Bethany Kehdy

A Champion of Middle Eastern Food & Recipes

Orange Blossom Water

Orange Blossom Water is a clear, fragrant water distilled from macerated blossom flowers of the Seville oranges or bou sfeir. It is believed that a spoon of orange blossom water diluted with water and some sugar or honey otherwise known as café blanc can bring your heart rate up and so it is used to treat people who are feeling faint. It is a traditional ingredient in Middle Eastern desserts and used alone or in combination with orange...

Recipe for Mouwaraka as featured in Food & Travel Magazine

Happy New Year! This is my first post for the year and it's a very special one. It's been a longtime dream to write an article about Lebanon and 2010 saw me realize that dream. Accompanied by Roderick Field, we flew to Lebanon where we spent five days gorging ourselves. In fact, on one of the days, we managed to visit 6 different restaurants, and it wasn't just tastings that took place. Part of Lebanon's great charm is the abundant hospitality...

Cardamom Yoghurt Mousse w/ Tangerine Compote & Pistachios

What's your idea of a perfect holiday? Mine? My bottom perfectly poised on a sandy beach, chilled music in the background, a good self-help book (because everyone needs help), a few tropical cocktails to set things in motion, and of course a good-looking charmer sweet-talking me all the way. Luckily, I'm married to one so that's already a given! And, where will my bottom be settling in the next 10 days, you ask? Ah, it will be on one of the...

Ma’amoul – Middle Eastern Cookies Stuffed with Pistachios, Dates & Walnuts

  I recently called my father in search of a ma'amoul recipe. A bit perplexed he proclaimed in Arabic: "Why do you want to trouble yourself with making ma'amoul. It's so much work and anyway I don't like ma'amoul. Really it's too much effort for nothing. Shou baddeek bi ha shaghle" See my father is not a baker. A fantastic cook but definitely not a baker. Also, the majority of people in Lebanon don't make ma'amoul anymore given the...

Cardamom Pancakes with Orange Blossom Syrup & Pistachios

Can you believe it's March already? I woke up this morning completely unaware that we had stepped into a new month, till I received the news on Twitter (the source of most if not all my information these days)!  Oh how I love March! March means the onset of spring even though it isn't officially spring till March 20th also known as the Vernal Equinox. It's a great month that signals a fresh start, longer days, the chirping of birds, the...

Ginger Panna Cotta with a Tangerine Gelée

I had a sudden inspiration to make panna cotta last week while my cousin Melanie was visiting. Before I talk about that, let me introduce Mel... Mel and I were born the same year, same day AND in the same hospital! Yea, pretty freakish! Have you ever noticed how many late August/September babies there are?!  I've always put it down to the holiday spirit...If ya know what I mean ;) Anyway, one of the other things Mel and I share is our...

Ghraybeh- Lebanese Butter Cookies

Ghraybeh are Lebanese butter cookies laced wonderfully with orange blossom flower then individually adorned by a piece of almond, pistachio or a pine nut. They are usually made into either S shapes, diamond shapes and most often shaped into wreath- like shapes where the ends are sealed together with a nut of choice.  They are very delicate and melt in your mouth. Ghraybeh cookies are served around the holidays and are delicious with a cup...

Edible Holiday Gift Idea #2- A Variety Of Chocolate Truffles

For those of you that know me, you will perhaps know that I don't have much of a sweet tooth. However, I do absolutely love chocolate truffles as they are not sickly but more bitter sweet. These are the types of sweets I really enjoy. I couldn't really decide on any particular flavour to go with. I had several ideas lurking in my mind like Orange Blossom Flower and Pistachios, Chile and Vodka, Rum and Coconut, Brandy and Ginger, and simply just...

Beirut & Riz Bi Haleeb- Rice Pudding with Mastic & Orange Flower Blossom

I always love a really good Lebanese rice pudding. It is so easy to make and a blend of some of my favorite flavors. This one in particular has one I don't get to use so often; mastic gum. Mastic gum reminds me of the Lebanese milk & mastic ice cream we used to have all the time growing up. It was and still is one of my favorites. I love how the ice cream gains a very light stretchy pull, as a result of the mastic gum. You can imagine how...

Labneh -Three Different Flavours & Village Memories

I grew up on a farm for part of my childhood, during the turbulent civil war in Beirut, Lebanon. As many other Lebanese, we fled the city (many more left the country altogether), in search of refuge in the mountains. As every family traditionally hails from a village, we returned to our home village of Baskinta. My father, an international lawyer, started a dairy farm and began planting the land where we grew just about everything. We were...

Vinegars, Syrups & Souring agents

  Verjuice Verjuice (aka as hosrum)  is the unfermented, sour juice, extracted from semi-ripe grapes. Verjuice adds a wonderfully delicate, sweet-tangy tone to dishes, salads and reductions. Verjuice is available in some supermarkets and Middle Eastern delicatessens. Apple Vinegar  Our family farm in Baskinta is host to hundreds of apple trees of which much of their fruit goes to souk each year. My father retains a...

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