef has Armenian blood," Massaad says. "It will be interesting to see how he translates these recipes."
The Harouns have visited Massaad in Beirut, and they've stayed in close contact through phone calls and e-mails, but Massaad says she's looking forward to a full month of cooking in Seattle.
"The restaurant is the Harouns' way of saying 'we want to show you our flavors'," Massaad says. "They were welcomed in Seattle, and they want to leave a trace. I can't wait."

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Kebabs and Things

My father had this collage made of the menu of our family restaurant. It brings back so many memories. Do you notice the variety? I was 15 years old when he opened the restaurant. Three years later, the restaurant closed and we headed back to Lebanon. A Lebanese person never feels better than in his homeland. I did not understand that then, but I do now. The years I spent in the restaurant were not always easy, but today those years are the foundation of all my work. When one lives through "living, cooking, serving" in a restaurant, the feelings never leave you and the "adrenaline" found it that type of setting is always and forever part of the search you have in you. At least, that is how I feel! This week I am traveling far from Lebanon to Seattle, WA to work on a familiar concept. I will be cooking with Mamnoon's chef to solidify the menu. I am looking forward to this a lot!

Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre 2012 - Slowfood.com

This year is special!


© Slow Food (video and text below)

"In 2012, the international Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre world meeting will be held together as a unified event for the first time, displaying the extraordinary diversity of food from all continents and uniting small-scale farmers and artisans from the north and south of the world who follow the principles of good, clean and fair production – food that is defined not only by excellent taste, but also environmental sustainability and social justice.

Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre will be held in Turin, Italy over October 25-29 at the Lingotto Fiere and Oval arena. The consolidated event builds on the success of the past eight editions of the Salone del Gusto - which has established an extensive network of outstanding producers, top chefs and supportive institutions and developed the Taste Workshops and other innovative food education activities – as well as the experience and knowledge of the Terra Madre network of food communities, academics, cooks and young people from 150 countries who have met in Turin since 2004.

The new format aims to foster the most important international event dedicated to food, capable of uniting the pleasure of taste with responsibility and respect for those who produce it and the environment. Thus, the experience and enjoyment of food and wine – one of the pillars of Salone – will go hand in hand with discovering the stories of the men and women who grow, farm and process food products sustainably around the world, and the places and traditions these foods are tied to.

Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre will explore some of the key issues connected with food production and consumption: from the role of young people and small-scale traditional producers for the future of agriculture, to the safeguarding of landscapes; from the fight for GMO-free farming to the protection of herders and small-scale fishers; from the need to strengthen the relationship between producers and consumers, to the promotion of responsible food choices made with awareness of their impact on health, the environment and the production system.

This year Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre are fully open to the public, offering visitors the opportunity to enjoy the tastes of Italian regions; to discover European, Asian, African and American food communities and Presidia and their unique products; to meet the people behind the 1,000 food gardens that Slow Food is establishing with African communities; and to participate in a wide range of food education activities for adults and children. The rich program includes conferences and debates, the popular Taste Workshops, Theater of Taste, Master of Food courses and meetings with the producers. These gastronomic journeys are lead by exceptional guides, such as well-established and emerging chefs, wine producers and food experts, offering unique opportunities to taste unusual foods and to get to know them intimately.

The future of food is the future of the planet and it is more crucial than even that we come together in Turin this October. A better, cleaner and fairer world begins with what we put on our plates, and our daily choices determine the future of the environment, economy and society. "

Being Positive is Contagious - Introducing Mamnoon

Despite every single negative event that is happening in Lebanon and in the region (Syria especially), I simply refuse to fall (however you want to interpret this).

Happy thoughts... voila! The best revenge of all, as I finish up writing my recipes for my consultancy project in the USA for next month (June). My book writings have led me to these good people (ex Microsoft employee and his CEO wife both originally from Syria / Lebanon) who are going to open a restaurant in Seattle, Washington. I am the official menu planner (love how that sounds). It's a very enriching experience. I am taking part in the birth of a special project that is very significant to this particular time in my life and theirs (and to happenings of world events). Exactly 27 years ago (when I was 15 years old, my son's age now, don't do the math), my father opened a Lebanese restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I worked hand in hand with my whole family for three years at Kebabs and Things. Today, again life is sending me back to the USA (to the extreme other side) to introduce Middle Eastern cuisine to Americans. I'm really delighted to go through this experience once more, many years later. The name of the restaurant is called Mamnoon, meaning to be thankful. I'm thankful!

So I'm packing the family and myself and heading to Seattle to live the Mamnoon experience...
more to come later on this USA / Lebanese food adventure.

Want to know more about Mamnoon? Here is a glimpse... published in the Capitol Hill Seattle Blog.

Barbara "La Boulangere Bio" "Helwe El Hayet"

Celine Hachem is another inspirational woman that I met lately on my culinary journey. She is a business woman turned bread maker. She has gone to great efforts to make a bread free from any chemically harmful ingredients—the result organic and wholesome bread. Quite impressive. The tiny bakery is so cute and charming reflecting the owner's character and personality. Celine's life has changed considerably since she opened the bakery. Her work now is a source of energy perpetuating positive vibes all around her. I highly recommend a stop at her bakery (both for the bread and for a quick chat with the owner). Sahteyn!

Barbara With Emm Sherif "Helwe El Hayet"

This is how a passion becomes a reality! Mireille Hayeck is a true inspiration to me and to many.  In the TV segment she states, "one must follow one's passion —that is the true factor to success!" How true, and so many just don't get it! (perhaps next life!) I've had the occasion to dine at her restaurant twice now and I can really say that it's close to a "food orgy", if you know what I mean! The menu is planned daily with many plates coming and going throughout the dinning experience. It's really like going on a food adventure while sitting on a table (not any table, may I add). Mireille has put her heart and soul in every single detail of the dinning experience at Emm Sherif —the name says it all. She is also owner and manager of two other restaurants: La Parilla (Argentinian steak house) and Yasmina (Indian fusion). We are proud of this woman! May she inspire many more in our country to become successful restaurant entrepreneurs.

Walid & Maysoon's Article in Mashallah News

This is an article about Walid and Maysoom of Coara, whom I really love. They are a wonderful family from the Shouf. I've included a profile of them in my book Mouneh. Here is another glimpse. Enjoy! 

+ I liked this new news platform called Mashallah, check it out! http://mashallahnews.com/?p=3024