FoodMan

My relatives who live in Beirut do not seem too concerned! they think it should calm down soon, but really you never know. So, the only advice I can give you is to weigh your options. If it seems like it is escalating (fingers crossed for NO), then it might be wise to either not go or to limit where you go. Now on to the food, where to begin.... North of course, my birthplace and it seems like it is yours as well. Other than falafel and Hallab in Tripoli, you have to go to the Mina (port) of Tripoli area and eat at "Abu Fadi". Absolutly the best Samke Harra (spicy fish) sandwich and it weighs about a Kilo . Another must try is the octupus sandwich at the same place, wonderfull. There are several places that serve similar items but "Abu Fadi" is widely recognized as the best. Also in the Mina area, pick up some refreshing hand cranked lemon ice from one of the several street vendors. It is a great finish to a large spicy fish sandwich. Shawarma in Beirut! My favorites are in the Dora area, more specifically a place called "Jabbour". I love both their beef and chicken versions and eat them at least every other day when I'm there. Also they make a mean "Baid Ghanam" sandwich aka lamb testicles. If you are lucky enough to have Kahlid as the shawarma guy that day, try chatting with him. The guy can talk non-stop, is very friendly and hooks up his buddies . Right next door to the shawarma place is the juice joint, get yourself a nice rich calorie ladden fruit smoothie, known as a cocktail (it has no liquor though). Don't get the one with the fruit chuncks in it, get the pureed one. If you are still in Beirut, especially in the Armenian sections, grab a Basterma sandwich or a spicy sausage sandwich. Both are equally good and pungent. the place to have those is in the Burj Hammoud area and I cannot believe I forgot the name of the exact shop even though I was there last May . Anyhow, if you do make it to the Shawarma place above, ask any local and they will point you to what I'm talking about. ok, that's all for now. more to come... Elie

Are you some kind of zen master of self-control??? Mine is long gone. ← I try to limit myself to a measly one "dessert" at most per day, and I baked/made several other items in the past couple of weeks. So, it's all about rotation my friend . Tonight it's ice cream's turn, besides someone has to test how long it holds up in the freezer past the one week mark. Elie

That ice cream is special, isn't it? I also let it rest in the fridge overnight and before it went in the ice cream maker it was thick almost like a custard. I still have some in my freezer that I am working on slowly. Dorie please don't tell Mr. Herme that I dared keep the ice cream for more than a week . Elie

Dinner was beets, the last few I pulled from the backyard. I slow roasted them with garlic and olive oil in the oven, peeled them, sliced them and served them with a walnut/roasted garlic dressing and cumbled farmer's cheese. dessert: Canelles Elie

I also do not think the "deconstructed" cocktail is a true cocktail. I am sure it is excellent and hopefully I will try something resembling it this summer at El Bulli, but to answer Sam's query, I do not think it will ever take the place if the traditional, liquid cocktail. Another aspect of drinking a cocktail, in addition to what Spitfire mentioned, is the time it takes to enjoy one, to swirl the ice cubes in a glass and hear the light clinking sound as the ice slowly melts.... A "course" in a menu will never replace that. Elie

Chef, what's that? Is it the lamb/rice dish? I know this sounds simplistic but it is really a big deal. I think the whole lamb is cooked along with rice, spices, nuts,....and eaten family-style from a huge platter. I was wondering if that is what you are talking about. If so, where does yogurt come in? Elie

You add butter to hommos? ← Butter? I was refering to , this recipe. It has no butter. Elie

I can understand the confusion between the two, Saj Vs. Markouk. In Lebanon, both usually mean the same thing. Saj bread is "Khobz Markouk" literally meaning "hand handled bread". So it basically is hand handled bread and made very thin, then cooked on a saj. Hope this clears it up some . BTW, that setup looks awsome Vue!! I wish I had it. I would just reommend you make them thinner next time around and they should NOT puff up. Maybe some air bubbles here and there, but that's it. Elie

hmmm.. th Hummos recipe looks ok to me. I use all these ingredients when I make mine. Elie

I made the the Ratafia from the article this past weekend. It should be ready to drink by the 24th of April, I will report back. Already it smells so good and looks pretty appetizing. If this works out, the possibilities are endless (thinking about the Meyer Lemon tree in the backyard.....) Elie

Last night, I made a slow cooked beef stew with lots of potatoes and carrots and fortified with my latest batch of Demi Glace. Served with crusty bread and white rice. Elie

I, like everyone else, am enjoying this thread very much. I have learned almost everything I know about Algerian food from this discussion . I would like to put in a reminder though to please keep it focused on food, culinary regions and their effect on cuisine. Discussions of who is or is not an Arab do not belong here. Thanks for your understanding. Elie

Why? It is on my way to and from work and I was thinking about stopping by sometime. Maybe you should start a thread for this place and elaborate on your experience. Elie

This looks excellent! Is that an egg? Is it hard cooked? I'm just wondering about the odd color it has. Elie

Making your own yogurt is fun and easy. But I gave up after a while because I thought that the plain (lowfat!) danon was a lot better than what i was making. As you can tell from my other posts in this thread - I'm kind of obsessive about Turkish yogurt and am frustrated I can't find the exact thing here. So, what I did was bring a container of yogurt from Turkey to use as my starter! I made a bunch of batches from it but it was never the same as the original. I asked a bunch of people and was told that the commercial yogurts have stabilizers and other things in them to make them firm, etc. I experimented with using non-fat dry milk in the mix to make it firmer. I could never get the right consistency and sourness though. Also, from what I understand, the yogurt culture actully becomes weaker as you keep using it. I never really understood this. How does the starter get started then? This whole chicken-egg thing is very confusing! ~WBC ← Dannon better than homemade??!! I don't think so. A couple of suggestions and then back to talking about Ayran. We can continue the yogurt discussion in the appropriate thread in "Cooking". There are at least a couple of those threads around. 1- To make the yogurt more sour, add more starter and let it sit our longer than normal. Even in the fridge my yogurt gets more sour after the more it sits. 2- To make it firmer, drain the yogurt in cheese cloth. for a couple of hours for semi firm, the more drained the firmer it gets. Also When using reduced fat milk to make yogurt, it always comes out "thinner". 3- The calim that the starter gets weaker is bogus. My starter, frozen between batches, is more than 2.5 years old and makes fantasticv yogurt. It is actually as old as my sourdough starter. Now , back to Ayran Elie

I'm not sure if practice makes it better, it does make it perfect though . Seriously, the more you make it the more you are familiar with the process and the proper temp and such until it becomes a routine and not a mystery anymore. Elie

Back in France we actually used "Danone nature" to make Aryan, but for some reason the American Dannon doesn't taste as good. I am having a difficult time finding good yogurt here in NY, I only know of one or two brands that make something acceptable. I think i am going to start making my own from now on ← Zeitoun, of course you should make your own! I have not bought yogurt in years. Making it at home is one of those favorite bi-weekly rituals. Check out my eGCI class from more details. Elie

Nobody knows... ← Of course someone knows . Here is a quote from Alton Brown's "Q" episode of "Good Eats" in which he makes pulled pork. BTW handmc that looks scrumptious...I have a nice shoulder in the freezer and the weather is just right for a nice long smoke. I need to get some logs and I am set. Elie

Jason, what happened to the flouring step?? tonight I had fresh sourdough bread topped with cheddar and Brunston pickle Elie

what channel is this show on?

From the article discussed in this thread So I guess it is not gutted! Elie

Patrick, you defintily need to use it. I love my also inexpensive Krups and use it all the time from simple vanilla ice cream to some wierd concoctions I come up with. Some favorites include blackberry ice cream and banana ice cream. Back to this thread now, next time I will most defintily try a variation and add some pistachio brittle or some other nut. Elie

-Get LIVE trout -Grab and dunk in boiling court bouillon. Or is it water? and according to Escoffier you'll have what is called Blue Trout . Ok, this might be a little too simplified but as I remember it that is what is involved in the process especially the LIVE fish. Elie

You are correct sir! I forgot the chives, so I increased the shallots a little. It was still great. I used the knife and minced everything by hand. I maded sure the salmon was very cold, it made it easier to mince. Elie

moderator note: the topic title was edited to be more descriptive and informative