Annia's book - Day of Honey

Annia's book!

Annia Ciezadlo, a good friend of mine, is launching her book soon (to be exact, February 1 in the USA)... I will keep you posted on developments on when it reaches Lebanese soil. I have copied the link to her website to share with you this exciting news. I am also very proud to add that the photograph of the cover of the book was taken by me. We are two friends with minds who really think alike... I hope you get the chance to read this poignant memoir. Good luck to you my dear!

Annia writes:

"Day of Honey, my memoir about life (and food) during wartime, goes on sale February 1. "
 

Read the article: Day of Honey: The Unifying Sweetness of Food.

Biodiversity in Words, Pictures and Music

 

I kept a written text from Slow Food on my bulletin board for many years pertaining to the subject:

Today, thirty plants feed 95% of the world's population.

In the past century, two hundred and fifty hundred thousand plant varieties have gone extinct, and one plant variety disappears every six hours.

Since the beginning of the twentieth century, Europe has lost more than 75% of its agricultural biodiversity, whereas the US have lost 93% of their crop species diversity.

One third of native cow, sheep, and pig breeds has gone extinct or is on the road to extinction.

Three quarters of the world's fishery reserves are at risk of extension.

In winter, lettuce travels from California to London and carrots are flown from South Afric to Sweden. In the US, a product on a supermarket shelf has traveled on average 1288 kilometers.

These figures show what is wrong with the hyper-productive agricultural model that is common today. This approach has not succeeded in ridding the world of hunger, actually, it is responsible for widespread pollution, and it has made the variety of food available around the world sadly limited. This model has also facilitated the destruction of the cultural and gastronomic identity of entire populations, and has dramatically reduced the diversity of available food.

This is why Slow Food is fighting for a new model of sustainable agriculture: one that focuses on quality products. This is why Slow Food defines itself as a movement of "eco-gastronomes", individuals that believe in that the ecological defense of our planet and the defense of traditional agriculture are links and that to enjoy the pleasure of fine food one must be cognizant of the environmental impact of its production.

These are very serious words not to be taken lightly....

Biodiversity exists in Lebanon too. We have a duty to safeguard every aspect of it. Here are but a few, in photos of course...

The plains of the Bekaa Valley

Street merchants from Tripoli

Traditional bread-making

The cedars of Lebanon

Harvest of olives

Grapes for wine in Bhamdoun

Fishermen teaching the young

A woman from the south of Lebanon

Farming the old-fashion way

Traditional lifestyle

Youth, our only hope

Apricot season

Barbara Abdini Massaad - Part2

Barbara Abdini Massaad - Part1

This is an interview conducted with Karen Boustany on MTV, we had a great time. I came home soaking wet because of the storm...
Forgive my Arabic, I shall work on it.

A Different Kind of Story

I was asked by a Brazilian journalist, Olivia Fraga from  S. Paulo to participate in "a different kind of story. It's like a secret Santa, but the person can choose his/her friend, telling us why, and what the gift she/he would like to give.

Anayde Lima, a chef here in Sao Paulo who belongs to Slow Food Movement, has chosen Alice Waters. She really admires her work. And now, Alice Waters has chosen you, which made us very happy. So now it's your turn. It's very simple, indeed: you just tell me somebody (could be a chef you admire, related or not with Slow Food), what dish you would like to give, and why. I chose Paula Wolfert." We will need to have a photo of yours 'offering' the dish.

photo taken by Raymond Yazbeck

Lebanese Peasant Salad (Fattoush)

Fattoush is a peasant salad made with the produce of the harvest of a peasant’s land. The main ingredients always include a mixture of different fresh vegetables and herbs, flavored with sumac to give a tangy note with the addition of a simple dressing made of lemon juice and olive oil, often seasoned with crushed garlic. This salad makes use of stale bread which would alternatively be wasted.

Ingredients:

1 head of lettuce

1 onion finely chopped

4 sprigs of green onion finely chopped

1 lbs (1/2 kilo) chopped cucumbers

2 lbs (1 kilo) chopped ripe tomatoes

A few pieces of chopped radish (optional)

1 chopped green pepper (optional)

1 bunch of fresh mint leaves roughly chopped

1 bunch of fresh flat leave parsley roughly chopped

1 bunch of fresh purslane (optional)

For the sauce:

1-2 cloves of garlic finely crushed

1/2 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 cup of olive oil

1 tablespoon of sumac

Salt to taste

For the bread:

Arabic bread also called Pita Bread (about two pieces)

Oil to fry (optional)

To fry the bread, break into small bite-size pieces. Deep-fry and leave to drain on a kitchen paper. You may simply toast the bread in the oven for a lighter taste. In a large mixing bowl, add all the ingredients together. Sprinkle with sumac. Cover with the bread. To prepare the salad dressing start by crushing the garlic in a mortar, add the lemon juice and the olive oil. Add salt to taste. Pour the dressing on the salad and mix thoroughly using your hands (this is the special twist that will make all the difference).

Sahteyn!

Good News!

Mouneh has won in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2010. The book will qualify for the "Gourmand Best in the World"competition in the category BEST MEDITERRANEAN CUISINE BOOK. In other words, the winner in each country will compete against winners in the same category in other countries for the Best in the World. The results will be announced on March 3, 2010 at the annual Awards event. It will take place in Paris at Le 104, the new Artistic Center of the City of Paris, on the first day of the Paris Cookbook Fair at the same location.

If I finish all my printing debts, I'm taking the first plane out with my husband to GAY PARIS!!! A second honeymoon filled with tons of cookbooks, who could ask for better? In'shallah, as they say!

I received a press release from Gourmand announcing winners from all over the world:

This year 154 countries participated in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, entering books in 53 categories. The competition is free and open to all. No other sector of book publishing has the benefits of such an international platform. All countries, authors and publishers, big and small, have the same equal opportunity.

The major trend this year is the rise in quality in Asia and Latin America, the « New World » of cookbooks, while the crisis is limiting the investments of many publishers in the West. The sector is in good health, with the number of cookbook titles increasing from 5 to 10% in the West, such as 9% in France in the first nine months of 2010 in spite of the crisis. In Asia or Latin America the increase is 10 to 20%. For wine books titles, it is even higher.

Here is a selected list of the best cookbook of the year for 57 countries, according to the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.

Argentina : Siete Fuegos, Mallmann, Kaminky (V-R Editoras)

Australia : Bentley (Murdoch Books)

Austria : Sacher (Styria)

Bangladesh : Sasto Sochaton Ranna, Keka Ferdousi (Anannya)

Belgium : Dix Petits Doights Pleains de Chocolat, Pierre Marcolini (Racine)

Bhutan : Foods of the Kingdom of Bhutan (Bhutan Foundation)

Canada : Glutton for Pleasure, Bob Blumer (Whitecap)

Chile : Gastronomía del Mar (Gourmet Patagonia)

China : Official Health Food, Master Chef Du Guang Bei

Colombia : Secretos de la Parrilla, Bernardo Gómez Cortazar (Gama)

Costa Rica : Saberes y Sabores de Boruca,  Leila Garro Valverde (Gama Print)

Czech Republic : Czech Home Cook, Jitka Rakoskikova (Mlada Fronta)

Denmark : Paul Food, Paul Cunningham (Politiker)

Ecuador : Cocina de Autor, Santiago Chamorro (Sesos Creación Visual-Unimarket)

Finland : Olo (Teos)

France : 1 Canard, 2 Daguin (Sud Ouest)

Ghana : Ghanaian Cook Book, Sophia Manu ((Adaex Educational Publication – Accra)

Germany: JW4 (Wissler Group)

Greece: Every Day, Argiro Barbarigou  (Liberis)

Hong Kong : Grandma, Grandpa Cook (MCCM Creations)

Hungary : Segal Viktor – Colours and Taste (Book Publishing)

Iceland: Silver of the Sea, Volundar Snaer Volundarsson (Salka)

India : Byriani-Pratibha Karan (Random House India)

Ireland: Catherine’s Italian Kitchen, Catherine Fulvio (Gill McMillan)

Italy : Food Designing, Marti Guixe (Corraini)

Japan : 12 Roads and Stories of the Foods, Chieko Mukasa (Heibonya)

Latvia : Est Ir Tava Daba (Zvaigzne)

Laos : Food from Northern Laos - The Boat Landing Cookbook (Galangal Press)

Luxembourg : Henri Schumacher  Pâtissier (Guy Binsfeld)

Lebanon : Mouneh (Barbara Abdeni Massaad)

Malaysia : Kulit Manis, A Taste of Terengganu’s Heritage. Puan Rosita Bt Abdullah (My Viscom)

Malta : Pippa’s Festa , Pippa Mattei (Miranda)

Mexico : Los Top Chefs de Mexico (Larousse)

Morocco : Le Figuier de Barbarie (Alwifak)

Netherlands : Toscanini Venticinqe (Toscanini)

New Zealand : Me’a Kai, Come Eat, Robert Oliver, Dr.Tracy Berno, Shiri Ram (Random House NZ)

Norway : Ekte Mat, Andreas Viestad (Cappelen Damm)

Peru : History, Anecdotes, and Some Recipes from Peruvian Cuisine, Berit Knudsen (Iandu)

Philippines : An Invitation to Malacañan (Art Post Asia)

Poland: Nature of Polish Cuisine – Woicieh Modest Amaro

Portugal : 2780 Taberna (Bertrand)

Russia : Larousse Gastronomique (Chernov)

Singapore : Above and Beyond, Singapore Airlines (Marshall Cavendish)

Slovenia : Ljubezen Skoz Zwloswx (Vale Novak-Gorenjski Tisk)

South Africa : Koekemakranka Khoi-Khoin Kultuurgoed en Kom-Kuier-Kos Renata Coetzee (Lapa)

Spain : Las Cocinas del Camino de Santiago (Al Gusto)

Sweden : Syrat –Sour (Informationsförlaget)

Switzerland : Fusion Pur (Betty Bossi)

Trinidad Tobago : Ah´Len – Welcome (Syrian Lebanese Woman Association)

Turkey : Tadi Damagimda Kaldi, Mehmet Soykan (Food in Le Gastronomy)

UAE : Arabian Dreams, Aaron Maree (Motivate)

Uruguay : Gastronomía de las Costas de Rocha, Juan Antonio Varese

(Cruz del Sur)

UK : Noma, Rene Redzepi (Phaidon)

USA : The Essential New York Times Cookbook, Amanda Hesser (WWW Norton)

Venezuela : Las Recetas Olvidadas, Gamal El Fakih Rodríguez (Speedread)

Recits et Recettes

I went to the book signing of Walid Mouzannar yesterday to buy his book.  I simply loved it! He describes life in Beirut in the 1940s and 1950s with all the local habits of the time including the lifestyle in his hometown Gemayzeh. He describes the ancient souks of Beirut. I particularly love this book because of all the culinary connotations with details of how the Mouzannar family ate during the whole year (including all religious feasts). It's a must-read for all nostalgic Beirutis and those interested in our culinary heritage + much more. Thanks Walid! 

The book is illustrated beautifully by Mouna Bassili Sehnaoui. She signed my copy with a drawing of a carrot.

The book is available only in French, published by L'Orient le Jour - here is what is written on the back of the book.

L’auteur est issu d’une famille ayant habité Gemmayzé depuis plusieurs décennies, il est né et
a grandi dans ce quartier. Licencié en droit, il a choisi de suivre la lignée familiale dans la
joaillerie depuis des générations ; de ce fait, il a bien connu les anciens souks de Beyrouth et
le souk des Bijoutiers en particulier.
Gastronome émérite, il est secrétaire général de l’Académie libanaise de la gastronomie. Elu
«1er Cuistot du Liban» en 2001, il a gagné plusieurs prix dans les concours de cuisine à
l’étranger.

Dans les «récits» de la première partie du livre, l’auteur décrit la façon de vivre beyrouthine
des années 40 à 50, les habitudes de tous les jours, la vie à Gemmayzé et dans les souks de
Beyrouth. Il parcourt l’année en décrivant les traditions ainsi que les habitudes culinaires
propres à chaque fête, dont les «recettes» constituent la seconde moitié du livre.

Le livre sera vendu au bénéfice de l’Association du centre Mar Semaan

et en soutien aux oeuvres de l’Association Libanaise des Chevaliers de Malte.