Food Heritage Foundation
Known for its abundant tomatoes, Kherbet Qanafar in West Bekaa produces some of the tastiest tomato paste in Lebanon. As part of the “The Heritage Guardians” series which highlights local producers in the framework of the MedSnail project, ESDU met Lina Haddad, a seasoned producer who has been making tomato paste for the past 13 years with her husband. Subtle and special, Lina’s tomato paste is worth a taste.
Providing opportunities for rich experiences and the preservation of cultural heritage, rural tourism is a pillar of economic growth outside of big cities. Countless rural communities around the world look to tourism as a lifeline and leading provider of employment opportunities.
This year’s edition of World Tourism Day is celebrated under the theme of “Tourism and Rural Development.” Although the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have made this year exceptionally challenging for the tourism sector, we remain optimistic that the golden days of rural tourism are still over the horizon.
Connecting nine villages in higher Chouf and West Bekaa, Darb El Karam is a food tourism network that offers thematic packages according to harvest seasons. Visitors can delight in Lebanon’s unique food culture through activities like picking and preservation, tours across the country to discover traditional food processing methods and unique culinary experiences at the houses of food producers.
Looking forward beyond lockdown, we’ve planned some exciting culinary adventures. Situated in the charming West Bekaa Valley, our upcoming goat trail on Saturday, October 3rd will introduce visitors to local goat shepherds, offer a variety of authentic dairy delicacy and wine tastings, a hike with breathtaking views between Ain Zebde and Saghbine and much more.
Stay tuned for our future rural adventures for 2020 which will be announced soon!
During the FCSI EAME biannual conference, held in Vienna for Food Service Consultants all over the world, Zeinab Jeambey, FHF food tourism expert, spoke about the importance of food tourism for rural areas in Lebanon and highlighted Darb el Karam as a unique food tourism destination in the Shouf Cedar Biosphere Reserve, where visitors have the chance to be involved with farmers and producers in harvesting and food processing activities and enjoy star dishes of the areas at tables d’hote and guesthouses.
On May 26th 2016, the Food Heritage Foundation was awarded the Green Phoenix Trophies of Sustainable Development for its food tourism project darb el karam.
This award is part of the 2016 Lebanese Sustainable Development Contest organized by LEBA association – France in collaboration with the Union of Jezzine Municipalities and ESIB (Ecole Supérieure des Ingénieurs de Beyrouth.
The ceremony was held at ESIB in Mansourieh where the competing finalists presented their projects. FHF president Eng. Mabelle Chedid, accompanied by the food trail coordinator in West Bekaa Mrs. Petra Rassi, attended the event and received the award.
darb el karam – Food Heritage Trail is a network of 9 villages in the West Bekaa and Higher Shouf promoting food and agricultural heritage through tourism. The network aims to highlight the seasonality and locality of foods and crops, the traditional processing methods and most importantly, the generosity of the hosts.
This generosity trail invites its visitors to meet the shepherd, the farmer and the food producer, participate in harvesting and pastoral activities and taste local culinary specialties. darb el karam aims to raise awareness about the origin of a food product or a traditional dish and its cultural and emotional ties to the destination.
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.
Food heritage specialist Zeinab Jeambey, went on a trip around the country and visited its main cities looking for the locally famous pastries and the stories of their pastry chefs.
Her visit to the old city of Saida, South of Lebanon, lead her to Sanioura family whose fame in pastry making dates back to 1859!
The chefs at Sanioura pastry shop explain that their ancestors were experimenting with different ingredients and they came up with a “strange” dough, thus the name “gharibeh” from which derived the name of the dessert “Ghraybeh”. Later on, they remolded the dough into lozenge shapes, easier to fill with dates and pistachio, and to pack for export to Damascus and Palestine. The new shape was called Sanioura after the family name of its master pastry chefs. Made solely from ghee, flour and powdered sugar, Sanioura sweets preserve very well.
To try genuine “Sanioura”, contact Sanioura Pastry shop at: 07 724157, Saida – Riad el Soloh Street
The original article “The sweet tooth of the Levant” was featured in Lebanon Traveler Magazine
darb el karam never ceases impressing its visitors in all seasons, in winter like in summer; impressing them with his hosts and their warm hearts and true smiles, the generosity and quality of the food, and the one-of-a-kind experience weaved around culinary activities and food heritage.
A group of journalists with their families were invited to spend a day on darb el karam in West Bekaa. They started their day early in the morning with a traditional breakfast at Botrous and Sonia’s modest house in Saghbine. For this special occasion, Sonia has prepared, among other traditional foods, fresh baladi cheese and labneh from the milk of the family’s goats.
[quote]It has been a long time since I enjoyed a delicious baladi breakfast[/quote] said Reema while sipping her cup of tea.
After having coffee on the balcony overviewing the Qaraoun Lake, the group challenged the cold weather and went on a soft hike with “3ammo” Botrous from the mountains of Saghbine towards Ein Zebde where they met with Nabila who has set for a coffee break in the village plaza.
Before heading to lunch, the group joined Nabila to collect the season’s wild edible plants, enough to make fatayer (pastries), salads and other appetizers!
[quote]We need to do this more often![/quote] shouted Katia as she filled her lungs with fresh air, on top of the mountain.
Our visitors did not only have scrumptious meals highlighting each village they visited, but they also learned how to make the famous potato kebbe of Noha and the mouthwatering kaak of Lina!
Eduardo Lima, photojournalist from Brazil, is documenting the different aspects of the daily life in Lebanon being affected by the Syrian crisis. Lima has been roaming around the country taking pictures of Lebanese and Syrian communities dealing with the impact of the Syrian war. Last week, he went on a journey with members of the Food Heritage Foundation to the West Bekaa, visited the community kitchen in Khiara and had lunch on darb el karam – food heritage trail.
In Khiara’s kitchen, Lima photographed the ladies while they were cooking “moujaddara” for lunch. He chatted with them, asked them how working in the community kitchen impacted their lives, and then he accompanied the field officer for pots distribution to the different families enrolled in the program.
[quote]I am really glad I am including the pictures of the community kitchen in my project. I think the work you are doing, providing jobs and help is important for various things including recovering the self-esteem of those affected one way or the other by what is going on in Syria[/quote]
After visiting some families, Lima and FHF team headed to darb el karam where they visited the olive mill in Aytanit. Lima was impressed by the work at the mill while Shakar, owner of the press explained the different steps of extracting oil.
[quote]The food and generosity remind me of the family gatherings I used to have at my grandmother’s house in Brazil[/quote] said Lima while having lunch in Lina’s table d’hôte in Kherbet Kanafar.
Lina, with the help of her husband, has set the table and prepared traditional recipes from the fall menu: fattoush, mutabbal batenjen, kebbe b joz (walnut kebbe) and vegetable stew with rice. After lunch, the group savored pumpkin zlebye with a cup of tea and seasonal fruits before going back to Beirut and escaping the storm.
Reporter Federica Marsi visits Darb el Karam in West Bekaa and interviews hosts about their specializations in Darb el Karam the hopes that the food trail raises in light of the region’s political instability, as part of an article set to be featured in Aljazeera.
After a tour in Saghbine and Ein Zebde, shadowing the shepherd, the farmer, the food producer and visiting the Bed and Breakfast, Federica hails Darb el Karam, leaves with high hopes and with a promise to visit again.
We look forward for her article!
This year, discover Lebanon’s culinary heritage through saj!
Manakish, fatayer and bread will be on our daily menus of Travel Lebanon at the Garden Show 2015.
Producers from 5 Lebanese regions will prepare their saj specialties, as well as other foods and drinks “highlights” of
their villages.
The Food Heritage Foundation will be promoting its food heritage trail darb el karam in West Bekaa and Higher Shouf, project implemented in collaboration with the Environment and Sustainable Development Unit of AUB and the Shouf Biosphere Reserve, and supported by USAID in the framework of LIVCD program.
May 26-30, Beirut Hippodrome, 5-11 pm