I am that boat drugged by the sound of the waves in the darkened bay The night is more immense than I remember your eyes purple after you dived We stayed on at the st george long after everyone left it was a kind of bet Long snakelike days glistening on concrete by the pool no shadows at all Above us lost worlds stretched in plumes of fuel and smoke […]
Categories: Lebanese recipes, memory and culture
Little birds come in different shapes and sizes. There are the ones my uncles used to catch and roast in the Bekaa. Or those my brother still hunts from time to time in north Lebanon in an area he describes as a kind of Shangri La — a valley that no one goes to, that has been preserved from the random half-finished buildings that now blight so much of Lebanon. The reason for its pristine beauty? It’s where drug lords […]
Categories: Lebanese recipes, memory and culture
We are well into Ramadan now. It probably won’t go down too well with some of my more intense Muslim friends, but the longer it lasts the more I think of the delicious treats I first started to make during the holy month when I was at university in Beirut. No-one in my family had a sweet tooth, except for me and my dad. So, it’s lucky that I had enough friends to help me get through the heart attacks […]
Categories: Lebanese recipes, memory and culture
This is one of the most evocative ruins in Beirut. An Italian restaurant that was once famous for its pasta in Phoenicia street just behind the sea front. It’s been derelict for years. Next to it is a car park, which will probably be transformed into a new high-rise soon. One of the tallest buildings in the city is already almost finished behind it. Like a lot of things in Beirut, the restaurant was both fun and tacky. Its name […]
Categories: Lebanese recipes, memory and culture • Tags: Beirut, Quo Vadis
Again, it is almost dusk. Here in England, it comes late — well after nine in the evening. So, it’s been a long day for anyone fasting, although mercifully cool for now. Iftar — the breaking of the fast — is only a short time away. There is not the abrupt sunset of the Middle East where you free fall from burning daylight to total darkness within a few minutes. But the anticipation is similar. I visit many of my […]
Categories: Lebanese recipes, memory and culture
From Beirut to London in 100 Dishes