Category: Hosts and local guides

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Hosts and local guides

Therese and Tony Khoury

Tony and Therese prepare a wide variety of traditional dishes highlighting their village
A glance at Therese and Tony's mezze
A glance at Therese and Tony’s mezze

The couple owns a family restaurant on the terrace of their modest home in Khrayzet at the entrance of Ein Zebde village.

The restaurant offers traditional Lebanese cuisine and homemade mezze and is famous for its fawaregh or “stuffed intestine” dish, available upon request starting September.

Tony Khoury is a farmer from Saghbine who owns lovely apple, olive and peach orchards near his restaurant, where visitors can involve in apple and olive picking activities when in season and while the restaurant is open (from August – November).

Tony and Therese always greet you with a warm smile and create a convivial environment for your time at their cozy restaurant, under the shades of the trees.

The beautiful and warm settings of the family restaurant
The beautiful and warm settings of the family restaurant

Ask their younger son Chady, 13 yrs old, about his wild berry jam and he will proudly explain about the picking process and how he made them with his own hands. He also started experimenting with homemade wine! An enthusiastic young entrepreneur, strong with motivation and full of optimism, definitely and innovator for the future of this family business.

We invite you to know the face behind your apples, the person who put his heart into growing the fruit and much care into picking it just for you.

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Hosts and local guides

The Gorayeb family, Saghbine

Fadi Sharara

At the Ghorayeb family business, one can experience the entire process of dairy production and bulgur. With more than 40 years of experience in dairy production, the mother – Amale Ghorayeb – decided to open her own business of goat milk dairy products. Tante Amale takes milk from shepherds in her village and other surrounding villages, a true ode to local production and Km Zero.

With time, and assisted with her daughter Grace, she extended her business to include cow milk processing and to develop her line of mouneh.

Following her footsteps, her son Fadi, opened a wheat mill and a bakery for mana’ish; he processes wheat to make different grades of bulgur while his wife manages the bakery which makes all sorts of mana’ish and pastries.

Amale and her daughter Grace always smiling to their visitors
Amale and her daughter Grace always smiling to their visitors. Picture ©Barbara Massaad
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Hosts and local guides

Raymonda Nakhleh, Kherbet Qanafar

hosts

A mother of two, originally from the capital Beirut, Raymonda got married, moved to Kherbet Qanafar in West Bekaa and became a kindergarden teacher since. Creative by nature, she found in food and moune making a space for exercising her skill and in the garden surrounding her house, the place to care for her fruits.

Raymonda and her husband are most known in West Bekaa for distilling alcohol, making Arak and homemade wine. Along with Lebanon’s traditional drink, Raymonda collects mulberry from her backyards and makes her line of mulberry products: mulberry syrup, jam and compote. Watching Raymonda at work and listening to her story with mouneh making is a fascinating experience. she says it best with her own words ” I am in constant competition with myself to innovate. I work with all my senses”.

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Hosts and local guides

Boutros Bou Maroun, Saghbine

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With a heartwarming smile, “Ammo Boutros” greets you as soon as you meet him to walk with him and his goats. He has been herding baladi goats since he was a child with his father, a family business since his grandfather’s days.

Ask Boutros about his goats and you will be overwhelmed with a wealth of knowledge that has been running in his family for three generations now. With much pride and confidence he talks about his goats, the quality of goat milk and the wild plants they graze on.

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Hosts and local guides

May Kanaan, Mrosti

may

“Bumble bee”! There is no better word to describe May’s vivacious character. Full of energy, an entrepreneur by nature, and simply a joyful person to be around, May has been working in food for as long as she can remember.

Training as a butcher with her father in her village Mrosti, May decided to open a mini-market after the closing of the butcher shop.

Today, she is known for her Saj bread making, her fatayer and Mana’ish. May will also take you to collect wild edible plants in the Wild, from which she will make amazing fatayer, a highlight on seasonality!

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Hosts and local guides

Raed Zeidan, Mrosti

beekeeper

Raed Zaidan never originally thought of becoming a beekeeper but after his father suffered an accident, he found himself assisting with the family beekeeping business. In 1992 Zeidan discovered and gathered a naturally occuring beehive, motivating him to start his own beekeeping business. Twenty years later and Zeidan now teaches beekeeping in the technical agricultural school of Baakline, passing on the trade to to new generations.

He moves his bees several times a year, allowing them to forage in the flowers from which he  wants to produce honey; from orange blossom located east of Tyre to wild flowers and thistle blossoms found at mild and higher altitudes. Towards the end of  september, Zeidan places his beehives in areas where Inula blossoms, so that his bees collect their winter reserves from the nectar of this nutritious plant for the harshest days of winter.

Raed will host you for a beekeeping and honey extraction activity in Mresti where you will get to know more about the life of bees, the cycle of honey production and much more.

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Hosts and local guides

Bassima, Mrosti

bassima

A mother of four, Bassima has been preparing mouneh for more than 20 years “the way my mother taught me”. With pride showing in her eyes and voice, Bassima explains that her mouneh is made of fresh products cultivated in her land or collects it herself in the wild.

Her star products are tomato paste made of locally grown tomatoes know as banadoura jabaliyeh.
Also, ask her for her exceptional apple jams and jelly, deliciously flavored with geranium leaves. You will most probably get a chance to try it as part of her desserts.

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Hosts and local guides

Joseph Masrouaa: natural ice-cream artisan, Saghbine

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Naturally flavoured iced-cream
Naturally flavoured iced-cream

The village of Saghbine hides a hidden treasure, the small scale Ice Cream maker, Joseph Masrouaa’s Saghbine Natural Ice Cream. He inherited the tradition of Ice Cream making from his father . The small Ice Cream shop located in the main street of the village is low key with the simple sign Saghbine’s Natural Ice Cream, Lemonade.

saghbine natural ice cream

 

To prepare his Ice Cream, Masrouaa uses fresh goat’s milk from local farmers, as well as fresh fruits for his different flavours. His Ice Cream is characterized by its elasticity. Masrouaa explains that “the quality of the salep used is key in achieving the desirable consistency, salep from Istanbul being the best”.saghbine natural ice cream

Masrouaa prepares his basic ice cream mixture by boiling milk with salep, mastic gum, orange blossom water and sugar. Then he flavours the different batches with fresh fruits and nuts. The flavours of ice cream change with every fruit season. At his place, you can enjoy  the following ice cream types: almond, milk, chocolate, strawberry, pistachio, honeydew melon, watermelon, lemon and mulberry. His fresh lemonade is as famous as his ice cream.

saghbine natural ice cream

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Hosts and local guides

Elias Abou Khazen, Ein Zebde

elias

Elias has a wealth of knowledge about West Bekaa, its traditions, culture and agriculture. Originally a mathematics teacher, Elias has a passion for agriculture and his family has always valued and worked their lands.

Enjoy a day of apple or olive picking at Elias’ orchards and learn much about the agriculture in the region and the picking techniques for each harvest. He will also take you on walks in the uphills of Ein Zebde and Saghbine and inform you about the collection of wild edible plants.

You want to know what “Ein Zebde” means? Just ask Elias and enjoy a glimpse into the history of this village.

His greeting reflects the warmth of the Bekaa and he will keep you longing for more stories from the present and the past!