Posted by Theresa Farrage on April 28, 2010 02:22 p.m.
If you crave an authentic Arabic meal and a trip to the exotic Middle East seems out of reach, you can either hop a magic carpet or ride a camel to your local Arabic restaurant, or you can simply create your own feast fit for a sultan.
Middle Eastern food requires a lot of time and commitment in the kitchen. Since each country in the Middle East has its own variation, we’re going to specifically focus on Lebanese cuisine. One thing that you should be familiar with when dealing with Lebanese food is that a typical meal is very hearty and robust. You’ll never walk away hungry. There are also a lot of different options to choose from and a lot of Lebanese dishes are vegetarian-friendly.
A meal in Lebanon is conducted as a family gathering. Friends and family often assemble to talk and share stories. They tend to congregate around the arguilie (hookah) and feast on mezza (heavy appetizers) until the main meal is served. When it comes to Lebanese dining, there’s no such thing as fast food. Each meal is a production in and of itself. The typical Lebanese meal has three main parts with lots of options in each category, which include mezza, the main meal and dessert.
To create your own authentic Lebanese cuisine, focus on some of the more popular dishes. For the mezza portion of the meal, choose a salad like tabouli (traditional salad of parsley, tomatoes, onions, cracked wheat, lemon, oil & spices); dips like hummus (crushed chick peas, garlic, lemon juice and tahini sauce drizzled with olive oil) and baba ghanouj (roasted eggplant mixed with garlic, lemon juice and tahini sauce sprinkled with sumac and drizzled with olive oil); vegetarian grape leaves (mixture of rice, garbanzo beans, finely diced tomato, parsley and onion rolled in grape leaves and slowly cooked in olive oil and lemon juice); Lebanese pies wrapped in dough with either spinach or seasoned beef filling; lubin (fresh homemade yogurt) and pita bread.
For the main meal, you can serve up Lebanese staples like kibbie (ground beef, cracked wheat and spices baked around a layer of lamb, onions and pine nuts); chicken kabob skewers basted with garlic butter; kafta (freshly ground beef mixed with onions, parsley and spices and then molded into hamburger patties); stuffed zucchini filled with rice, lamb, tomato paste and spices; Lebanese green beans stewed with chunks of lamb, onions and tomato paste and served with rice; majadra (lentils and rice). Also, if you’re daring enough, the Lebanese usually feast on raw kibbie (usually lamb, not ground beef). It may look disgusting to most people, but it actually tastes pretty good.
Just when you don’t think you’ll be able to stuff another bite in your mouth, it’s time for dessert and Turkish coffee served in little cups. Just like Greek baklava, the Lebanese pride themselves in baklawa, layers of fillo dough and butter filled with walnuts and covered with homemade syrup. Of course, this isn’t the only dessert that’s typically served. A wide variety of Arabic cookies as well as large fruit platters also make up the sweet portion of the evening.
So if you’re in the mood for an exotic Arabian night, roll up your sleeves and be prepared to spend all day in the kitchen. I promise it will be worth it in the end!