cauliflower

Discovering cauliflower and its whimsical Lebanese interpretations

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by • Tips • Tags: , ,

I’m a huge fan of cauliflower. It is one of my favorite vegetables. It is high in fiber, full of vitamins and minerals, and tastes so so good. I believe every Lebanese home is very well acquainted with cauliflower because from the minute we can eat all types of foods, moms introduce us to cauliflower one way or another.

Growing up, everyone around me just loved cauliflower. I never actually met someone who dislikes it, probably because there are many Lebanese recipes where cauliflower tastes so different and so yummy!

The first recipe is raw cauliflower with cocktail sauce: I honestly don’t know if this is a Lebanese creation, because cocktail sauce is not Lebanese to start with. But I’ve been to many countries around the world and I’ve never seen this mix anywhere else. And it’s an incredible one. Cocktail sauce balances perfectly well the sharpness of cauliflower with its warmth and notes of sweetness. Of all the vegetables that could be eaten raw with cocktail sauce, I believe cauliflower is the best.

Next we have pickled cauliflower. I mean how delicious is that?? We Lebanese love our pickles with almost everything we eat, but I don’t think any kind of pickles tastes as good as cauliflower, right?

We then have the cauliflower stew. The transformation of the cauliflower and how it becomes tender, softer and milder is just out of this world. Cauliflower stew is a perfect dish for cold winter days and goes perfectly well with lemon juice, radish and black olives.

Last but definitely not least, we have the fried cauliflower. I don’t think there is a single being in Lebanon who doesn’t LOVE this version with tarator dip (tahini, salt, lemon juice and optionally garlic). It is hands down one of the most delicious Lebanese dishes to ever exist! Some people now bake the cauliflower instead of frying it because it is healthier, but I will leave that dish for my cheat meal and have it deep fried like it originally is :). Bon appétit!

bread

fait Maison: changing the concept of bread freshness

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by • Must-Try Foods • Tags: , ,

Before I start writing about fait Maison and how good their bread is, I would like to clarify a misconception I’ve had about frozen food until recently.

I’ve always thought that frozen food is… frozen which was, to me, the very opposite of fresh food. Accordingly, I always preferred buying shelf food, thinking it was fresher and healthier than frozen food. But then I started noticing how my mother freezes peas, mloukhieh and other seasonal foods and then uses them in stews during winter. So I did my research and it turned out that the way frozen food is preserved is simply by being frozen, so no additives are added in the preservation process, unlike shelf food, which almost invariably has additives and preservatives that make its life longer. The farther the expiry date, the more preservatives are used in the food. And because the only thing that makes frozen food last is the freezing process, frozen food must be cooked and consumed once it thaws or else it won’t last.

So, now that I clarified this very important point :), I can talk more easily about fait Maison and their bread.

fait Maison is a Lebanese brand of frozen bread. I got first acquainted with it through a training I was giving, where I met their sales manager. One day, he brought us freshly baked bread and croissants to the training and that’s where it all started for me. The croissants are amazing – fresh, crisp, fluffy and with the right dosage of everything. The bread is full, with a beautiful crust that you bake to your liking and it actually tastes like a fresh French baguette!

After that, my husband and I got used to ordering our bread online and baking it minutes before eating it, so imagine how the overall experience with bread has changed for us. I even get multi-cereal toast for my daughter that she eats every night for dinner with Labneh or zaatar.

Now that the holiday season is nearing, and the weather is getting colder J, it is the perfect time to warm up with cheese and wine nights. Get your bread from fait Maison and bake is just before enjoying it with your guests – believe me, it is going to be a much more enjoyable experience. Cheers!

hummus

Hummus is a Lebanese dish; stop attributing it to other countries

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by • Tips • Tags: ,

I was watching M6 on Saturday and I happened to come across the 12:45 News. Towards the end, they did a short segment called “L’essor de la cuisine israelienne”, or the boom of the Israeli cuisine. The first thing the guy in that segment was preparing was hummus; mashed chickpeas, garlic, salt, lemon juice and tahini. He didn’t even bother add or change anything about it, and bluntly called it hummus. Of course, he also presented falafel and other dishes as part of the Israeli cuisine but I was already fuming when I saw the hummus.

I know Israel has been integrating hummus and other Lebanese dishes as part of its cuisine; this is not news. But to see a French channel shedding the light on it like it was the most natural thing ever was my tipping point. I’ve always wanted my blog to be exclusively about good food around Lebanon, but I just couldn’t let it pass. This is not normal. I wonder how the French would have reacted if Italy started claiming that ratatouille or boeuf bourguignon were Italian dishes and part of the Italian cuisine. Would they have been so open and cool about the idea? I don’t think so.

I’m sick and tired of watching our culinary identity being stolen away from us and promoted as another country’s identity. I wish I could do something more about it, but this is my personal step towards hopefully setting the record straight once and for all. Hummus, the way we know it, is and will always be a Lebanese dish; get your facts straight M6 and next time you’re doing a segment on a cuisine, learn the history and culture of that cuisine first.

vegetables

The vegetables you should always have in your fridge

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by • Tips • Tags: , ,

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you may know by now that I have a weak spot for salads and everything green. If you open my fridge, there are always enough ingredients to make a succulent salad, even if it won’t be creative all the time.

The things that you should always have in your fridge are split into 2 categories;

  • Tomatoes, cucumbers and red bell pepper: they usually last for a while before they become inedible. Wash them, then store the tomatoes and bell pepper in the veggies compartment, and the cucumbers in a Tupperware inside a kitchen tissue. Cucumbers tend to get moist in the fridge, so they will last longer if you keep them in a damp tissue.
  • Greens: the key to storing greens in the fridge is not to wash them until you want to consume them, that’s how they actually last in the fridge. Roll them in a newspaper spread or a kitchen towel, to protect them from the fridge moist. Among the greens, there are some that generally last longer than others, so they’re safer to keep and use whenever you want to make a salad. Those include lettuce, iceberg, cabbage and mint. Other greens like arugula, lamb’s lettuce or baby spinach are more delicate and last less longer. So it’s best to get them maximum one or two days before you plan on using them.

Believe me, if you have any 2-3 of those ingredients in your fridge at anytime, you’re all set to make a great salad to which you can add some proteins like lupine beans, turkey or turkey bacon, cheese, tuna or grilled chicken strips. So load that fridge up and help yourself to some delicious salads every now and then!

stew

In winter we eat stews…

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by • Tips

Most people who have never been to an actual Lebanese home in or outside of Lebanon, think that Lebanese food is about mezze and meat/poultry skewers. That’s because what most restaurants in and outside of Lebanon propose on their menus. But Lebanese food is much more than that and one of the main pillars of our cuisine is stew served with a side of rice, or what we call “yakhne” in Lebanon.

Stew is a typical winter dish. That doesn’t mean that it isn’t prepared in summer, but there is something particularly soothing about warming up on a cold winter day with nutritious, consistent food. It is generally prepared with beans, potatoes, cauliflower or a selection of vegetables and is served hot with a side of white rice. I’m sure most of my readers know exactly what I’m talking about, so I will not delve in how stews are generally prepared :). However, I will gladly share my list of favorite stews and how to best enjoy them!

I’m a huge fan of stews. I don’t eat the meat that’s in the mix, but I think it adds great flavor to the overall dish. Aside from their highly nutritious composition, stews are extremely delicious if well prepared and in my case, served with the juice of at least one freshly squeezed lemon. I absolutely love white and red bean stews, as well as spinach, molokhia, peas and cauliflower stews. I think their taste is heavenly, especially that my mom adds coriander to the mix – which gives the recipe a real kick and takes the dish to a whole new level.

So yes, I add enough lemon to get heartburn at the end of my meal and I like to enjoy stews with two main ingredients; fresh radish and black olives. Radish adds hints of bitterness and olives add tones of earthiness – both of which go perfectly well with the sweetness and acidity of the stew. I invite you to try that mix and let me know what you think. As for the lemon I suggest to add just a little bit if you’re not a fan, because it will add an interesting dimension of flavors to your taste buds :).

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