A Lebanese foodlover is bringing his country's glorious fare to the limelight, writesAllegra McEvedy. I hit the streets of Beirut on a crisp, sunny morning, knowingexactly where I am heading. But in less than a minute, the smell of baking has luredme off my route. Following my nose down a side alley, I come to Ichkhanian inBeyham Street, a bakery with an unassuming shop front, behind which is the mostcavernous wood-fired oven I've ever seen.
Three men work seamlessly to knead, roll and bake the flatbreads, for which, I laterfind out, they are famous. The unleavened, ultra-thin pizza-ish discs, known as lahmbi'ajeen, are topped in a couple of different ways. I opt for minced lamb and pinenuts, which has been baked crisp, then hit with a squeeze of lemon and a shake ofpaprika. Things could not have got off to a better start.
Mezze is probably my favourite way of eating. I love having little bits of this and that,mixing it up, clearing your palate with some pickles, then diving in for another littletrundle round the beautiful bowls. Over the years, my passion for mezze has takenme to Israel, Turkey and Morocco in search of new recipes and ingredients but it wasin Lebanon, widely believed to be the country that invented mezze and the jewel inthe Middle Eastern culinary crown, that I felt I would find authenticity.
My guide was Kamal Mouzawak, a dedicated food lover who used to sit on the boardof the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiveristy in Bra, Italy. He became disillusionedwith the politics of the movement and decided he could achieve more by working at agrassroots level in his own country. And he was right.
Since leaving, he has instigated projects designed to preserve, promote andcelebrate Lebanese cuisine. Initiatives include the Kitchen Workshop in Beirut, aculinary institute that offers cookery seminars and classes, and Tawlet (table inArabic), a restaurant in which producers from across the country cook daily.
His current mission is to ancient and little-known recipes, which he plans to publish ina cookery book. He is also the man behind Souk el Tayeb, Lebanon's first farmers'market.
In some ways, Souk el Tayeb is not unlike our farmers' markets. Go there on aSaturday morning or Wednesday evening and you will find middle-class localsbrowsing stalls brimming with healthy, shiny vegetables. For me it is a great place tosample local dishes, such as kibbeh, a veritable national dish, made of finely ground
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lamb or goat meat mixed with soaked fine bulgar (cracked wheat) and deep fried(sometimes the meat is raw).
There are also little pastries filled with spinach or lamb and in the corner I find Monaand Nellie, preparing man'ousheh, delicious wraps made from a dough of barley,wholewheat and corn, cooked above coals on a big metal dome and then filled withgoodies such as soft and salty cheese, olives, tomatoes, huge rocket leaves andza'atar (a mix of herbs, sesame seeds and salt).
Kamal Mouzawak takes part in the Middle East/Mediterranean program of the WorldChef Showcase, part of Crave Sydney International Food Festival from October 8-10. Seesiff.com.au.
(AUSTRALIA)http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/restaurants-and-bars/middle-east-front-and-centre-20100728-10uvz.html
Reproduced by Durrants under licence from the NLA (newspapers), CLA (magazines), FT (Financial Times/ft.com) or other copyright owner. No furthercopying (including printing of digital cuttings), digital reproduction/forwarding of the cutting is permitted except under licence from the copyright owner. All FT content is copyright The Financial Times Ltd.
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A Lebanese foodlover is bringing his country's glorious fare to the limelight, writesAllegra McEvedy. I hit the streets of Beirut on a crisp, sunny morning, knowingexactly where I am heading. But in less than a minute, the smell of baking has luredme off my route. Following my nose down a side alley, I come to Ichkhanian inBeyham Street, a bakery with an unassuming shop front, behind which is the mostcavernous wood-fired oven I've ever seen.
lamb or goat meat mixed with soaked fine bulgar (cracked wheat) and deep fried(sometimes the meat is raw).