Last Sunday was the grand opening of Tawlet Ammiq, Kamal Mouzawak‘s latest venture. 

The restaurant is located in the Bekaa Valley, nudged between the village of Ammiq and a mountain range with a bird’s eye view of the valley beyond. The restaurant and village of Ammiq sit on a natural reserve (UN protected site).  It was designed with  solar chimneys, Canadian wells, and an infrastructure aimed at minimizing the use of electricity  as well as saving water and recycling most of the waste; all of the furnishings are made of recycled wood and lamp fixtures are made of recycled wine bottles.  The restaurant proposes in addition to a fine organic local cuisine, various activities such as hiking in the reserve as well as children’s activities (nature-related).

Most commendable, however, is Kamal’s vision which always seeks to involve and support others; in this case, the folks in the village of Ammiq as well as those living in the West Bekaa Valley would be the ones directly involved in manning the kitchen, producing the food served in the restaurant nearby, and supplying the wine grown in the valley from one of the many major wineries. After all, the Bekaa Valley is a fertile land that supplied ancient Rome with grains in its heyday, wines in Biblical times  and Lebanon’s most pressing agricultural needs in modern history. This venture will help revitalize the village of Ammiq and economically support many of its residents; it will also focus on the cuisine of that particular region.

 In Kamal’s world, everyone   from the janitor to the chef is crucial and important and is valued equally.  Kamal’s boundless  energy, generosity and sensitivity seems to be  contagious and everyone on staff was friendly and helpful and the guests were relaxed and happy to be there. 

 Hand-painted bird mobiles hang from the ceiling with names of local birds. The cuisine reflects what the Bekaa Valley produces seasonally and that day the offerings were picked fresh from the surrounding gardens and included broad bean salad, fattoush, various kibbeh, spinach and bulgur, shanklish salad, among others, as well as a vast array of desserts.

On grand opening day, we spotted many dignitaries, politicians and their wives, designers and local celebrities as well as Ammiq’s mayor (who was smiling from ear to ear) but the restaurant ambiance was  down-to-earth and  low-key; everyone was busy savoring  that wonderful cuisine du terroir.

Famed fashion designer Rabih Kayrouz graciously smiling for the shot.

Kamal managed to exchanged niceties with everyone there.

In the foreground, candied Seville orange peels, ‘arreesh cheese served with honey (similar to ricotta), milk cookies and cookies made with grape molasses, as well as a wonderful knefe with cheese, the lightest I have ever had.

To reach Tawlet Ammiq by phone: (03) oo4481

Website: www.tawletammiq.com

The fava beans have been ubiquitous lately; every street vendor, every greengrocer, is carrying mounds of freshly picked fava beans. Some are large (stalks are about 7 inches long) and get plucked open, seeds eaten and pods discarded; others are tiny (about 3 to 4 inches long) and get cooked whole pods and seeds, just like green beans, with a simple dressing of cilantro and garlic pesto. 

You can also do the Lebanese thing: Eat them raw, as a snack, with a beer or a glass of arak.

This rice is delicious and filling and simple to prepare. 

INGREDIENTS: 4 servings

• 1 pound of fava beans
• 1 1/4 cup of rice (any type, here Italian or Egyptian rice is used, any starchy rice like sushi will do)
• 1 large onion
• olive oil, as needed
• salt to taste and 1 tsp of cumin
• 1 cube of bouillon either veggie or chicken (optional)
• 1 pound of plain yogurt, to serve with (optional)

1. Chuck the fava beans pods and remove the seeds; set aside. Chop the onion fine and heat a few tablespoons of oil in the pot. When hot, add the onion and fry till translucent and golden; add the rice and fry for a couple of minutes till the grains are coated in oil. Add the fava beans and  3 cups of water (follow the directions on the package depending on the rice you use). Throw the bouillon cube if using in the water, cumin, and cover the pot. Let it simmer for 20 minutes or until the rice is cooked. Toss and serve warm or at room temperature, with a side of yogurt if desired.

NOTE: Some people find the skins to be hard to digest; the skins can be removed prior to cooking or after. 

These loquats show up in the early summer in Lebanon and have a short season; they can be very sweet and absolutely delightful to eat, a cross between a pear and a peach. I had spotted them in the streets of LA (California) years back,  but the trees were  totally ignored and the fruits would end up on the ground or eaten by birds. 

These were a gift from a neighbor, Amir, whose garden is blessed with two loquat trees, called akedenia here. He very generously had a few kilos sent to my place when I asked him if I could photograph his akedenia tree. 

If loquats are picked early, they can be rather tangy and not too sweet; one option is to make a compote by peeling them, cutting them in chunks and simmering them for 15 minutes in a sugar syrup. They develop a taste similar to apricots or amardeen (apricot paste).

A dish that is listed in Armenian cuisine and that I had sampled a couple of times and liked very much. I saw some tiny cherries at the greengrocer and figured “now or never!”. In the book, sour cherries are  used and made into a compote. Since getting wild sour cherries that grow in Armenia and Cilicia may be a challenge, I would suggest using any type of cherry  and adjusting the sugar accordingly. 

The meat fingers are a combination of ground beef and lamb (to make it juicier) but you can use all beef if you prefer, just get one that has a bit of fat. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound of ground beef (or a combo of 1/2 ground lamb, 1/2 ground beef), at 85%
• Spices: salt, 1 1/2 tsp of red pepper powder (or chili powder), 1/2 tsp of allspice and seven-spice
• oil, as needed
• Sauce: 2 cups of wild cherry compote with 1/2 cup of water, a pinch of cinnamon and a pinch of cumin
• 1 lemon

1. Sprinkle the spices on the meat and shape into fingers. Either grill the meat or (as I did), pan-fry in a little oil. 
2. Add the cherry compote to the meat, mix gently and serve with flatbread or pita.

 Proof that simple is best. Eggs are poached in a tomato sauce made with lots of onions, ripe tomatoes and some garlic; scooped up with pita bread. A mouthwatering luncheon or brunch item from the Lebanese rural cuisine.

INGREDIENTS:

•  8 eggs, size small (depending on the size of the tomatoes)
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic (or to taste) with salt
• olive oil, as needed
• 2 pounds of tomatoes or 1 can of great tomatoes 

1. Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a skillet and fry the onions till golden. Add the tomatoes, cut up in dice, the tomato juice and simmer for 20 minutes or so; add the garlic, chopped and pounded into a paste in a mortar with some salt. Simmer a few more minutes then poach each egg in the sauce or in the actual tomato. If using the tomatoes, use the tomato flesh as well for the sauce and drop the eggs in the tomatoes. In that case, it is best to pick small eggs as the large ones will spread all over the sauce.
2. Bake in a preheated 375F oven for 10 to 17 minutes until the eggs are set. Serve with pita bread.

Just like any other natural product, there is honey and then there is honey. This one aptly called Cedar honey comes from bees pollinating in one of the Cedar tree Reserves in Lebanon from two thousand-year old trees and more than 550 types of plants and herbs.

This honey can even be consumed by diabetics. According to the forest ranger three tablespoons of this honey will, after a ten day regimen,  lower bad cholesterol, improve memory, stamina and strengthen immunity. It is one of the purest honeys you will ever taste.

Photos were taken in the Shouf Reserve where cedar honey is produced. 

This coffee-table book was on display at the local bookstore and it sparked my interest immediately, especially after I realized that the author was also co-owner of one of the finest Armenian restaurants in Beirut, Mayrig.

What I liked about the book:

• It is a cookbook with a soul; several Armenian gentle folks are portrayed with their life story recounting the terrible ordeal they lived through; the images in this book point out wide subdued landscapes, gnarled hands stretching cheese or dough, close-up shots of taro, flour or sausages being hung to dry and convey a meditative mood.
• The layout of the book is clean and extremely well-done; the recipes are very easy to follow and represent homestyle cooking with ingredients that are common in most supermarkets or available in Middle-Eastern shops throughout the world. This cuisine as an Eastern Mediterranean cuisine makes use of fresh and seasonal vegetables.
• The book is peppered with interesting  side bars containing tips and anecdotes relating to the dish described.
• This is a very practical cookbook with comfort-style dishes that can be prepared on a weeknight as well as more elaborate ones such as the stuffed keufte in yoghurt soup for special occasions.

• This book focuses on Armenian cooking found in the area formerly known as Cilicia which is located in modern-day Turkey. There are no references to Armenia proper, which used to be part of the Soviet Union and is now an independent state.
• The book is high on feeling but the photos do not showcase the food adequately; most of the recipes show a thumbprint of the actual dish with the large images reserved to close-ups of ingredients or hand gestures. Some of the photos are close-ups of hands or gestures in motion which makes them look blurry.

The list of wild herbs is long in Lebanon and this post is just a start. Here Asma, a wonderful Kurdish/Lebanese lady is holding a bunch of wild sage picked up in a forest clearing in a mountain 40 minutes from Beirut. 

Sage (wild or cultivated) is a great remedy for digestive troubles; try it in the morning by making it into a tea with some honey on an empty stomach. 

The only thing I was able to gather is that this edible herb is called chinook in Kurdish, that it was used to make soap and that it comes from a tree with sap. (More research required!)

This one is a type of wild peas, the pod contains tiny peas that are crunchy and sweet.

This time of year, grape leaves are perfect: tender, smallish and shiny. They can be used to stuff, can be frozen to use later in the year, or eaten fresh with tabbouleh salad.

Here is a classic example that only requires fresh veggies, fresh herbs, fresh grape leaves (for that melt-in-the-mouth result), rice and lemon and olive oil.

When stuffing grape leaves, here is what you need to know: 

1. If using fresh leaves or canned leaves, place the leaf in front of you on the side that has all the veins, not the smooth side. You want the smooth shiny side to be showing when you are done.
2. It is important to line the pot in which the leaves are going to cook with slices of potatoes, tomatoes and even onions; this is to prevent the leaves from sticking to the pot or burning and it also will infuse the broth. 
3. If you have a lot of leaves and want to save the extra ones, simply line them up one on top of the other and place them in a ziploc bag; take care that no water gets into the bag, and freeze them as is. You will be able to reuse them at any time just like you would with fresh leaves off the vine.
4. Don’t pack the stuffing inside each leaf as you want to leave room for the rice to expand and not burst the leaves.
5.  It is fine to add a dash of sugar to the stuffing or a dash of chili powder or hot red pepper powder, however it is not traditional.
6. If you have never stuffed leaves before, don’t sweat it; you can form any kind of little parcel and it will work; just make sure before you cook them to hold them in the pot with a heavy plate and even a rock on top of that plate if you can get one.

• 70 grape leaves (approximately)
• 1 cup of rice; needs to be either Egyptian, sushi, Italian, or Turkish rice (medium grain and starchy not Basmati!)
• 2 large onions (one used to line the pan and the other chopped for the stuffing)
• 4 pounds of tomatoes (pick ripe tomatoes with lots of flavor, reserving 2 to line the pot)
• 4 lemons, juiced
• olive oil, as needed
• salt, as needed
• 2 bunches of Italian, flat-leaved parsley
• 1 bunch of fresh mint
• 3 large Russet or baking potatoes to line the pot 
• 1 tsp of sugar or (and) chili pepper powder, optional
• 1/2 cup of pine nuts (optional)

METHOD:

1. Wash the leaves if fresh and bring several cups of water to a boil in a pot; dip the leaves in the pot for a few seconds until they turn limp and drain. If using canned leaves, do the same thing in order to remove that briny taste from the leaves.
2. In a bowl, place the rice and cover with water to soak with a dash of salt while you chop the veggies.
3.  Chop the onion fine, and the other onion in large rings to line the pot. Peel the potatoes and cut in thick slices and line the pot with them.Line the pot with the potatoes, tomatoes and onion rings.
4.  Chop the tomatoes fine. Wash, chop the parsley leaves and mint and place in the bowl with the chopped onion and tomatoes; add the drained rice. Mix the stuffing and add 1/2 cup of lemon and 1/2 cup of olive oil to it. Add a couple of teaspoons of salt. Add the sugar or chili powder if using, and mix well to combine.
5. Assembling the leaves; place each leaf in front of you (smooth side not showing), place a tablespoon of stuffing in the middle of it and roll up by first folding the leaves from one side to the other. Place side by side in the pot. 
6. Place a heavy plate and a rock if you have one on top of the plate to hold the leaves tight and add the remaining juice from the bowl in which you have mixed the stuffing. Add one cup of water and bring the pot to a gentle simmer. Simmer very gently for 45 minutes. The leaves and stuffing should release extra juice in which the rice and leaves will cook gently. If the broth is not sufficient, add some more water.  Taste one leaf to make sure the rice is cooked and set the pot aside to cool. Flip the pot onto a large platter and serve at room temperature as an appetizer. 

This Armenian specialty is a crispy, flaky, sweet bread that is slathered with tahini and doused in sugar prior to baking. You can make it at home like I did or buy it fresh in the Armenian district (Bourj Hamoud) in Beirut.

Click here for the recipe.

Bourj Hamoud is the place to explore if you like narrow alleyways, artisans working outside of their shops while chatting with passers-by, stores with lots of bling and prices at least 30% lower than in the other districts in Beirut. A foreigner in Bourj Hamoud will not get gawked at and the general atmosphere is that of a beehive with lots of discoveries in store. More to come, with photos and addresses in the next few weeks.

These wild cyclamens  all over the mountains in Lebanon this time of year.