Dear reader,
Before I even moved to Dublin, I knew finding proper Lebanese food there was going to be a struggle. My "extensive research" (a quick Google search) brought up basically one spot.
Let me break it down for you. You’ll see one or two "Lebanese" restaurants in town, but you’ll check their menu, and it’s just falafel, and the shop is actually owned by a Syrian guy. Apparently putting "Lebanese" on the sign sells better.
After two weeks of eating sad, questionable food, last week was an unexpected win. First, I went to a Georgian restaurant. The guy at the counter was from Azerbaijan. I told him I was Armenian. After 10 seconds of awkward silence, I broke the ice I had frozen and said we’d put our political differences aside just for that evening. He took our order. I got kebab, meat dumplings, and khachapuri with basterma. I didn’t know what khachapuri was before this, but the best way I can describe it is Georgian saroukh manousheh. In the end, I enjoyed the meal way more than I expected. The kebab was different and less spiced than what I’m used to, but it was good enough.
Then two days later, a friend and I were walking around, dreading the thought of having to eat another burger or pizza. And then, right across from a tarot reader stand in an indoor market, we found a pizza place with man’usheh on the menu. We got lahm bi aajin and a cheese and sujuk manousheh. The dough was thicker, and they cut them like pizza slices, but I really didn’t care. We added lemon, mint, tomatoes, and debs al-remmen to the lahm bi aajin, and honestly, it was the best thing I’ve eaten since I got here.
My streak ended yesterday with a “chicken shawarma” that turned out to be crispy chicken in burrito bread with tahini sauce. So, yeah, the search continues.
In case you’re now craving proper lahm bi aajin, we’ve got you covered with not one, but two Tripolitan-style recipes from Chef Alan Geaam and Chef Amani.
Melissa Manouchakian
Distribution editor
Our recipes:
- Tripolitan lahmeh bi aajin by Alan Geaam
- Chef Amani’s Tripoli-style lahmeh bi aajin
- The mana’eesh of the Chouf by Salim Azzam
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