Mexican Fiesta at Gou

Gou restaurant is hosting a special week full of surprises in participation with the Embassy of Mexico in Lebanon ! Mexican food will be highlighted for 7 days from the 2nd to the 8th of November. I will be shooting for Helweh Beirut on the first night, the "Day of the Dead" Feast, to learn all the delicious recipes of one of my favorite destinations in the world, Mexico. Chef Fernando and Gou's kitchen crew will be cooking up a storm.
  
The menu of the first night includes:

Appetizers: guacamole and mango seafood ceviche will be served.  Colorful tamales will be presented as an entree. Main dishes will include chicken leg, mole sauce, rice and jalapeno peppers. Last but not least, the dessert is called Capirotada - banana pudding with coconut ice cream and Cajeta sauce. Yum, sounds sinful! I can't wait really.

Here are some of my food / people photos I took in Mexico last year while visiting the Sanchez family (the best):

Homemade tortilla baked on the comal

A bit of everything served on a wooden board

Inspirational

Insects, you bet with a spicy bite

Pomme d'amour

Woman selling tortilla on the street

A Mexican chicken stew

Hundreds of peppers are available in street markets

Happy in Mexico

Mexican Buffet

Street Foods of Mexico City

Introducing Shahiya.com

Today I received an interesting press release from Shahiya.com, I'd like to share it with you. It is a good initiative taken by food lovers who wanted to document our "Arabic" food heritage. The site lets one interact and share recipes and is designed in a professional and computer-friendly way. I think if someone has time, one can stay for a while browsing and tasting the virtual foods. I have not tried any of the recipes yet, I am very tempted to do so. The site is available for both Arabic and English readers alike.

To visit the website: Shahiya.com

The press release:

The Arab Food Revolution:

 The words “food revolution” might conjure up images of Jamie Oliver, whereas the “Arab revolution” refers more to the recent Arab Spring uprisings.

However, for Hala Labaki, Carole Makhoul Hani and Daniel Neuwirth, the three co-founders of shahiya.com, their “Arab Foodie Revolution” has been quiet, subtle and tasty.

It all started with a simple realization: for all Arab cuisines, finding reliable online sources of recipes was close to impossible. The Arab culinary heritage had been stored forever in family notebooks, lying on the shelves of every grandmother’s kitchen. But most of the time, it was only transmitted to the close family, sometimes even being lost with the departure of the elderly.

“We thought of the idea for this site while studying abroad. We craved Lebanese food, but couldn’t find a single dependable online source for Lebanese recipes, especially in Arabic”, says co-founder Hala Labaki. “We used to call parents and friends, wasting hours in international calls to be able to make this or that dish. But for other cuisines, French, Italian, American or Chinese, reliable recipes were all over the net. This is how we first identified a need.”

When the three friends rejoined in Lebanon, they shared their concern for safeguarding their culinary heritage and their desire to make it more accessible. With the rise of online social platforms, the solution was plain to see, and shahiya.com was born.  

The 100% user generated website aspired to be a platform where home cooks from all over the Arab world could create a free profile and add their own recipes. They would share recipes they had tested and cooked many times - hence offering reliable, feasible and authentic recipes. 

Today, a year and a half after it was launched, shahiya.com is well on the way to fulfilling its initial aim: with more than 25,000 members viewing, reviewing, and trying out the 2,200 recipes shared since on the site, it is quickly becoming a first point of call for authentic and reliable Arab food recipes. Currently more than 60% of visits are from the KSA, making shahiya.com the number one food website visited in the Kingdom. 

What makes this site unique, among other things, is a feature found on no other Arab food site: each published recipe gets its nutrition facts calculated. So if you always wondered how many calories there are in your sayyadieh, now all you have to do is to post the recipe on shahiya.com and when it gets published you’ll find out! This service, along with diet recipes and an online free nutritional profile, is provided under the supervision of Carole Makhoul Hani, an RD.

“Cook Lebanese- 101 recipes” iPhone application

Encouraged by the success of the site, the trio decided to take their idea further; to bring Arab food home to even more people, they launched an iPhone application. “For our first iPhone application we decided to focus on what we know best: Lebanese Cuisine”, says Daniel Neuwirth.

101 quintessentially Lebanese recipes were selected by the Shahiya team. The team then actually cooked, tasted and fine-tuned these recipes. The resulting final, foolproof set of recipes made it into the app. The 101 recipes are divided into nine categories with a vegetarian filter offered for each. The dish pictures are not only beautiful; they genuinely illustrate the expected end result.

The app ‘Cook Lebanese – 101 recipes’ is available in six languages (Arabic, English, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese). Conveniently, all the listed ingredients are readily available anywhere in the world, and all recipes can be emailed to friends with a click of a button. In a nutshell, that’s the Lebanese culinary heritage meeting the entire world, 21^st century style.

“Food is at the heart of our lives”, says Labaki. “It’s a great vehicle for drawing people together, and introducing them to new experiences and cultures. It is also such a huge part of our heritage, and we hope to keep it alive on the web with shahiya.com.”

Cook Lebanese is available on the iPhone App Store
at: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cook-lebanese-101-recipes/id443934198?mt=8&ls=1#

For additional information about Cook Lebanese, including screenshots, a demo video and more, please visit http://shahiya.com/english/app_iphone.aspx or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z_t61HlEmU

Introducing Fouad Kassab, the Food Blogger in "Helwe Beirut"

The focus of this segment is to introduce food blogger, Fouad Kassab, writer of the Food blog to the Lebanese. Fouad is especially known in Australia, where he resides with his Australian wife and adorable baby girl. He writes mostly of  regional cuisine, emphasizing the love of ingredients, flavors, and how to put them together to make delicious foods. We met through the great maze of the world wide web. On his summer visit to Lebanon, we met in person and instantly hit it off. We discussed for hours our common passion - food! The Food Blog is an interesting escape for all foodies alike, especially those interested in Middle Eastern foods with an emphasis on Lebanese cuisine. It is very informative and skillfully designed. I invite you to drop in and visit Fouad's world!

To read an interview of his work, click here.

Apple Season in Mayrouba

Therese is a special lady! She is a small scale producer from the Souk el Tayeb "family". What I did not know is that she is also a school teacher. She is so proud of her mother's village and really made it a point to show it off. She reminisces of her carefree childhood where her family would live from the harvest of nature. She shared with us her apple jam because it was an important part of the mouneh every year in her home. The village of Mayrouba (38 km from Beirut) is known for its delicious apples, what better way to introduce viewers to this sweet recipe. Thanks Therese!

The jam cooks slowly emitting a delicious aroma

Different flavors add a special touch to the jam

Apple chips drying in the autumn sun

Jibneh baladi "White Cheese"

Jibneh baladi is the cheese made in high mountains all over Lebanon by shepherds and their families. It is very delicious. Often the milk is derived from a mix of goat and sheep milk. The milk of the sheep gives the cheese a stronger taste because of the percentage of fat available in the milk. Charbel Chamoun and his family were so kind to me during our shooting and I felt right at home amidst all these beautiful animals. The technique of production to make the cheese is not so difficult, the result is well worth it. The milk is usually not pasteurized. To prevent any health problems, the animals are kept clean and free from any diseases. This and many other recipes will be included in my next book CHEESE. 

La Pizza a Cheese 2011

The president of the AssociazioneVerace Pizza Napoletana talking about PIZZA

One of the highlights of visiting CHEESE in Bra, Italy this fall was to train (for two hours) with people from the Verace Napoletana Pizza Association. You could say it was a dream come true for me to meet with these fine people. Why, you may ask. I have had a passion for pizza-making for such a long time. Those who know me, know this. In fact, very often I invite my friends and family for pizza because I really enjoy baking and eating pizza. My Man’oushé book started with a dream of going to Italy and doing a thorough study on the pizza. One sees the grass greener on the other side always, yet I was wise enough to carry out this dream in my own country in search of all the baked foods in a typical street corner Lebanese bakery. The Verace chef showed us how to make the pizza according to the standards and regulation set by the association. I met a chef lately in Lebanon, owner of da Giovanni and Marguerita. I told him of my meeting with Verace, he did not believe me at first. Later, he was convinced. We shot a segment for Helweh wa Moora (who's name now has changed to Helweh Beirut) one week later for me to stay in the pizza-making mood. The show focused on how to make the best pizza (straight from a fellow who comes from Napoli), stay tuned... Giovanni and I had so much fun that we both forgot that the LBC crew was there, as we talked and talked and talked...He is special!

I was chosen to try because I asked so many questions

The dough is garnished with canned San Marzano tomatoes, buffalo cheese, fresh basil leaves, with a drizzle of olive oil

Before

After

Pizza Marinara

Beirut: Schuhbecks Reise in die Welt der Gewürze

Chef Alfons Schuhbeck is a famous chef from Germany who came to visit Lebanon. I was introduced to him by a dear cousin from Aleppo who lives in Germany. He was treated to a faboulous array of Lebanese food in the presence of talented food producers, thanks to the hospitality of the Doumar family. Great souvenir.

For further reading (in German), read the blog.

Schuhbecks with Chef Joe Barza :)

Schuhbecks with Jean Doumar, our kind host

Potato Kebbeh

Eating grapes from Mayrouba

Today I spent the day EATING! I visited Therese Sarkis at her mother's house in Mayrouba. We shot the segment for Helweh wa Moora : the making of apple jam. I will post the segment when it is diffused. I want to share with you a delicious recipe that Shahideh Saadeh Sarkis shared with me. She made this delicious kebbeh for us while we were at her house, among many other saj items. The recipe differs from the traditional potato kebbeh because instead of using burghul, she uses walnuts. Adding tehini also is innovative.The recipe is said to be from a neighbor in Jounieh who is originally from Deir el Ahmar in the Bekaa.

Shahida, an 87 year old woman, preparing lovingly the potato kebbeh

 Potato Kebbeh (Kebbet Patata)

1 kg potato
1 bunch of fresh mint
1 medium onion
1/4 cup of tehini
200 gr chopped walnuts
salt 

Boil the potatoes. When cooked, peel off skin while hot. Grind the potatoes in a vegetable mill in a large mixing bowl. Chop the mint leaves with a sharp knife. Do the same with the onion. Chop the walnuts or crush them with a pestle in a mortar. When potatoes cool, mix all the ingredients together. Slowly combine the tehini into the mixture. Thoroughly mix with hands. Add salt to taste.

Serve with a bunch of fresh mint leaves and onion. Add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

The final product

Therese, her daughter, fixing the trimmings for the kebbeh

Zaatar Prodruction with Abu Kassem in Zawtar

At this point, I think introductions are not necessary. Abu Kassem has always been a great part of my research and has become a good friend too... He originates from the Nabatieh in a small village called Zawtar. With the help of AUB and Land and People, he was able to carry on his dream (to grow zaatar from seeds). His life has changed because of this discovery. He became an authority on an important agricultural practice and has given future generations something to build on. Watch the show, it's very interesting!

Abu Kassem is always happy in midst of his zaatar plantations

Sheep in Motion

Feel the energy

Cooking Seafood in Tyre with Chef Joe Barza and Chef Habib Hadid

I had a great time shooting this segment. Not only because I was surrounded by two great chefs, but the combination of both talents in the kitchen of the restaurant "Le Phenicien" made an exceptional meal.. Both chefs are very attached to the ancient city of Tyr in South Lebanon, where they originate. With seafood, the key to delicious food  is to have simple recipes that bring out the taste of the fish or shellfish. The freekeh that Chef Joe prepared was light and yet wholesome and robust, just perfect! Chef Habib has had decades of experience cooking seafood and it certainly shows. I was impressed. The city of Tyr is currently going through major reparations. I just hope that the ancient ambiance remains and that the architecture is preserved professionally. We shall wait and see...

With Chef Joe, by the ancient fishing shore of Tyr

Very exciting to be amongst two great chefs

Chef Joe cooking his seafood freekeh

Chef Hadid's creation

Chef Joe's creation

A fisherman from Tyr

Tasting the day's creations at Le Phonecien

Cheese 2011

Bra in all it's splendor!

16-19: Cheese (INTERNATIONAL)Bra, Italy
Cheese is organized by Slow Food International every two years in the town of Bra – the home of Slow Food’s headquarters and an important center for cheese aging and sales in northern Italy. Since its debut in 1997, it has grown to be the leading international festival for artisinal cheesemakers, attracting over 100,000 visitors to the four-day event. Cheese provides an opportunity to turn the public’s attention to important issues such as the legal battles facing raw milk cheese producers and the disappearing tradition of shepherding — not to mention hundreds of the very best cheeses from all over the world.
www.cheese.slowfood.com

The wonderful world of dairy will be celebrated in all its shapes and forms at the eighth edition of Cheese this September 16–19. Since Slow Food organized the first edition of this international event in 1997, a large network of artisan cheesemakers, cheesemongers and experts has grown. Every two years they come together in Bra, Italy, taking over the streets to present their unique products, meet enthusiastic visitors and discuss the challenges of the trade and share solutions in workshops and discussions.

The theme of Cheese 2011 is milks, crafts and places. Special attention will be paid to exploring the complexity of knowledge, needs, problems and resources linked to dairy products, turning the spotlight onto these three important pillars for quality.

Milks – The complexity and variety of cheese starts with the complexity and variety of milk. Milk may come from cows, sheep, goats, yaks and other animals, with each species having a rich variety of breeds. Many of these varieties are unsuited to the living conditions imposed by industrial farming and many are at risk of extinction. Their milk produces cheeses with a unique taste and story, the result of pastures and practices that constitute an invaluable environmental and cultural heritage. Most importantly, raw milk is a guarantee of the highest possible sensory quality, displaying a close relationship to the land. Slow Food has led the battle for the recognition of raw-milk cheese quality, bringing it to an international level since the first edition.

Crafts – Herders are the guardians of the rural and mountain environments, and pasturing animals helps protect many environments from abandonment and erosion. Cheesemakers are the repositories of centuries-old empirical wisdom, refined and passed down through the generations. Affineurs, the cheese agers, guarantee an income to producers and carefully tend cheeses as their flavors and aromas improve. The Cheese event gives rightful recognition to these artisans, bringing them to center-stage.

Places – Alpine dairies, mountain pastures and rural landscapes. Sustainable development can only be driven by the creation and implementation of local micro-economies based on quality, environmental protection and the maintenance of young populations in marginal areas. Promoting local products can mean creating work and social opportunities for communities.

Alongside a spotlight on these three themes, attention will also be given to the challenges facing the dairy industry. Workshops and activities will focus on a range of issues such as: an uncertain future for youth who wish to dedicate themselves to artisan diary production; or the potential of product labeling to go beyond a list of ingredients and indicate quality through naming the breed, cheesemaker and place of production.

France is the 2011 star country of Cheese, a nation that has long protected raw-milk cheese production; promoted the work of cheesemakers and affineurs; and treasured regional differences. French producers will be joined by international producers including many Slow Food Presidia. Favorites from past editions such as Bulgarian Tcherni Vit Green Cheese, Swedish Jämtland Cellar Matured Goat Cheese and Pokot Ash Yogurt from Kenya will be joined by three Presidia participating in Cheese for the first time: traditional Salers from France, Mavrovo Reka Mountain Pasture Cheeses from Macedonia and Mascarplin from Switzerland. Along with these will be many of the Italian Slow Food Presidia Cheeses and representatives from Terra Madre food communities. The Presidia will all display their products on a dedicated street.

For further reading, read the full press kit of CHEESE.
© text Slow Food.

Today, I decided that I have to go to this very important event. I am sure it will inspire me so much to write my book on local Lebanese cheese. This will be my 2nd time to attend this fair. The first time was magical! I will have lots to say when I return. Stay tuned...

Season II 2011- 2012

Summer is coming to an end!

"Manon des Sources" the Lebanese way

 Back to work or may I say back to " La Passion". I did get to do something that I've always wanted to do forever. I walked with a herd of goats and sheep in the deep mountains of Kfardebian. What a joy to be amongst these shepherds and their families. It's a way of life. I traveled to see foreign countries on a boat with my family and friends. I appreciated many aspects of their habits and customs. I ate their foods, socialized with different people. I met a new friend from Australia who shares my food passion. I ate seafood with my friend Joe, the Top Chef superstar and our common friend Habib Hadid, owner of Le Phonecien. I invited friends to share a meal celebrating my adopted country's food - Mexico, with the help of a new friend Fernando Gomez, a Mexican chef.

Now as I look forward to a new season, a new year - I am setting goals for myself to achieve during this time. I have finally met the one who will translate MOUNEH in Arabic (God sends you good people along your way in due time), as this task needs to be done for the people of Lebanon, for the people of Lebanon. This is very important for me because finally it is the Lebanese who need to safeguard this very important cultural tradition and teach their children.That being done, I would have done what I set out to do...

Season II of Helweh wa Moora with our food segment every Thurs, I'm very excited! Many more stories, recipes and exciting people to meet. I want to share with viewers this wonderful FOOD related world with the people behind it. There will be new topics: I will adventure myself to peak into kitchens in new restaurants opening all around the country and also visit the ones who have withstood the test of time. Keeping culinary traditions alive is very important to me (you've heard it a thousand times), I will continue seeking those who are working to safeguard it and capture their task. I will travel to the depths of the country to find those hidden treasures. May God give me good health!

Learning to make Jibneh Baladi

A new book in the making, of course! It's addictive. I am currently working on a book dealing with local dairy products and everything relating to that topic This will include lots of beautiful animals, people, recipes and techniques with numerous places to visit. I am going to purchase a few goats / sheep to live through the experience myself. I am in the process of negotiating with a shepherd on how we can share responsibilities. I can't wait! You cannot write about something unless you live every aspect of the topic. It's a sacrifice, ha ha ha....

Milking the sheep in the mountains of  Kfardebian

Armenian Hi Food with Mayda

Fishing with Raymond

This is my friend Raymond Yazbeck, Ray to some...Ray is a professional photographer with years of experience, including the publication of several books. I met him many years ago when I first had the dream of doing a book on man'oushe. He showed me the way. He is like the brother I never had... So what does one do with his brother, one goes fishing! Great fun.

Freekeh in the Deep South

© Mouneh 2010

Roasted green wheat, better known as freekeh, is roasted, parched wheat which has a chewy green grain and a flavorful, smoky nutty taste. It is said that wheat was picked early in the season and burnt during the Ottoman period to deter farmers from paying high taxes. Since, it has become a traditional way of eating wheat. It is a specialty known in Lebanon and neighboring countries such as Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Palestine.  The word freekeh comes from the Arabic word al-freek meaning “what is rubbed”; this is in reference to the process of making the actual roasted wheat, which involves rubbing the wheat grains with one’s hands to free them of their shell.

Freekeh can be cooked in many ways. As a substitute for burghul or rice, it accompanies recipes made with beef, chicken, lamb and lately even seafood. It can make flavorful stuffing for vegetables like zucchini, eggplant, and grape leaves. Freekeh can also be an interesting ingredient cooked in soups. Combined with fresh vegetables, it is often mixed in different types of salads. Experimentation with freekeh has also led to interesting and delicious breads. Roasted green wheat is certainly gaining recognition in homes around the country and from chefs worldwide.  With the increase in the number of vegetarians, freekeh is popular among those who savor its roasted smoky flavor, suggesting the taste of smoked meats.

To make freekeh, the green wheat stalks are harvested when the wheat is between the milk and soft dough stage. With experience, the farmer knows exactly when to pick the wheat. If the wheat is picked too early, the grains collapse. If it is picked too late, the grains will not have their distinctive green color. The wheat is harvested by mowing the stand down with a sickle bar or a mower. It is then gathered into bunches in a big pile and tied into tight bundles. The wheat is dried for 2 to 4 hours before being roasted in the fields over an open wood or charcoal fire made with dry bunches of a thorny bush called ballan. Ballan is used to smoke the freekeh because it produces a small amount of ash when it burns, dying down after a few minutes. Its use is said to reduce contamination of the wheat. The burning lasts for 10 to 15 minutes, until a characteristic popping sound is made. Here again, the farmer’s experience is essential. Wind velocity and actual site position is taken into consideration to ensure uniform roasting. 

When the wheat is finally roasted, a wire mesh frame is set up, usually made up of an old bedspring. The wheat is thrown in bunches on the bedspring and beaten with a small broom to rid it of impurities, debris, and undesirable black ash. The wheat bunches are gathered from the wire mesh and carefully stored to dry for a couple of days. The heads are collected in large bags and taken to a mill where the grain will be separated from the chaff. In the past, this was done by flailing the wheat with wooden poles. Today, the operation is done through a threshing machine. The threshed grains are later left to dry on clean dry surface in a shaded area for a couple of days or weeks depending on the weather. When the grains are completely dry, they are scrupulously checked for remaining debris; this is where you can differentiate the quality of the freekeh purchased from one producer to another. The grains are kept whole or coarsely ground to be packed into neat storage bags. Before freekeh is used for cooking, it is usually soaked overnight to reduce the amount of cooking time.

Serdeleh Cheese and the Baby Goat

Mothers will understand how I felt about this baby goat. The experience of life with goats: caring for them, milking them, walking them and simply living with them is special. I, for one, am deeply affected by it. I will go and walk with Ezzat Majed this summer to live through this experience. I will never forget this day spent with them. The Serdeleh cheese is really awesome. It is pungent, sharp, creamy, crumbly and salty. It melts in your mouth and leaves an aftertaste of goat that is simply unforgettable.

The MyMouné Sisters

The story of my MyMouné dates back to late 80's, these women are wonderful, inspirational and have gone through a lot to make their brand a success (worldwide). I think the video says it all, thanks Youmna and Leila for this memorable day at Ain el Qabou. It was truly heaven!