Ten Reasons to Shop at a Farmers' Market

While visiting San Francisco this summer, I fell upon a pamphlet published by  CUESA -Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture. The pamphlet describes the reasons why one should shop at a farmers' market. I have written a few words in parentheses on how I see it.

In short:

1.Taste real flavors (no more fake food / eat the closest food that comes to the earth / not processed)
2. Enjoy the season (always fresh fruit / vegetable / herbs / dairy products from the actual season)
3. Support family farmers (why not, instead of rich industrial corporation who are rich enough)
4. Protect the environment (how much work is needed, make a small difference)
5. Nourish yourself (with good wholesome food)
6. Discover the spice of life (food is an adventure, delve in it!)
7. Promote humane treatment of animals (how much work is needed here, especially in our region)
8. Know where your food comes from (who planted the seed, worked hard to put food on your table)
9. Learn cooking tips, recipes, and meal ideas (I learned so much from farmers and producers)
10. Connect with your community (People who work with food / land are awesome!)

Shorter: (I quote)

Environmentally Sound
Socially Just
Humane
Economically Viable

Conosci il Tuo Pasto Blog Entry

In Beirut, Barbara’s cooking classes for children

Pubblicato il 12 settembre 2012 da Veronica Pecorella

She is a sincere food-lover, food-writer, food-photographer, she  is a friend of the project  “”Conosci il tuo pasto” and like us  think that children need to know what they are eating, to know the products and the local agricultures because this knowledge will help them to arise a new consciousness of taste. She is Barbara Abdeni Massaad
author of 2 of the most important books related to Lebanese typical food: Man’oushé (the traditional Lebanese pie) and Mouneh (the traditional Lebanese seasonally preserved food). And because she believes like us that children are the future for our food memories, Barbara will have this year cooking classes for children in Beirut Join and follow the project!

Barbara

http://kidsforfood.blogspot.it/

Cooking Courses in Beirut for Children and Adolescents

I am seriously thinking of giving cooking and "food for thought" weekly courses to children and adolescents this fall. If interested please say so... Field trips will be included. I am in the process of finding a suitable place and partner. I will have more details for you in the very near future. Finally, it's the youth of today who will make a difference in our future in order to keep our culinary traditions alive. I hope to inspire them in some way.

Guest chefs, food producers, food activists, farmers, food writers, etc... will sometimes be part of the experience.

Remember all you teenagers and future parents, "The way to anyone's heart is through his / her stomach!" , "The base of a strong family is a daily meal shared around a table."

Always a  feel for local flavors

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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