For an autumn menu, concocted 100 percent by Lebanese chefs.
The kitchen can be a great place for relaxation. Not necessarily in the evening after a day at work. Rather, on the weekend, when the temperature drops, or conversely, as in Lebanon, when it still feels like summer but you've had enough of summer already.
Before you get started, here are a few tips: find a podcast, put on some music, forget about the news and everything else. Focus on the onion and the mushroom. Therapeutic...
For this selection, we've chosen recipes that showcase seasonal produce.
Mezzes
Mezzes mean sharing and variety. Here is our selection of recipes that evoke autumn.
Because walnuts are in season, we suggest Aline Kamakian's olive and walnut salad. It's a fairly hearty salad best served in small portions as a side or as part of a mezze platter, as noted by the Lebanese chef who specializes in Armenian cuisine — and has dedicated a cookbook to it.
We'll stay with walnuts for potato kebbeh with walnuts, a Lebanese classic whose recipe we found in the book "Manger libanais", ('Eat Lebanese food') by Kamal Mouzawak. Also on the menu: pumpkin kebbeh, another seasonal vegetable. This is chef Tara Khattar's recipe — the first Lebanese and Middle Eastern chef to compete in Top Chef France, who has continued to rise since.
And why not add a lovely touch of orange to your table with a creamy pumpkin soup with cashew nuts?
Mushrooms
"A unique marriage of flavors": that's how Yasmina Hayek, a graduate of the Institut Paul Bocuse in Lyon and the Scuola Politecnica di Design in Milan, describes her moghrabieh with wild mushrooms. It's a recipe she developed with her mother, Mireille Hayek, also known as Em Sherif.
Let’s stick with mushrooms for a velouté. Not the freeze-dried kind in a yellow packet that you revive with hot water. The real thing, with, as a bonus, a mushroom sauté and... a fried egg. It's a recipe shared with L'Orient-Le Jour by chef Alan Geaam. The whole dish comes at an affordable price, since we mean regular button mushrooms here.
For vegans (and everyone else too)
Red kuri squash, chimichurri, zaatar, soy yogurt, tahini... Hugo Danaguezian, proud owner of the restaurant Maz Mez, in Paris' 10th arrondissement, offers his vegan red kuri squash fatteh. A recipe in line with his approach: exploring "the cultural heritage and gastronomic legacy of the Lebanese diaspora, to show that Lebanese cuisine and culture are not frozen in time, but are constantly evolving with the migrations and encounters of the Lebanese people."
And for dessert?
For dessert, we suggest coffee tiramisu, but following pastry chef Charles Azar’s recipe, to end the meal with a touch of sweetness and indulgence.
For a different vibe: Farid Chehab’s autumn fruit tartlets, a dessert balancing sweet and tart flavors, as well as softness and firmness.
If the choice is too hard, don’t choose.
For more seasonal recipes, click here.
And to discover all our recipes, click here.
