Organic Bakery in Beirut

I'm always a sucker for trying new breads. Today I ordered through BioBox, the Lebanese organic e-market, a loaf of whole wheat bread from Lebanon's first organic bakery (to my knowledge). I have the loaf in front of me. It comes in a neat bag with a lot of information printed on the package. The bread is certified by IMC to be 100% organic. I open the bag and it smells great. . The loaf is medium - small, but for me...it's looks too perfect. I wanted something more rustic, but that's just me. It smells very sweet, according to the label the bread is sugar free - instead of sugar the bread recipe is produced with agave syrup (how much?). The price of the loaf is 6,500 LL. This is good option for those looking for an organic alternative. I, for one, cannot imagine not baking my weekly bread. It's part of who I am, what I want to be...what I want my children to remember when they leave the nest. I hope to find an organic wheat one day with a reasonable price so I can use it to make my loaves of bread.

Barbara at the Fish Market Helwe w Morra

This report is special because it deals with foreign Chef Brody White, from Canada, coming and working in Lebanon after training in Paris - the result, delicious food and fine cuisine in a fine setting called Burgundy. The segment starts at the fish market at the port of Beirut where Brody and I meet early morning. It's exciting to watch the fishmongers sell their fish and display the wide array available. I appreciated the fact that Brody goes out of his way to learn about local products and recipes and integrates them in his cuisine when possible. His plates are beautifully presented and I was really amazed with the taste and different flavors. Many TV viewers have asked for the recipes mentioned in the segment. Chef Brody will send them to me very soon, therefore I shall post them asap for you to experiment.

Here it is, sent today ....can't wait to try my batch! Thanks Brody...

Pickled Market Vegetables

This recipe was developed in order to have a regular stock of great tasting vegetables year round.  I have been very fortunate to find some passionate people here in Lebanon producing and foraging fruits and vegetables.  Unfortunately, due to strict guidelines when using or abstaining completely from growth aids and pest control in vegetable production, the seasons become very short.  Pickling, as we know is a great way to extend the time frame a little bit, thus we can enjoy certain products in one form or another almost year round.   While staying true to our health strategies, we are adding flavor with a few “NO FAT” ingredients such as vinegar and time.

Pickled Organic Baby Beets

250ml  White wine or champagne vinegar

250ml   Regular white vinegar

500g    White sugar

2L        Filtered water

50g      Pickling spice mix

2kg      Cooked and peeled organic baby beets
(in the report, he mentions salt too - let's say about a tablespoon of sea salt)

2          Clean and sterilized large glass jars and appropriate sized lid

•   Combine vinegars, sugar, salt and water and bring to a boil.

•   Divide beets and spice mix into the two jars and cover with hot vinegar solution.

•   Cover jars with lid and submerge entirely in boiling water for 30 minutes.

•   Cool jars to room temperature then store in a cool dark place for at least one week before serving. 

This recipe can be used for any vegetable and even some unripe fruits by simply adapting to the required cooking times for each variety. 

What is a Polyglot?

Wayne Parry spent a month in Beirut. He is an Australian polyglot, meaning he can speak several languages. I think he told me he can get by with eight - not bad! Wayne is on a global quest to write his book dealing with learning languages, essentially the 12 most important ones. He usually stays for about a week in different parts of the world, but with Lebanon it was different. He settled for a month and became very well accustomed to our Lebanese "way of life". He contacted me through my website. I responded, and the start of a beautiful friendship started. The best way to show Wayne Lebanon, I believe, was to take him on a FOOD tour. He has written some of his experiences on his travel blog. Check it out! As I write this, Wayne is on his way to Turkey, then he is heading to Russia, later to China and Japan. He is certainly a globe-trotter. I look forward to reading his amazing adventures when he publishes his book. I'll let you know when that happens. Here are a few pics I took of him.

Wayne amidst the goats of the Shouf

We have our theory on  goats, the gray ones are so friendly!

Contemplating the Lebanese nature at its best

Visiting a farm in Batloun

Goats are irresistible!

Razzouk and Wayne

Barbara Preparing Hrissé in Arsoun Helwe w Morra

Hisham, Nawal and their two boys really went out of their way to make this day special. I organized the next week, with a group of friends, a picnic with Cuisinette - Arsoun. It was a hit! Everyone was so delighted by their hospitality, their good food, and this sensational scenery. I invite you to join their fan page on facebook.

Maher helping to build the fire

The wheat is added to the stock

LBC crew in action

It's hard work to mix the wheat

The finished product

Nawal prepares a tabbouleh

Picnic in Arsoun

Nawal is very generous

A lovely picnic with a special family

Last but not least, a hot cup of Arabic coffee

Barbara in Zghorta Preparing Kebbeh "Helwe w Morra"

I absolutely love Suzanne, why? because she flows with positive energy all the time. You can't help but squeeze her to death - she's so cute!!! Anyway, I've learned through all this experience that rarely do you find people who cook that are not sympatico! I say rarely because unfortunately a few exist. I won't go into that now. The goat herders and their family I met during this trip really touched me. Barbara, the little girl is very smart but unfortunately her and her siblings cannot go to school because they are not declared legally. They need our help. They are growing up without an education and I think that is a real shame. I will try to do my best to do something to help with the help of my friends Sarkis and Suzanne. I'll let you in on a little secret, "this is the best kebbeh nayeh in the world!" I'm sure you can tell how much I enjoyed it. I really love my job!

Here are the ingredients for Suzanne's kebbeh recipes:

Ingredients for the Kebbeh bi Sanniyeh:

for a 60 cm cooking tray

1 1/2 kg of meat (cow) - ask the butcher for "habra" ground twice! If you ground the meat at home, add 1/4 cup of ice cubes when turning the food processor.
4 1/2 cups of burgul (1 kg)
1 tsp of salt

for the filling:
1 large ground onion
1 1/2 tsp of 7-Spice mixture
2 tsp of salt

Ingredients for the Kebbeh Nayeh:

1 kg goat meat
1 cup of burghul
1 1/2 white pepper
1 ground onion

The best way to learn is to help out

Kebbeh bil saniyeh before it's cooked

The Doueihey family with my daughter Maria

Can you taste it??????

Shooting for the show

Love this romantic setting

Happiness

Thanks Michele! 

Local Lebanese Spices

This is the chef's spice box at Abdel Wahab, the restaurant where I got a training in Lebanon.

Lebanese spices are important to flavor our local dishes, but do you know exactly what they are? I went to visit a local spice merchant last week and discussed the local varieties with him.

In a nutshell here is a simple list:

1. white pepper
2. ginger
3. falafel mix
4. anis
5. 7-spices

6. red pepper powder (Indian)
7. red pepper powder (Aleppo)
8. black pepper
9. cloves
10. kebbeh mix
11. nutmeg
12. allspice (called sweet pepper in Arabic)
13. cinammon sticks
14. cumin
15. shawarma mix (chicken / meat)
16. caraway
17. sumac
18. zaatar
19. camounieh (Southern cumin mix)

Of course we use bay leaves, basil, and many other aromatic herbs too ... Now you must be wondering which spice for which recipe. This entails Lebanese cuisine 101, soon!

Bread Movement

With graceful motion of the hands, paper-thin bread is made in Lebanon

Bread and anything that has to do with the subject is very important to me. I am making bread on a weekly basis for my family, not only because I think it tastes better but because the essential food of my children needs to be baked by their mother, I believe ... Their is a certain engergy that transcends into the dough making it nourishing both to the body and to the soul.

During the last Terra Madre, I met founder of the Bread Movement Nadezhda Savova. Bread Movement was founded in Bulgaria in 2009. It is associated with the Slow Food International Movement and Terra Madre Network.I highly suggest you visit the link provided above and read all about it. The great thing about all this is that Nadezhda will be visiting Lebanon in June. Bread and bread-making in Lebanon is indeed quintessential, we will have to celebrate its existence, somehow...Does anyone have any ideas to propose to Nadezhda? Ideas are welcomed. Let's open a Bread House in Lebanon.

I quote from the website:
"The movement inspires people from around the world to join and make the first step toward sustainable, responsible lifestyle: making one’s own bread, and making it collectively as a leisure entertainment! "

"Workshops with different religious groups and immigrant communities, as in Cape Town with Muslims, Catholics, Protestants, African animists, and atheists, showed the unifying and peace-building power, not in inter-religious “dialogue” but inter-religious “making” the most basic and universal human sustenance for life! Bread as a symbol and as a tactile experience also embraces spiritual and religious values, and communities within the BREAD Movement are encouraged to think how to inter-weave the community ecology with local spiritual practices, so sustainability would have strong roots in people’s hearts and minds as much as in their local soil."

The site goes on to say, Why BREAD?

I quote ...

• Bread is universally present and loved around the world (even rice and corn-based cultures have rice and corn breads), consumed by people without division of economic status, age, gender, ethnicity, religion, education,etc: therefore, bread is a universal experience and a universal language to unite and educate
• Can be made by anyone, from child to grandparent, and is at the same time the most entertaining cooking activity
• When people share food, they are very much likely to establish peace and cooperation
• Creating, not passively consuming, bread and art inspires the confidence that there are creative solutions to any problem, and that problems are not as grave as imagined
• Tactile and taste experiences (bread-making stimulates all five senses!) develop particular parts of the brain, as studied by psychologists, which makes one perceive the world differently and ask deeper, critical questions: “Where does food come from and why? How do I treat my body, and what other food – intellectual and spiritual – do I need for a meaningful life?”

 Their motto is " grain by grain, one bread at a time"

Because I have been photographing this subject for years in Lebanon, here is a glimpse as to what bread means to us as Lebanese, it's the common denominator in our diversified country ... 

photo Raymond Yazbeck

photo Raymond Yazbeck