Hoda, Mariam and 6-year-old George's cream puffs

Preparation for 30 small cream puffs

For the pastry cream:

1. Separate the egg yolks from the whites.
2. Place the yolks in a saucepan, add the sugar, vanilla and lemon zest.
3. Mix well with a wooden spoon until the mixture becomes pale.
4. Gradually incorporate the flour. Mix well.
5. Blend with the milk, pouring it in gradually until fully incorporated.
6. Put the saucepan over medium heat.
7. Stir well until thickened.
8. Remove from heat and continue to stir until the mixture cools, to prevent skin from forming.

For the choux pastry:

1. Pour the water in a saucepan.
2. When it boils, add the butter and lemon zest.
3. On very low heat, add the flour gradually while stirring to obtain a smooth mixture.
4. Remove from heat.
5. Add the eggs one at a time while stirring, until thickened and the final mixture is homogeneous.
6. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celcius.
7. Butter baking trays. Drop small balls of dough formed with a spoon onto the trays.
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
9. Turn off the oven, leave the cream puffs inside until the oven cools.
10. Fill the cream puffs with pastry cream, either by cutting them in the middle or using a large pastry syringe.
11. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

A mother who cooks, a father who loves to eat

At Mariam Semaan Daou's home, the roles in the kitchen were naturally divided between her mother, an excellent cook, and her father, a passionate food lover.

"Every Sunday, my parents would host dozens of friends for lunch. My mother would pull off enormous feasts, while my father was passionate about good food, street food, all kinds of desserts, and created unforgettable sandwiches," she explains.

It was from both her parents that she inherited a love of good food, creativity and, above all, the belief that generosity and togetherness are a language of love. "In this world where everything revolved around the table as a place of welcome, sharing and passing things on, I first learned the art of hospitality before learning to cook," she says.

It was only later that Mariam took to the stove, mastering simple yet emblematic family recipes passed down by her mother, Hoda — dishes that have also become favorites of her six-year-old son, Georges.

"In reality, what interests me is creating memories through sensory experiences, and drawing on my own memories to create moments in which food is an integral part. I prefer simple pairings with unexpected flavors, rather than complicated techniques. Using herbs from the garden, adding ingredients bought during travels, imagining a world around a table — dishes that complement one another, flowers, tableware, colors, an atmosphere, taking inspiration from my mother's cookbooks or those I've collected from countries I visit, starting from simple bases and imagining combinations that surprise without being complicated ... To me, you don't need fine dining to make something delicious," she says.

Very close to her son, whom she encourages to grow up with a sense of freedom, Mariam says he is involved in everything. "Georges takes part in everything... and he already has a real sense of organization. He’s lucky to grow up in an environment that naturally encourages it. At six years old, he already has a developed sense of smell and taste, and I try to nurture this curiosity. Beyond the recipes, I above all want to pass on to him a love of the table. I’d also like for him to keep a collection of happy images in his mind: the smell of his grandmother’s hot chocolate, the colors of the ceramic dishes made by his mother, the dishes and flavors that remind you of a person or a moment."

While Mariam says her mother's moghrabieh is her favorite dish — "without hesitation, closely followed by her mouhallabieh" — Georges has his own favorites: Roquefort pasta and kebbeh.

Among Mariam's fondest childhood memories are her grandmother's cream puffs, her mother's steak-frites, her father's roast sandwiches and, above all, the lavish birthday spreads her mother prepared entirely from scratch.

“Today, when I organize Georges's birthday parties, I often think back to those moments. I try less to recreate the recipes than to recreate the feeling: family recipes, homemade food and lots of love ... in the hope of giving him, too, a treasure trove of happy memories.”

In partnership with