Lebanese cuisine boasts an enticing blend of Arab and Mediterranean cooking techniques and ingredients. Based on grains and fresh fruits and vegetables, Lebanese food is famous the world over for its healthy, flavorful and sophisticated approach. While you may not be able to travel to Lebanon to experience its cuisine, you can bring its flavors and culinary traditions into your own home.
Instructions
1. Start off socially. Mezze, the first course in a traditional Lebanese meal, roughly corresponds to the French hors d'oeuvre. It can boast an elaborate array of 40 to 50 hot and cold dishes or be a humble salad and bowl of nuts. No matter the size, the mezze provides family and friends an opportunity to visit and mingle before dinner. Popular cold starters include chickpea puree, or hummus, and babaganousch, a dip you make from pureed grilled eggplant. Common hot starters include falafel, spicy sausages and garlicky chicken wings.
2. Serve a meat dish next. The Lebanese eat red meat infrequently, opting for chicken or freshly-caught fish instead. However, when they do serve meat, lamb is the most popular choice. Lebanese cooks often slow cook lamb in casseroles with yogurt and spices and serve rice and salad seasoned heavily with olive oil, garlic and lemon. Flat pita bread or marcook, a flat, fire-baked bread, round out the main course.
3. Sweeten things up. Dessert frequently features fresh fruit and pastries such as baklava or milk-based custards.
4. Sip your way into the night. End the meal with strong, thick sweet coffee flavored with cardamom.
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