Lebanese cuisine extends beyond breaking pita and falafel. The savor and smell of halloumi cheese, Ahweh and Sharab Ward is worth discovering if you haven’t yet..Lebanese diet is high on herbs, spices and fresh ingredients (the Lebanese rarely eat leftovers), relying less on heavy sauces. Mint, parsley, oregano, garlic, nutmeg and cinnamon are the most common seasonings.
The Lebanese believe that a mixture of thyme, sumac and sesame seeds (called zaatar), gives strength and clears the mind. For this reason, before leaving home on exam days, all school children eat a slice of bread with a spread of zaatar and olive oil. The traditional recipe of zaatar uses thyme, but savory — which has an aroma similar to a combination of oregano and thyme — works much better.
Pizza for breakfast: Lebanese pizza or manoush is a flat savoury pie that is typically round and often includes cheese, meat and/or vegetables along with fragrant herbs. Unlike many other versions though, this type of pizza has a pita bread style of crust. Lebanese pizza is often served for breakfast. A strong-flavoured, salty cheese called halloumi, along with the crumbled beef sausage sujuk, are popular toppings for breakfast pizzas in Lebanese cuisine. However, the Lebanese also love topping manoush with unusual items like shanklish (aged cow’s or sheep’s milk cheese formed into balls and covered in zaatar), watercress and chillies, spinach with sweet arichi (creamy dessert cheese spread), traditional Labneh serdeli (a creamy, fresh, home-made Lebanese cheese made from strained yogurt and preserved in extra virgin olive oil) with mashed olives base and Zaatar pickles and Hosrom (unripe Lebanese grape sour liquid sauce).
Mr Bean: Foul Mdammas is a popular Lebanese brunch dish of cooked and mashed fava beans served with vegetable oil, cumin and optionally with chopped parsley, onion, garlic, and lemon juice. A staple meal in Egypt and Sudan, it is popular in the cuisines of the Levant, Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia. This dish is very healthy as it is packed with protein and fibre due to the use of fava beans as the main component. Adding lemon juice and garlic makes it more flavourful. Some countries like to incorporate tahini paste into the dish as well. This dish is mainly served for breakfast or brunch.
Sherbets, syrups: Sharab-el-Toot is one of Lebanon’s most traditional drinks; a thirst quencher served to guests on hot summer afternoons. It is an exotic, revitalizing, wholesome drink that is sweet yet tangy and is rich with antioxidants. Also rosewater is used to flavour many desserts and beverages in the Middle East. Sharab Ward is a basic syrup which can be diluted with water as a beverage or poured as a sauce over ice cream. This is light, aromatic and very refreshing, should also tone down the spices of some dishes, creating a Zen balance.
Sweet note: Lebanon’s variety of fresh fruits makes them popular after-dinner desserts. Melon, apples, oranges, tangerines, persimmons, grapes, and figs are great treats. Baklava, a sweet, flaky pastry, is usually associated with Greek cuisine. However, the Lebanese have embraced the dessert and normally prepare it with pistachio nuts, drizzled with rosewater syrup (the Greeks use walnuts and honey). Ahweh (strong, thick Arabic-style coffee) and the country’s national drink, arak (a colourless alcoholic beverage made with anise, also called "Lion’s Milk" because it is white), are most commonly served with desserts. The people also love dibs al-rumman or pomegranate, an iconic Lebanese fruit used in fattoush and many other dishes.
Inputs from Fouad Abdel Malak, owner of Lebanese restaurant.
