EATING IN LEBANON

Eating out in Lebanon is a serious endeavor. Friends and families gather around the table and spend hours sampling a multitude of small dishes called mezze (hummus, baba ganouj, olives, pickled vegetables,cheeses, raw meat...), tabbouleh and fattoush. 

Fresh vegetable platter

Raw platter of kibbeh, kifta, lamb fat, liver and tenderloin

Later on the main course is served. Dessert usually consists of a bounty of fresh fruit. Although a wide variety of sweets are made and sold throughout the country, they are usually not the preferred dessert course but rather a snack with tea or coffee. Dinner usually ends with a delicious cup of Turkish coffee served (at restaurants) by coffee boys wearing the traditional outfit of shirwal (a long skirt that gathers in the middle to form a sort of pant with a deep seat and tapered legs), white shirt with colorful embroidered vest and a tarboosh (Lebanese version of a fez). Christians usually drink either whiskey or the traditional araq (anise flavored liquor diluted with water) with their meals. 

Dessert of fresh fruit, sweets and candied fruit

Restaurant food tends to be rather predictable. Usually a wide variety of rather standard mezze is first served followed by the entrées that usually consist of grilled meats (lamb kabobs) and grilled chicken with garlic sauce. Seafood restaurants substitute the meat for grilled and deep fried fish accompanied by a tahini sauce.

Fried smelt, tabbouleh, labne (fresh yogurt cheese), garlic sauce

Fried red mullet

Another day we head to a restaurant I saw featured on a travel show while at home. The place, called Tawlet al Souq al Taeb, is actually a restaurant space where housewives from different villages throughout the country come to cook their local specialties. The menu changes daily and consists of a large buffet where one is free to eat as much as you want. Araq, lemonade, desserts and coffee is included in the 22000 Lebanese pound cost (around $15). Today we are lucky that the chef is from the region of Ehden, famous for its kibbeh. The menus consists of several salads, delicious raw kibbeh (pounded goat meat, seasoned with a hint of allspice and mixed with grated, onion and fine bulgur wheat) eaten drizzled with olive oil and accompanied by raw onion and mint leaves, sautéed hindbi (a wild mountain spinach) with burned onions, several stews including a delicious artichoke hearts and lamb stew, and a multitude of side dishes. This ranked very high in my culinary experience in Lebanon.

One morning in Tripoli, we decided to go out for breakfast. I chose the foul m'dammas (stew of dried fava beans, 

chickpeas cooked with garlic and lemon juice, drizzled with olive oil). It was served with tomatoes and mint leaves and accompanied by pickled vegetables, green olives and homemade bread. My cousin ordered a bowl of fatte while my aunt got some hummus. The beans were perfectly cooked and seasoned. The  juicy ripe tomatoes and the cool fresh mint leaves provided the right balance to the warm, thick garlicky stew.

Although we visited many excellent restaurants during my two week stay, the best meals were definitely home cooked. 

Home cooked meals are usually much simpler. Salads are usually part of the meal but a plate of fresh vegetables is always present (small local cucumbers, sweet radishes, sweet white onions and the local thin-skin, red and green hued tomato). Main courses are usually stews, stuffed vegetables ( small zucchini, small eggplants, cabbage leaves, grape leaves, chard leaves and even hollowed out potatoes), rice dishes, kibbehs or even hardy soups. Thin bread is always plentiful. Large quantities of fruit is always present as dessert.

One of my favorite meals is rice with chicken. Chicken pieces are steamed in a cinnamon broth and then deboned. Rice is then cooked in rich butter, mixed with spiced ground meat and mixed with the previously steamed and shredded chicken. The whole thing is the put on a plater in a steaming heap and covered with a mixture of pine nuts and almonds fried in more butter. This is usually eaten accompanied by "fatteh", fried strips of flat bread covered  with a layer of tart yogurt and topped with pine nuts cooked in brown butter. Probably a calorie bomb but oh so delicious.

At home we did also eat some mezze before a much simpler main course. Olives, cheeses, pickled vegetables...

Shanklish with zaatar and olive oil, radishes and bread

Grilling kibbehs for lunch

Grilled meats are always a favorite weekend meal: lamb skewers, kiftas ( ground lamb spiced with chopped onions, and mint leaves), chicken. a thick garlic aioli is usually mixed with pomegranate molasses and served with the meat.

On one occasion after we had feasted at a restaurant for lunch, dinner consisted of sautéed chicken livers, hearts and gizzards with pomegranate molasses. Once the meat browns, the molasses is drizzled over the mixture while still on the stove. It caramelizes over the meat and imparts a delicious tart yet fruity note to the dish. 

At a cousin's home we were treated to a plater of baked kiftas (ground lamb mixed with minced onion and mint and shaped either as a patty or as a long kabob) with potatoes and tomatoes. Once again the  mixture was seasoned with salt, some allspice and drizzled with olive oil and the ubiquitous pomegranate molasses before being baked in the oven. Although the dish is usually arranged in layers starting with the meat at the bottom of the pan, the potatoes in the middle and the tomatoes on top, by the time it is cooked, the potatoes and the tomatoes have caramelized in the oven and soaked in the flavor of the lamb and spices.

On a cool night we ate a delicious meal that  consisted of small kibbeh balls stuffed with ground meat and pine nuts ( the kind that is usually fried) cooked in a yogurt soup. The soup was prepared with goat yogurt that is first brought to a boil with the addition of a small handful of rice, a tablespoon of cornstarch and occasionally a whole egg, all meant to keep the yogurt from curdling. Subsequently the kibbeh balls are added to the soup to cook. Garlic and chopped mint is then fried in butter and added to the pot.

We ate many other great stews: fasoolya b zeit (kidney beans stewed with onion and garlic sautéed in olive oil with pomegranate molasses added also to the pot), small white beans stewed with lamb in a rich tomato sauce, tiny okra stewed with lamb and tomatoes. Usually these were accompanied by rice cooked with browned raw vermicelli and butter. 

We also visited several sweet shops. The best one was in Tripoli. Abdul Rahman Hallab and sons (www.hallab.com.lb) has been in existence since 1881 serving a wide variety of fresh, delicious sweets: baklavas (filled with pine nuts, pistachios, walnut), znoud as Sit (filled with creamy achtar), basma, knefeh, mafrouke, maamoul, sanyoura...

I left Lebanon happy with my visit, satiated by two weeks of delicious meals, tasty, ripe fruit and rich sweets. I gained a few pounds that I will have to spend the next month shedding but I made memories that will last a lifetime.

 

Short visit to Cairo, May 22-25, 2012

Cairo. The mystical land of the Pharaohs. We land at night. Looking out the airplane window, the city lights go on for miles. Modern Egypt is home to the largest Arab speaking people in the world. The population has now reached almost 85 million people. Greater Cairo itself is home to almost 25 millions. We get out of the airport, walk into the hot night air and meet our taxi.

The drive to the airport takes about 45 minutes. We are staying at the Mena House Oberoi in Giza (http://www.oberoihotels.com/oberoi_menahouse/index.asp), near the great pyramids in suburban Cairo. I decided to avoid hotels downtown after all the news about insecurity and political troubles I saw on TV. 

After a restful night, we walk out to meet our guide for the start of our visit. The hotel grounds were beautifully manicured. Luckily the weather cooled down and we experienced a pleasant 3 days of 85 degree weather. We wander though the gardens, admiring the blooming royal poincianas, the orange trees and date palms before leaving the hotel.

The hotel is a fantastic old royal hunting lodge that was modified in the late 1800 and turned into a five-star property. The service, the accommodations, the grounds are all first rate. Never did we feel scared or concerned by the "situation". We found out right before leaving home that Egypt was holding its first free presidential elections during our visit. People were warm and friendly and thanked us for coming to visit their country despite the bad press. In retrospect we should have stayed downtown where one can find all the action.

Cairo is a surprising mix of thousands of years of tradition and modernity. People wearing the traditional jellabas, men dressed in smart western suits, women with headscarves next to women dressed as if they were in Miami Beach along yet another group of women completely covered and veiled. The roads are packed with cars zipping past carriages heavy with produce from the nearby Nile banks. 

Donkeys, horses and camels are everywhere, sharing the road with cars, trucks and buses. Freeways with 6 lanes of traffic in each direction are completely paralyzed by traffic 24 hours a day. Unfortunately driving is a high risk sport because of people crossing in front of traffic even on the freeways. Very few traffic lights exist, and most of those are not in operation. Somehow things seem to move and function despite the chaos. Poor sanitation, flies and mosquitos, dust from the desert and the lack of trash collection from most neighborhoods negatively taint the whole experience.

Our visit start in the old city remnants of Memphis. The highlight is the unfinished statue of Ramses II.  

From there we head to Saqqara, the sight of the first pyramid. Several pyramids, mastabas and a very large necropolis pepper the area. The site was already a tourist attraction over 3000 years ago. Hieroglyphic graffiti from earlier tourists are a  testament to the importance of the sight throughout history.  

Mastaba of Ti

Souvenir peddlers and hustlers are everywhere. With the recent troubles in Egypt, tourists are scarce. I promise myself not to let them talk me into anything I don't really need. 

I am approached by a nice man pulling a donkey. He approaches me by asking me if I was Egyptian. When I tell him that I am not, he offers me a head scarf. Even though I tell him that I am not looking to buy anything, he assures me that this is only a gesture of friendship. He then asks me to get on the donkey so he can snap a picture of me in front of the pyramid. After much insistence, I get on the donkey, let him snap a few pictures. There! I was guilted into giving him a tip. I promise myself that I will not fall for the next one.

After a quick lunch, we head to the site of the great pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. This is truly an awe inspiring sight. Three large pyramids and many other small ones reserved for the wives and mothers of the kings on a bluff overlooking modern Cairo in the distance. The genius of the ancient Egyptians is evident everywhere. How could they have built such amazing structures, with so much mathematical precision many thousand years ago? The modern Egyptian is also very clever albeit in a different way. I am approached by a headscarf vendor who offers me a free headscarf. Despite my protests, he doesn't give up until I reluctantly agree. I caution him that I will not buy his scarf, nor give him a "tip". No problem. I am then approached by a guy with a camel. Business is bad he tells me. He thanks me for coming to his country in spite of all the negative publicity in the news. As a gesture of his appreciation, I am offered a free camel ride. Just a few minutes he tells me. When I decline, he feigns being offended. I feel bad for them and ask for a price. I am told it is free and nothing is expected from me. Reluctantly I get on and just as quickly as the camel gets up I acknowledge to myself that I have been conned again. I end up spending the $40 that I had in my wallet. Double the usual cost. I am glad I had hidden the rest of my money in my socks.

Back at the hotel, we quickly freshen up and head to downtown Cairo. The sun is setting and the city is awakening. Tables are put outside everywhere we look. Sidewalks, median dividers and every inch of not so green space is turned into an outdoor cafe. Men sit by themselves, smoking water pipes, drinking coffee, discussing politics and playing backgammon. The women are also outside enjoying the cooler air and doing the same with their friends while young children are running around laughing and playing.

Downtown is also alive although the crowd is more affluent. Cafes along the Nile are full. Small boats brightly lit with colorful Christmas lights take families for sunset cruises. We are headed for a dinner cruise and a show of traditional dancing. Egyptian food is a disappointment. Being of Lebanese descent, I am used to some of the best middle eastern food. This is clearly not a culinary destination.

The show starts with a middle age belly dancer with obscenely augmented breasts that she proudly features in a skimpy red bikini top. 

Fortunately the second act is much more impressive. A Sufi dancer spends more than half an hour spinning in a trance-like state. The crowed is electrified. After a captivating performance, he picks a few volunteers from the crowd to teach his dance. They become completely disoriented after just a few minutes of spinning, confirming the degree of difficulty of his performance. Our first full day in Cairo comes to an end. 

The next day, we head back into town. First stop is the Salah al din (Saladin) citadel. Built to defend the city from the Crusaders, the complex is an 11th century fortress high on a bluff overlooking the old city and the nearby Nile. We wander though the narrow streets and visits the two mosques where we are treated to an abridged version of Muslim history.

The older al Nasir mosque dates from the Mamluk period (1318). When the Ottoman ended the Mamluk dynasty, their leader Mohamed Ali Pasha built and impressive new mosque in the Byzantine style on the site of the Mamluk’s palace (1828). 

Byzantine minarets on left, older Mamluk minaret on right.

Mosque of Mohamed Ali

Courtyard with fountain of ablutions, mosque of Mohamed Ali

From the grounds outside the mosque we admire old Cairo.

Cairo is also a cradle of Christianity. We head to the Coptic center of town where we visit some of the oldest churches in the world, built on sites visited by the holy family during their stay in Egypt, after the massacre of the Innocents. 

We also visit the synagogue of Ben Ezra built and rebuilt reportedly on the site where Moises was rescued from the water. 









































Finally we make a quick stop at the local souq, the Khan al Khalili, for a little shopping.

Most of the afternoon is spent admiring the treasures of pharaonic Egypt at the National Museum of Antiquities. Located in Tahrir square in central Cairo, the museum is the oldest structure built specifically to house a museum. Next door is a recently bombed and burned headquarter of a political party. 

An extensive collection is displayed on 2 floors. Large statues on the ground floor, smaller statues, papyruses,mummies and jewelry are on the upper floor. The treasure rooms are the undisputed highlight of the museum. 3 large rooms are dedicated to the treasures of a few pharaohs the best known one being Toutankhamon, the boy king. Toutankhamun treasures leave us breathless. Seeing the funerary masks including the solid 24 pound gold one, solid gold coffin and large trove of jewelry is a real treat. We wonder freely in the nearly empty museum admiring other more modest but still priceless artifacts dating back many more thousands of years.

On the way to the airport the next day, I reflect on the last 48 hours as we drive along the beautifully manicured avenues of Heliopolis. Egypt is really the cradle of modern civilization. Our civilization has benefited enormously from the ancient Egyptians and the thousands of years they spent inventing much of what we use today in our every day lives. They still try to hold on to many ancient traditions while trying to find a way to embrace the advances of the modern world.

I can hardly wait to come back. There is still an enormous chapter waiting for me to discover: the valley of the kings, Luxor (ancient Thebes), Alexandria and also the desert oases that offer yet another aspect of Egyptian life and history.