Food

 Lifestyle, News

Rare Lebanese cheese on verge of disappearing, report says

A traditional Lebanese practice of using clay jars to make one of the world’s rarest and oldest cheeses is slowly disappearing, according to a report by BBC News.

Ambarees, an iconic product of the Bekaa Valley, is made of fermented raw goat milk in earthenware jars. The cheese develops into a creamy texture with an acidic flavor. Lebanese call it “Labnet el Jarra.”

According to BBC, some Baalbeck residents say it’s becoming harder to find the traditional clay pot needed for cheese production. The practice is also not being passed down to newer generations, the report adds.

How It’s Made

Making the delicacy begins with filling the clay jar with milk and covering it with a cloth. The milk is left until the water begins to separate and drain out.

Then, for several months, salt and milk are added to the recipe at least twice per week until it begins to dry. The cheese stays fresh for at least one year using this method.

Lebanese-Cheese-1

Ambarees is made from raw goat milk poured at room temperature into the jar. The key to its production involves its fermentation, and the cheese reaching the perfect acidity.

The delicacy is commonly enjoyed during winter months on hot pieces of Markouk or Saj breads. Ambarees is highly dense and can be preserved for up to one year, making it ideal for winter enjoyment.

Why It’s Disappearing

According to BBC, markets in Beirut say most vendors don’t have time to make the homemade cheese anymore.

“Ambarees is one of the oldest cheeses in the world; it’s maybe 2,000 years old,” says one vendor. “People like it, but making it is quite hard and no one has time anymore.”

Lebanese-Cheese-2

Some Lebanese fear the cheese could soon disappear if newer generations don’t learn the recipe and pass it on.

Families in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley — where it’s called ‘ambaress’ — and in the Shouf area — where it is called serdeleh — are hoping to keep the tradition alive.

WATCH: Lost Cheese of the Lebanese Mountain:

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 News

UN agency cuts food vouchers for Syrian refugees in Lebanon

(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is being forced to implement deeper cuts in food assistance for vulnerable Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan because of a severe lack of funding.

“Just when we thought things couldn’t get worse, we are forced yet again to make yet more cuts,” said Muhannad Hadi, WFP Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and Eastern Europe. “Refugees were already struggling to cope with what little we could provide.”

In July, WFP will halve the value of food vouchers, or “e-cards,” in Lebanon, providing only $13.50 per person per month.

In Jordan, WFP fears that if it does not receive immediate funding by August, it will have to suspend all assistance to Syrian refugees living outside camps, leaving some 440,000 people with no food.

WFP is funded entirely by contributions from governments, companies and private individuals.

But its regional refugee operation is currently 81 percent underfunded and immediately requires $139 million to continue helping desperate refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey and Iraq through September.

Since the beginning of the year, WFP officials said they made concerted efforts to prioritize available funds to ensure continued assistance to families most in need. But limited resources forced WFP to reduce the assistance to 1.6 million Syrian refugees in the five countries.

“We are extremely concerned about the impact these cuts will have on refugees and the countries that host them,” Hadi added. “Families are taking extreme measures to cope such as pulling their children out of school, skipping meals and getting into debt to survive. The long-term effects of this could be devastating.”

In 2014, WFP globally received $5.38 billion in contributions – 27 percent higher than in 2013. This was in response to an unprecedented number of emergencies in places such as Syria, Iraq, South Sudan, and the West African countries affected by Ebola.

WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience.

Each year, WFP assists some 80 million people in around 75 countries.

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 Lifestyle

Lebanese-American chef competing on FOX cooking show

(DEARBORN, MI) — Lebanese-American chef Amanda Saab has made it to the final rounds of Fox’s home-cooking competition “MasterChef.”

Saab, 26, is the first Muslim woman to compete on the Fox program, hosted by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.

Saab moved to Seattle, Wash. in 2012 from Dearborn, Mich., where she grew up baking with her mother and grandmother. Dearborn is home of one of the largest populations of Arab-Americans in the country.

One of the meals she created on “MasterChef,” lamb kafta with sumac and jalapeño-dusted potatoes, represents her Mediterranean style.

“I really love Mediterranean flavors, things that are fresh with lots of garlic and olive oil and lemon,” she told the Seattle Times. “I love that flavor profile.”

Saab started posting photos of her meals to Instagram, which resulted in friends asking for recipes. Last July, she created AmandasPlate.com and started posting recipes.

Now she’s one of the country’s up-and-coming chefs. Muslimgirl.net called her the “first headscarf-wearing chef on American prime-time television.”

The home chef winner ultimately receives a cookbook deal, $250,000 and the title of Master Chef. The competitive cooking reality show is open to amateur and home chefs.

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 Food & Drink, Lifestyle

Lebanese-American food blogger releases first cookbook

(LANSING, MI) — Michigan-based food blogger Maureen Abood is a second-generation Lebanese-American whose passion for authentic Lebanese cuisine led her into a writing career, which has helped popularize the rising trend of Lebanese food.

Abood, who grew up in Lansing, Michigan, recently penned her first cookbook called Rose Water & Orange Blossoms: Fresh & Classic Recipes from my Lebanese Kitchen (Running Press, $30).

The book is based on Abood’s award-winning blog, which is updated frequently with new recipes and family stories of Lebanese cooking.

“I think that I have a great opportunity to form a bridge, to open a door and to say, have a look at this piece of Lebanese culture — of Middle Eastern culture — because this might be not exactly what you expect,” Abood told the Lansing State Journal.

Abood said the cookbook intertwines her love of cooking with the importance of family and ethnic traditions — something that’s highly valued in Lebanese culture, she says.

Rose Water & Orange Blossoms has been described as a “love letter” to Lebanese food and a “rich” and “delicious” family story.

According to Running Press, the cookbook presents more than 100 recipes of popular Lebanese favorites with an American twist, including spiced lamb kafta burgers, avocado tabbouleh in little gems, and pomegranate rose sorbet.

Weaved throughout are the stories of Abood’s Lebanese-American upbringing and the path that led her to culinary school at Tante Marie’s Cooking School in San Francisco, California. Abood said her family is originally from Deir Mimas, a small town in south Lebanon.

“Maureen is a special kind of cookbook author – insightful, mindful of tradition, always appreciative,” said Heidi Swanson, author of Super Natural Every Day. “She uniquely uses charm, experience, warmth, and evocative storytelling to invite us into the seductive realm of her Lebanese table.”

To learn more about Abood’s cookbook, visit MaureenAbood.com.

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 Lifestyle, News

Anthony Bourdain: “I fell in love with Beirut”

(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — World-renowned chef Anthony Bourdain is no stranger to Beirut. In July 2006, while filming an episode of CNN’s No Reservations, the Israel-Lebanon conflict broke out, forcing Bourdain and his TV crew to leave.

But Bourdain vowed he would be back — and promised to give Beirut a second chance.

“From the first day that I ever arrived in Beirut, it smelled like a place I was going to love,” Bourdain said. “(The war) didn’t change my opinion about the place. If anything, it hardened it.”

Bourdain and his crew were evacuated from Lebanon on July 20, 2006 by the United States Marines. When they arrived, the crew had filmed only a few hours of footage for the food and travel show, but it was enough to broadcast an episode.

The Beirut edition of No Reservations aired on August 21, 2006, and was later nominated for an Emmy Award in 2007.

“It’s something of a miracle that (Beirut) works,” said Bourdain. “Sunni, Shii’te, Christians can all live in one city and through some kind of tacit understanding maintain what is one of the most liberal environments in that part of the world.”

The season five finale, which aired on Sunday, June 21, took Bourdain back to Beirut.

During his travels, Bourdain met with freestyle artist “Double A The Preecherman” in the Mar Mikhael neighborhood, had a classic Lebanese meal with activist Joumana Haddad, and visited a Syrian community in southern Beirut with CNN correspondent Nick Paton Walsh.

“Bourdain’s Beirut episode is fantastic. One of my favorite places on Earth and he captures it perfectly,” wrote one Twitter user.

But not all viewers were happy with Bourdain’s portrayal of Beirut. Some Lebanese viewers took to social media, blaming Bourdain for missing the “Lebanese perspective.”

They say Bourdain spent a majority of the show interviewing Syrian and Palestinian refugees, who make up a third of Lebanon’s population.

“So it was basically more about politics than anything else,” wrote Rami Fayoumi on his blog, +961. “I believe he could have simply aired some recent report about the political situation in Lebanon and spared himself a trip here.”

WATCH a sneak peak of the show:

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 Food & Drink, Lifestyle

Lebanese shawarma wins ‘world’s tastiest sandwich’

(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — The infamous Lebanese shawarma was named “world’s tastiest sandwich” by London-based food network FoodieHub after a local Beirut-based restaurant won the top award among 4,000 nominees across 150 cities.

Joseph’s Restaurant in Sin El Fil, which has been operating for 20 years, was nominated by Lebanese food blogger Anthony Rahayel, who runs the popular blog NoGarlicNoOnions.

Rahayel described Joseph’s shawarma as “fulfilling without being heavy.””I loved the quality of the ingredients, the juiciness of the meat, the crunchiness of the vegetables and the tenderness of the bread,” wrote Rahayel on a blog post from November 2014.

“The adequate amount of fat, the spiciness and that’s it. Not over done, and not spilling from all sides, the sandwich is really unique.”

Rahayel said his blog’s mission is to show “the other side of Lebanon,” referring to a more positive image of the country’s cuisine and culture.

“I wanted to let everyone see and learn how our various dishes are prepared, how they vary from one town to another, one city to another and even from one home to another,” Rahayel wrote.

Foodiehub described the shawarma to be: “Thin and fresh bread, two layers of it, wrapped around a generous portion of meat of chicken alongside accompaniments; premium quality, without any sauces or sophistication. Pure beef, premium chicken, juicy, tender with lettuce, pickles and fries for the white meat and parsley and tartar for the brown.”

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 City Beat, Detroit, News

Yalla Eat! Culinary Walking Tour Explores Dearborn’s Warren Avenue in September

arab-american-national-museum(DEARBORN, MI) — Who’s ready for some conspicuous cultural consumption? The Arab American National Museum (AANM) says, “Yalla (Arabic for ‘let’s go’) eat!”

AANM’s Yalla Eat! Culinary Walking Tour is an immersive cultural activity that takes the Museum experience into the community. On Tuesdays and Saturdays from Sept. 13-30, Museum docents will offer guided tours of select markets, bakeries and specialty food retailers along Warren Avenue in East Dearborn, amid the largest concentration of Arabs in the United States.

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Culinary tourists will learn how Arab Americans began to revitalize this shopping district in the early 1980s, turning vacant storefronts into a thriving cultural retail destination. Participants will also explore the diverse current offerings of Arab and Middle Eastern food businesses along Warren Avenue – all founded by immigrants and family run – meet and talk with the owners, enjoy some free samples and do some old-school shopping.

“Before supermarkets like Kroger and Meijer, you would have to visit multiple family-owned stores to secure all of your groceries,” says Dr. Matthew Jaber Stiffler, AANM researcher and culinary guide.

“We could not begin to replicate that experience inside the Museum walls, so we are taking our audiences into the community itself,” Stiffler continues. “It’s a way of embedding the AANM into its hometown while supporting small businesses that represent vital economic activity in Dearborn.”

Yalla Eat! tickets are $20 per person; $15 AANM Members and are available online at www.arabamericanmuseum.org/yallaeat.

The ticket price includes the guided tour, a Yalla Eat! tote bag, food samples, and one free admission to the Arab American National Museum. Tickets are only available online, no walk ups. Minimum six, maximum 12 people per tour date.

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 Lifestyle, New York

Kibbe Nayyeh a New York Times “Must-Eat” dish

kibbeh-nayeh

(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — The New York Times recently revealed a list of “Must-Eat” dishes in several sections of the world. Kibbe Nayyeh in Antelias, Lebanon was selected by Anissa Helou, the author of “Levant.”

Kibbe Nayyeh in Antelias, Lebanon

Kibbe, a subtly spiced mixture of minced lamb and bulgur wheat, can be found around the Levant, cooked in myriad ways. It can also be served raw, as kibbe nayyeh (nayyeh means raw in Arabic), often called the national dish of Lebanon. It’s sometimes referred to as Arab steak tartare, although it is smoother and spicier — the meat is moistened with olive oil instead of egg yolk, and should ideally be pounded in a marble mortar with a heavy wooden pestle until it turns into a silky paste. I can still picture my Lebanese mother and grandmother sitting on low stools on either side of a beautiful large mortar taking turns to pound the lean chunks of lamb with a big wooden pestle.

As you can imagine, this took quite some time and hardly anyone these days makes kibbe nayyeh by hand, least of all restaurants. But some, like Al-Halabi, a timeless restaurant in Antelias, a northern suburb of Beirut, manage to achieve the same smooth texture despite mincing the meat in a grinder. Its kibbe nayyeh is one of the best in town: as silky as the one I remember from my youth, with the same lovely pale pink color, a sure sign it is mixed just before it is served, with a little iced water added to keep the color and loosen the meat. Al-Halabi also uses a minimal amount of bulgur wheat, which allows for a meatier texture. And the seasoning is subtle, with enough spices to enhance the flavor of the lamb but not overwhelm it.

Read the full New York Times article here.

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 Business

Milan expo to showcase Lebanese cuisine

BEIRUT: Lebanese government officials and the Italian Embassy called Tuesday for food industry experts to participate in the 2015 World Expo in Milan, where Lebanon will highlight its local food.

“We have the pleasure to officially launch a common Lebanese-Italian economic event that will provide Lebanon with a historical opportunity to bolster its entry to new European markets,” Economy and Trade Minister Alain Hakim announced Tuesday during a news conference at the Grand Serail.

Hakim said a group of experts from the Economy Ministry were working to assure a positive outcome for Lebanese food and drink products represented at the huge expo.

“The Economy Ministry will dedicate each week of the exhibition to a specific Lebanese food industry including wine and olive oil and its derivatives,” he said.

“Accordingly, we call upon the Syndicate of Food Industries to join its efforts and coordinate with the ministry in order to specify the nature of its participation in the expo and the activities that will be used to showcase its products,” Hakim added.

He said a committee comprising public and private institutions would be formed in order to secure Lebanon’s successful participation in the event and ensure the companies’ full use of the available opportunities and resources.

He also added that Lebanon’s involvement in the expo would include artistic performances aimed at attracting visitors to the Lebanese booth and increasing the visibility of its products.

The minister has praised the Italian government for providing Lebanon with logistics and customs incentives to facilitate its participation in the event.

Expo Milano opens May 1, 2015, and will continue for six months under a theme of sustainable food production. The focus on food is fitting for Italy, a country revered for its pasta, pizza, gelato and Nutella.

Lebanon’s contribution will likewise center on food, and will be presented under the slogan “Cuisine, the Lebanese Art and Soul.”

“Taste is knowledge,” Simon Jabbour, Lebanon’s commissioner-general in the Economy and Trade Ministry told The Daily Star, explaining that cuisine may well be the best window into Lebanon’s culture, a country whose social and culinary heritage are closely connected.

Lebanon will have a 125-square-meter exhibition space in the Bio-Med Cluster, a pavilion at Expo Milano devoted to countries from around the Mediterranean. Nearby stands will host Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, as well as Croatia, Serbia, Albania and Montenegro.

Participation at the expo is free, Jabbour said, adding: “Those who are interested will be invited to cooperate on creating a concept of presence that will serve them as well as the Lebanese image. This is a call to all the syndicates and chambers to take part.”

The space dedicated to Lebanese cuisine will offer an interactive experience, where visitors can learn about and taste typical handmade food and beverages.

Lebanon’s participation in the expo comes at a desperate time, as the country’s food and hospitality industries struggle to draw tourists in the face of concerns over security.

Expo Milano is expected to draw millions of visitors to the northern Italian city over six months, and it is hoped that Lebanon’s presence will offer an essential platform for promoting local culture and tourism.

“The cuisine of this antique land is rich and is part of the history; it is easy to find Oriental and Western influences. Even if Lebanon is not a big country, it succeeded in contributing very much to modern Middle Eastern cuisine,” Jabbour said in a statement.

“We will explain how, in terms of art, literature, history and sociology, the cuisine could be a way to present our traditions and our culture and how they are related to our style of living.”

Lebanese and Italian food traditions both emphasize local, in-season ingredients like olives and olive oil, citrus, tomatoes, eggplant and other fresh produce.

The placement of food and family at the center of social life in both countries makes them natural partners, Giuseppe Morabito, Italy’s ambassador to Lebanon, told The Daily Star.

Marabito had hinted about the culinary and cultural links between Italy and Lebanon during the HORECA food and beverage trade show, which took place in Beirut earlier this month.

“Food is, how can I say, something in common,” he said. “Food is part of the family. It’s a dialogue.”

Source: The Daily Star

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