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My Perfect Lebanese Day

Merijn Tol is a passionate food writer. She writes about the Arab cuisine from the Middle East, through North Africa and the south of Europe. Merijn is dreaming of and working on the establishment of a small place to sleep and eat in the mountain area of Batroun, a place to celebrate those food traditions.Today, she takes you on a flavourful journey across Lebanon.. with some of her favourite places and bites (it’s hard to choose!). 
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I love mornings in Lebanon and especially in Beirut, when the streets are filled with the herby scent of freshly baked bread with za’atar. The classic is still my utmost favourite, especially as ‘mashrougha’ , thinner than the usual man’ouche. But when I really crave a special one, I head to Badaro main street, to maybe the tiniest place you can find….a hole in the wall with a perfect name: le bon point (that’s what it is: a ‘point’!). The guy serves his man’ouche to my perfection: especially the man’ouche mashrougha with the wonderful creamy hearty kishek his aunt makes, served with some garlic and tomato and extra handful of nutty sesame seeds. Even if you’re not particularly a kishek fan, try this one anyway!

 

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After I have my morning fill, and if it’s a hot summer day, I can eat ice cream at any particular moment. Certainly if I pass by Hanna Mitri, the little ice cream parlour on a corner in Achrafieh, where Hanna makes his famous natural ice creams since forever. I might consider a milk sahlep ice cream combined with 100% amareddine (apricots with pine nuts) ice cream; the milky meska taste with fresh sweet aromatic apricot. I can never get enough of his home grown authentic fresh flavours and the friendly smiles that come along.Picture

Phote by Sven Benjamins

Once in Tripoli at Halab, it is hard to decide. Even when I stick to the things with the delight of ashta, the creamy Lebanese dairy-like-creamy ricotta, there is so much to choose from! I think of ossmaliyeh, the crispy golden kataify string dough, stuffed with ashta and drizzled over with rose syrup, or the katayef asthta, the little ashta-stuffed pancakes. I feel like I am in the golden era of Arabic cuisine with those divine tastes and structures in my mouth. Once I went up the Hallab factory (located above the pastry parlour and shop) and got an explanatory tour. I was in a surreal wonderland, with all men dressed in white, with the white flour covering everything, even their black eyelashes, while they were frantically working on the myriad of sweets that tempted you downstairs.

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Lebanese rustic mezze at home

For a new mezze experience with yummy twists on the creative side, I discovered a hidden place called Fouad a few years ago (+961(0)3 216 639). In wintertime they are located near Jeita and in summer near Faraya. Personally, I prefer the one near Jeita, as I love the mysterious feeling of going up the mountains, passing a gate and enjoying the off road experience, while having to call them for directions. And there it is. At the end of a little road, in an afforested surrounding, you have arrived at Fouad. Here, waiters are dressed like “Out of Africa” (for no apparent reason), and the food is divine and delicious. 

For proper family cooked country style mezze, I discovered a small place next to the river in Tannourine el-Tahta. While heading to the village, it is the first house with terrace on your right. Although is not an actual restaurant, here the people can cook for you and everything you eat is home made. Wonderful! Their own fresh cheese, superb tomatoes, homemade honey and delicious mezze all have their own rustic touch. Forget the luxurious Beiruti restaurants, here we talk real food.


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Walking in the direction of Mar Mikhael, it is time for a lunch at Tawlet, the famous restaurant of organic market Kamal Mouzawak’s Souk el Tayeb. Known and loved by many, each day this ‘one of its kind’ restaurant shows you a new face of Lebanon, serving real home cuisine by ladies treating you on their own regional recipes. I indulge and enjoy it over and over again as the rich buffet is as generous as Arab hospitality can get: my eyes are always bigger than my stomach and my tongue always wants to taste more.

On another morning I could be found heading up north to Hallab in Tripoli (these days you don’t have to go all the way to Tripoli although for me I still prefer ‘my’ Hallab) to have a total immersion of sweet tastes. As a warm-up, I would stop at Abu Arab along the highway for a delicious ka’ak. With la vache qui rit, rather childish but so yummy I could eat the whole thing all at once. If I feel like something even more savoury and we have the whole day, we might make a little detour in Batroun: not the village, but just before the large checkpoint, where we turn right and follow the road up in the direction of Atibaya winery until you see a small man’ouche place on your left. To find it, the key thing is to recognize the small terrace and white rumman (pomegranate) stickers on the glass. The best lahm bi ajeen I ever had in my life. I don’t even understand how something so simple can be so scrumptiously delicious. Do you want to read more about Merijn’s passion for food or are you interested to learn how to cook the mouth-watering dishes yourself? See her and Nadia’s - her culinary partner - book Under the Shade of Olive Trees (for sale at all bookshops), or check their website www.nadiaenmerijn.nl (sorry but only in Dutch). You can also follow them on Facebook: Arabia Cafe and Nadia en Merijns SOUQ or on Instagram (Nadiaandmerijn_merijn).

Being in Tripoli, and if it is a quiet day, I love to go into the souks, just for one simple super dish that’s commonly eaten there: moghrabieh with onions, chickpeas, a bit of chicken, 7-spices and a pinch of cinnamon. It is one of those superb dishes that make the Lebanese kitchen so renowned and that tastes best while eaten on the spot.

In Lebanon, anything is possible. Just when you think you cannot eat anymore in your life, you find yourself in front of something so delicious that it is just impossible to resist even the smallest bite. Also in words, things cannot be digested in one day, and there is always a reason to come back and discover more flavours this small culinary country has to offer. It is the refinement of each (personal) preparation and adaptation, which truly makes this kitchen stand out and being loved by so many.

Other favourites: a true fatteh breakfast at a very little place in Gemmayzeh: close to the fork of Rue Gouraud with Rue Pasteur, it is the little shop next to a small supermarket, on your left when heading in the direction of downtown. It is so tiny that it took me a while to find it, but its fatteh is so delicious and fulfilling your whole day. The place is open from early mornings till 3 in the afternoon.