"Food is a lens for culture."
Dana Goodyear - journalist and poet
People ask me why I recorded an online cookery course. The answer? I get messages from people weekly, people who live abroad and in South Africa, who express their disappointment in the fact that they cannot attend one of my cookery classes in Cape Town. I must say, the in-person classes are a pretty darn fine experience, even if I say so myself. They take place in my home kitchen, in our beautiful space, bathed in our happy energy - I have had such heartwarming feedback over the years!
I tried to recreate this vibe when I created my first online cookery course. As the descendant of Lebanese immigrants I can say that the food we grew up on and were taught to prepare is a very limited view of what Lebanon is serving up nowadays. It makes me sad at times that we get so hell-bent on what we know and grew up on, that we refuse to look further, to experiment, to explore. I want to shout from the rooftops (especially to the Lebanese Diaspora around the world, which is anywhere up to 14 million strong) that there is more to our cuisine that hummus, moutabal and man’oushe! My introductory course encompasses some of the basics, whilst exploring more, and has made my dream of taking the food of Lebanon around the globe more attainable - I cannot describe my excitement when I see people from other countries enroll. Let’s keep this up!
“What a wonderful idea this cookery course is! I am so excited for you. I have been telling everyone to enroll - already tried the kofta and moutabal…oh my goodness, it was delicious! Good luck with this - it is an amazing idea!” - Deb A.
Did you know? ‘Stressed’ is just ‘desserts’ spelled backwards…
Lebanese desserts often involve a syrup - the actual pastry is mostly not very sweet with the syrup adding the sweetness. But, the more I delve into my memories, and the more research I do, the more cookie recipes I am finding. At my cookery classes I always teach two desserts - mostly one of them is a cookie recipe.
I find that a cookie jar is a great thing to have! It arms one with the means to spoil whomever arrives for an unexpected coffee. These ghraybeh delight even my non-cookie-lover husband, and are so easy to put together!
GHRAYBEH
Makes 24
Ingredients
170g ghee, cool but at room temperature
120g icing (confectioners) sugar (plus extra for dusting)
½ tsp sea salt
1 tsp orange blossom water
235g unbleached cake flour
Method
Preheat the oven to 160˚C and place a rack in the centre of the oven.
Beat the butter on high-speed using the whisk attachment of an electric beater until fluffy, creamy and pale. Add the icing sugar, salt and orange blossom water and beat until well combined.
On a low speed, blend in the flour slowly, ½ cup at a time.
Lightly flour your work surface. Form 24 even small balls of dough of about the size of a large walnut. Roll each one into a thin log of about 1cm thickness and no more 10 cm in length. The dough will be a little crumbly, so make sure you knead each ball in your fist to combine before rolling.
Take each end and gently bring them together to form a tear drop shape. Take a pistachio and place it on the dough where the two parts overlap. Gently press the nut into this part to secure the shape.
Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes – the cookies will remain pale but must be baked through.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely and liberally dust with icing sugar. These cookies will last well if kept in an airtight container.
Enjoy!
Hope to see you online soon - and stay tuned… Soon I will be able to offer you more delectable Lebanese recipe ideas online!
“Food is not rational. Food is culture, habit, craving and identity.” - Jonathan Safran Foer, novelist.
I invite you on this journey with me, to indulge in my culture and identity, my childhood cravings and cooking habits. Let’s explore together. Love from my kitchen,
