Hélène Khattar at her home in Tanbourit, southern Lebanon. (Photo provided by Hélène Khattar)
In Lebanon, for generations, mouneh has been one of the last remaining culinary traditions, enduring in the midst of everything else that has been lost. The word refers to a set of provisions prepared according to the rhythm of the seasons: drying, salting, fermenting, concentrating, preserving in brine or otherwise saving produce that is abundant at a certain time so that it remains available after that time has passed. It is a way of organizing time as much as of thanking the land, seizing what it offers in fleeting abundance to make it last longer. Read more Fleeing, surviving, cooking: Nabil Attar's journey from Damascus to Orléans Even today, in villages across the country, families and producers still repeat these gestures. But if we chose to profile Helene Khattar, who created Mouné W Beit to produce and sell mouneh, it’s no...
In Lebanon, for generations, mouneh has been one of the last remaining culinary traditions, enduring in the midst of everything else that has been lost. The word refers to a set of provisions prepared according to the rhythm of the seasons: drying, salting, fermenting, concentrating, preserving in brine or otherwise saving produce that is abundant at a certain time so that it remains available after that time has passed. It is a way of organizing time as much as of thanking the land, seizing what it offers in fleeting abundance to make it last longer. Read more Fleeing, surviving, cooking: Nabil Attar's journey from Damascus to Orléans Even today, in villages across the country, families and producers still repeat these gestures. But if we chose to profile Helene Khattar, who created Mouné W Beit to produce and sell mouneh, it’s...