Beirut

 

 

So here I am in Lebanon for a stopover rich in flavors and colors! It’s hard to do justice to all the delights of this country, but I invite those who don’t know the magnificent Lebanese cuisine to come and see the pictures of the mezes and the flaky pastries with almonds and pistachios. A small culinary tour while waiting to enrich this report with recipes and other dishes.

 

 

So here I am in Beirut looking for a typical Lebanese pastry shop. After asking the hotel what I was looking for, I went to the corniche to find these little buttery puffs.

It’s probably not THE best pastry shop in Beirut, but in any case it was exactly what I wanted. Under a blazing sun, I finally find the coolness of this store. You can see the name of the pastry shop on the front but I am totally unable to read it (I don’t read Arabic yet!).

I let you discover the store and all the treasures it contains.

 

 

 

These are my favorite, the kadaf rolls with roasted pistachios!

 

 

I obviously bought a kilo of these wonders before leaving. Especially at 14 euros per kilo, I do not deprive myself and I hope to treat my friends!

 

 

 

The puff pastries are with cashew nuts, almonds, pistachio. There is such a variety that my head was spinning! Unfortunately I was not allowed to enter the kitchens. But I’m not giving up hope and I’m going to ask for a Lebanese cooking course in Beirut when I have time!

 

 

Ah! These were filled with a pistachio cream…

 

 

 

 

When I returned, the sun was already declining and it was almost dinner time!!! Well, mostly, it meant “sunset aperitif” BEFORE dinner!

 

 

 

Here is a picture of the dinner. It is a farandole of mezes, a real waltz of small dishes all more appetizing than the others.

Among these are the famous “hummus” (to read my hummus recipe click here) pureed chickpeas with sesame cream and olive oil and the “moutabal”, pureed grilled eggplant with sesame cream and olive oil.

 

 

Vine leaves stuffed with rice…

 

 

The “Kebbés”, lamb meatballs with wheat, stuffed with pine nuts.

 

 

I don’t remember the name of this dish (I’ll check next time!), but this dish contained chickpeas, cilantro, tomatoes, toasted pine nuts, onions, cumin…

 

 

Bread of course… A real hot air balloon. The bread is just baked before being served. It is a real delight, even a torture to resist!

 

 

The famous lianese “tabbouleh”, which is more like a flat parsley salad with tomatoes, herbs and a little bit of semolina, or not at all.

 

 

At the bottom, the “sambousseks”, small turnovers stuffed with lamb meat, and at the top, cigars with cheese and mint.

 

 

And before leaving for Paris, a small tour through Beirut airport, in the duty free where many pastry shops compete…

 

 

And especially (!!) nuts, pistachios, various mixtures sold by the kilo… I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t resist!!!

 

 

 

 

My recipes related to this trip:

 

–The hummus Mtabbal

 

 

 

–Lebanese poultry livers