Monthly Archives: June 2010

Olive oil and Anise rings

One of the major challenges of blogging out of Lebanon is technical: Even though “high-speed” internet is available even in remote villages, the electricity gets cut off several times during the day; I have often been in the middle of pushing “publish” to hear the distinct “machine is dying” sound signaling a temporary loss of [...]
58 Comments

Chicken balls with spaghetti al-pesto

I am in the attic of this grocery store in the village of Deir el-Qamar and using their wireless internet; I mention out loud that I am thinking of spending a week in Greece later this summer; a boy of about 10 (at the most) turns around and tells me (in English)  ”  go to [...]
52 Comments

Holy bread

It may seem strange to some of you not familiar with the Near East to be eating holy bread as a snack, but here  it is sold in grocery stores as well as used in religious service; I am starving, having spent all day driving around; I walked into the grocery store in town, which [...]
33 Comments

Grape Molasses drink (Sharab debess el-enab)

Whenever I see my brother Jean, it is as the French say en coup de vent (like a gust of wind); he landed from Singapore and hopped on a plane bound to Cyprus; we managed to share a meal, during which he told us about a book  written by a physician who was exposing the [...]
36 Comments

Apricot jam

Homemade apricot jam is traditional and in the past every household used to make it. Lebanese society  has become Westernized and families now have two-wage earners busy with outside work; as a result, many people rely on an industrious grandmother, mother or aunt to perpetuate the tradition. The best (and only) apricots to use for [...]
57 Comments