Lebanon, a country full of flavors, traditions, and smiles...
Cheikh el mehchi, mjaddara, kechek, tabbouleh, hummus, meghlé, fatayer, sanboussik, moussaka, mloukhieh, chiche barak...
Don't you understand much about it?
Neither did we at first. And yet...
These few dishes are just a taste of the endless discoveries to be made in Lebanese culinary traditions. Our students collected these recipes and many others, taking us on a delightful journey through their culture.
Our Lebanese students are a little older than usual. They are around 15 years old instead of 13. In fact, they have been eagerly awaiting us for two and a half years, ready to pick up where we left off with theUrsinoproject before being stopped in our tracks by the 2019 revolution. Since then, their country has been in the throes of a disastrous crisis, with inflation, poverty, and injustice weighing heavily on the population on a daily basis.
These young people are incredibly fortunate to be attendingthe École des Trois Docteurs, a private Orthodox school located in the Gemmayze district of Beirut, whose raison d'être is inclusive and undifferentiated education, mixing students with and without learning disabilities. The teaching staff is wonderful and carries out its educational project with courage and unparalleled energy, despite the current situation in the country and the difficulties that this entails.
This week, we held our workshops with students who showed great motivation and curiosity. They told us about their culinary culture and conducted historical research on the origins of typical Lebanese ingredients and dishes.
We also had the privilege of welcoming Chef Youssef Akiki, Ursino's Lebanese ambassador, to the school, who spoke passionately to our students about his profession and Lebanese cuisine. A student of Alain Ducasse, personal chef to a Saudi prince, and now owner of theBrûtrestaurant,Youssef Akiki is an extraordinary person with an exceptional career. He even offered the students the opportunity to do an internship at his restaurant, which put stars in the eyes of our already curious teenagers!
The historical research conducted by the students is currently in the capable hands of theFood Heritage Foundation, which is reviewing, verifying, and supplementing it before the students prepare their texts to share all of this work in a video this week.
In the meantime, our small team continues its culinary discoveries with an exceptional guide, Eva Maria, a teacher at the school, who generously welcomed us into her family's home in the mountains for the weekend. This was an opportunity to see "in real life" some of the dishes mentioned by our students, but also to discover local cultural and culinary practices: the vegetable garden, the preparation of homemade preserves and jams, the digestive hookah at the end of the meal, homemade arak (a typical aniseed drink), the barbecue, the preparation of bunches of flat-leaf parsley for tabbouleh... The list goes on!
We are filled with gratitude for such kindness and generosity!
To be continued in a few days, when our students have prepared their videos and we will be joined by Simon, our loyal friend and director.