A New Blog : Man'oushe - The Lebanese Thyme Pie

Today I created a new blog: http://manoushe-thelebanesethymepie.blogspot.com/
Check it out! It's important to preserve our culinary heritage. This is one way! Do you have a story related to the topic, post it by all means. Let's all contribute to this man'oushe blog. I'm very excited about it.

Defining a Cuisine Trail

I found a very interesting definition of a cuisine trail...I invite you to read it... Cuisine trails are important to sustain culinary traditions; to safeguard proper techniques of production, and finally I think it is of foremost importance to protect one's local culture. Food being an important part of culture!

"A cuisine trail is a collective of thematically related regional food producers such as farmers, bakers, and cooks who work cooperatively to sell and market themselves. In some areas, food producers can apply for an official cuisine trail designation, which entitles them to assistance with marketing from government agencies, and lends an air of officialdom to the proceedings. The goal of a cuisine trail is to increase awareness of regional food producers, improve tourism revenue, and increase income from agricultural operations.
The guidelines for a cuisine trail vary, depending on who is administering the cuisine trail program. As a general rule, the participants have to be regionally close to each other, allowing visitors to reach every producer within a day or two, and they must be related to each other in some way; apple farms and cider makers, for example, or a group of breweries. Often preference is expressed for small, locally based producers, rather than big companies and members of chains.
Once a cluster of producers gets together to create a cuisine trail, they can work together to promote themselves to visitors. For example, participants might pool marketing resources to create maps, brochures, and other promotional materials. Alone, each producer couldn't hope to reach a very large audience, but with combined incomes, the producers generate more marketing clout, ensuring that their materials will be seen and heard by more people.
Producers often work cooperatively to sell goods, as well; for example, they might offer discounts to each other's establishments to visitors, encouraging visits to every stop on the cuisine trail, and they might promote other local food producers to their guests as well. Gift baskets and other packaged products along the cuisine trail often include objects from each producer along the way, allowing people to take home a memento of the cuisine trail for friends and family.
One of the benefits of cuisine trails is that they can work to preserve rare regional culinary traditions. Apple farms, for example, can afford to grow rare heritage apples when they work cooperatively, ensuring that such apples remain profitable. A cuisine trail can also be used to preserve unique food preparation techniques for future generations. Cuisine trials stress the cultural value of small, artisan producers, and they can encourage visitors to look up similar producers at home so that they can learn more about the culinary history of their regions."

Article on Man'oushe in the Daily Star

In yesterday’s newspaper… an article on the 2nd edition of Man'oushe - check it out.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=4&article_id=102922

2nd edition of Man'oushe

The 2nd edition of Man'oushe is finally out in all major bookshops in Lebanon.
If you want to order online go to: www.barbaramassaad.com
The book has won a prize from the International Gourmand Cookbook Award and has been shortlisted in the best of the world category. The ceremony will take place on July 1 in Paris. It is a big honor to attend and represent Lebanon on stage. I shall keep you posted for the results and the description of this magical night. I shall attend the ceremony with my husband and three children thanks to the generosity of Mr. Edouard Cointreau; founder of the Gourmand Cookbook Award. Can't wait!!!

Delicious Watermelon Jam

Have you ever thought of making jam with watermelon? Well it's delicious and very colorful.
In the upcoming book, Moune: Exploring the Lebanese pantry , I will share with you this fantastic recipe which will become one of your favorites. Kids really go for it because of it's sweet taste and bright red color.

Say Cheese

I attended a very interesting seminar in Italy in the Science of Gastronomy University in Pollenzo in Bra last year. The seminar dealt with the cheese tasting. I think it's important to pass on what you learn to everyone who may be interested, so here goes: When you are tasting a cheese for the first time it is very important to focus on the 5 senses: nose, eye, ear, mouth, and hand... ear? yes ear! Sight: Here you will focus on the colors that you see. Look carefully at the shape of the cheese. The size is important when it falls under set rules. Is the size even, convex, plain, what is the height of the cheese. Is the rind of the cheese formed (young cheese) is it eaten (mature cheese)? Cheese connoisseurs say that the rind is the kidney of the cheese. Notice the color of the rind, is it brown or white? Look at the paste of the cheese, is it smooth, does it have "eyes", are the holes regular? Taste: Is the taste good or bad, do you like it or not? does it meet your expectations, how would you describe the taste, what is the intensity of the flavor? Touching: Only use your hands when studying and tasting a new cheese. Notice the reaction that your finger gets when it touches the cheese. Do your hands get sticky, do they become humid? What is the reaction of your tongue and palate when it touches the cheese? Hearing: Does the cheese make a tearing sound. Does it have a chewy sound? To resume: When you taste a cheese for the very first time make it like a wine tasting event. Carefully take the cheese in your hands, break off a part, smell it, breath in the aroma, describe what you smell: fruity, floury, vegetable aroma, acidic, ect... Taste it and see how your mouth reacts to the cheese, describe what you taste. You can compare with other cheeses and slowly but surely you palate will educate itself to the cheese tasting experience. What is your favorite cheese? Mine is Gorgonzola Dolce...Stefano, my cousin Zaza's Italian husband just had some flown in to me from Italy...Yummy! If you are seriously interested in learning about cheese, here is an excellent website that will highlight important cheese facts and notions: www.specialistcheesemakers.co.uk/images/sca-logo.jpg Enjoy!