From May 12 – 14, the American University of Beirut (AUB) hosted the conference entitled “Insatiable Appetite: Food as a Cultural Signifier”, a project of the Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA) Working Group on Common Heritage & Common Challenges, organized by Dr. Kirill Dmitriev (St Andrews University), Prof Julia Hauser (Kassel University) & Prof Bilal Orfali (AUB).
darb el karam had a considerable share in the conference, when the organizers and lecturers visited the West Bekaa on Friday the 13th. Petra Chedid El Rassi, coordinator of the trail in West Bekaa, planned the day’s program. Lina Haddad, food producer and owner of a table d’hôte in Kherbet Qanafar, hosted the attendees for breakfast and 2 lectures took place at her house. Lina welcomed the team, and explained to them about her role in darb el karam and what she has to offer at her table d’hôte.
Lead by Petra, the group then visited nearby village Saghbine for a village tour and went for a boat trip on Qaraoun Lake in Aitanit.
On their way back, they had lunch at Abou Elias Restaurant and Cafe, a traditional family restaurant on darb el karam where, in addition to tasty mezze prepared by Abou Elias and his wife Thérèse, they tasted traditional potato kebbeh stuffed with labneh and kawarma prepared by Ain Zebde guesthouse owner Noha Abi Rashed, and had “Tamriyyeh” for dessert, prepared by host Nabila Azzam in Ein Zebde.
