I know, I know. My play on words here is so hackneyed and silly that it almost takes away from the hilarious irony of the title altogether :) You must forgive me. The thing is that on our recent trip around the Middle East it’s probably just about accurate to say that I took (at least!) one thousand and one bites in the course of our three week trip!
As usual, my biggest priority while traveling through Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the West Bank was to enjoy as much of what I proudly consider to be (hands down) the world’s most delicious cuisine. All said and done, I think we fared very well!
Having seen and eaten so much that I find noteworthy during this particular trip, I thought that I’d save some time and bandwidth and provide a condensed round-up of my food reviews of what I deem the three top foodie cities in the Middle East. I’ll do this in three separate posts on Beirut, Damascus, and Ramallah.
BEIRUT : LEBANON
Whether it’s a hole in the wall or a high-end restaurant, amazingly delicious cuisine is always easy to find in this most wonderful city of contradictions and surprises. Quite frankly, I could easily fill a book just gushing about my love of Lebanese cuisine…but my brilliant foodie cousin Salma is already on top of that! So for now I’m content to share just a shortlist of my favorite culinary encounters from our recent trip to Beirut.
EAT STANDING UP : MANA’EESH ON THE STREET
I’ve found few things in life more irresistible than fresh manaeesh in the morning. The streets of Lebanon are dotted with hole-in-the-wall bakeries that are busy from the break of dawn churning out the goodness of salty-and-just-slightly-sweet manaeesh. In wood burning ovens, the dough is fired up into a fluffy wrap, all while smothered in fragrant za’atar and gooey, bubbling white cheese.
Stuffed to your liking with pickles, olives, fresh herbs, tomatoes and cucumbers, it may be the best dollar you ever spent. They’re sold everywhere in the city, but our all-time favorite spot is a legendary bakery in Rouche, conveniently located just steps away from the Mediterranean.
Now, I know I said I’d keep this post brief, but I can’t bear to close out this section without giving mention to the delightful stand up feasting I accomplished at Souq al-Tayab, Beirut’s first and only farmers’ market.
Now, saturday mornings in the city turn into a veritable buffet of “try a taste of this” or “just a bite of that” as generous vendors insist you get a nibble of each of their creative treats, including everything from extra spicy kibbeh to chocolate chip cookies to za’atar crisps to cheesy manaeesh! Trust me when I tell you: arrive hungry and don’t make plans for lunch afterwards.
EAT SITTING DOWN : TAWLET
On my first visit to Beirut’s bright and brilliant new restaurant Tawlet, I wasn’t exactly sitting down so much as running around the kitchen. See, in the run-up to the wedding party, my girlfriends planned a fabulous surprise evening there, where we all got to enjoy a cooking lesson and feast put on by Tawlet’s head chefs.
I’ll never be able to thank Salma, Saima, Reem and the other ladies for putting together this dream come true night with the girls.
Along with some of my favorite women in the world, I labored a bit and learned a lot about Lebanese cooking in Tawlet’s gorgeous kitchen! And then happily gobbled down the fruits of our labor at the table together shortly afterwards.
Learning from the master chef!
Toiling away on tabouleh!
Mastering those darling little dumplings!
Putting finishing touches on the potato kibbeh!
Of everything we helped to cook…and then devoured…my favorite dishes on the menu included: moutabbal (smoked eggplant dish), sayadieh (fish and rice with carmelized onions), potato kibbeh drizzled with olive oil, lemony herby garlic marinated chicken wings, and little meat dumplings in laban (yogurt) sauce…I forgot their name, but not their taste!
A feast for the eyes…
…and especially the stomach!
As a postscript, the food was so delicious that I took my whole family back the next day for lunch. To rave reviews, I might add.
