The Food Heritage Foundation’s Darb al Karam received guests mostly from Europe with Lebanese roots on Tuesday August 7, 2018. Association Léba and Association des Druzes Libanais en France chose Darb el Karam to be part of their visits program to Lebanon and booked a traditional Lebanese dinner on the food trail in the West Bekaa. Petra Chedid and Anjuli Weigelt guided the group through the evening.
After arriving in a local hotel with a beautiful view over the Litani river the group visited spontaneously the Qaraoun Lake. The impression could then be digested and discussed at the dinner in a traditional and family run restaurant. Beside this FHF also offered two live cooking stations: local women prepared different kinds of delicious Manoushe on the saj as well as grilled potato kebbeh stuffed with labneh.
The meal was complemented by some Arabic and self-written poems by Abou Elias, the owner of the restaurant. He accompanied the dishes additionally with his “derbakkeh” and traditional singing. The guests immediately joined in the traditional and well-known songs and were motivated to dance in the middle of the restaurant.
At the end of the evening all guests were satisfied by heaps of traditional and local food, old songs and dances especially Dabke. With this event, the Lebanese guests living abroad, explored their culture and got close to their roots. Most of them, particularly the younger generation did never visit the West Bekaa before. They were amazed and thrilled by its beauty and the hospitality of its people.
