Heart and SOUL
Lebanon’s warmth and generosity finds ultimate expression in its food, discovers Jo Bates. She serves up a taste of life in the Middle Eastern nation.
Lebanon is not a polished and predictable destination – it’s a thrilling cultural and culinary revelation. Leave behind notions of lattes and friands and embrace cardamom-spiked Turkish coffee and nut-studded, rosescented, pastry-layered sweets. Pack light and loose because the waistline will expand with the never-ending mezze dishes and all that follows. You’ll discover trays and trays of sticky, nutty sweets to try and street food to devour. Manousheh (white flatbread) drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with za’atar is a must, as are fluffy falafel packed with pickles and wrapped tight with bread.
Lebanon is also a place where your heart has the chance to expand a little more than your middle. The people have known war and political turmoil, and there’s a sense that humanity and compassion are better understood here. Lebanese hospitality is some of the warmest you’ll ever find in your travels.
The country packs plenty into its geographic scope; there’s skiing in winter; olive trees grow on rock-lined terraces in the hills; wineries spring like oases in the central Bekaa Valley; and in the south, banana plantations frill the edges of the Mediterranean. Pick your favourite season to travel: orange blossoms in the cool of March; spring for fresh almonds, peas and wild gardenia; and juicy figs in August when the intense summer heat subsides.
Begin your adventures in Beirut, the capital, which has a lineage that encompasses the Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders and Ottomans. And thanks to the French Mandate, locals flip from Arabic to French and English with enviable ease. This heady city juxtaposes ritzy new towers with crumbling Ottoman palaces, an old mechanic’s workshop next to a hip bar; high end next to humble. It’s a place to eat, shop and party – something the locals do very well.