Friday, February 22, 2008
Badael-Alternatives
The new Badael/Alternatives page in Al-Akhbar. My article on the history of food systems in Lebanon, and how the local food system were destroyed by over specialization in Mount Lebanon (mulberries) and by neglect in the provinces. My editorial asks: How can the government get away with a voluntary abandon of the agricultural calendar? Answer: both sides are too busy with sectarian build up to look at livelihoods. Rana Hayek asks: with the USDA approval of cloned meat and its refusal to label it, will steaks restaurants in Lebanon soon start serving it? Assaf Abu Rahhal on the potteries of Rachayya al Foukkhar in the West Bekaa, and Mariana Yazbeck on Akkoub (or Akkub), an edible thorny wild plant.
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4 comments:
I love Badael's page, thank you. I use Google translate (translate.google.com) and my own sketchy Arabic to try to figure out what's going on.
I am interested in Mariana Yazbeck's article on an herb سلطة قرص العنّة.
Hope this comes through. Transliterated into English, it seems like "salatat qrs al'azza" and she says it is also called "hindbeh" which I think I have heard of.
What is it? And do I understand correctly that it's good for the liver?
Google Translate is unreliable - it calls the herb "power disc impotence" which is funny but incomprehensible. I thought Mariana was writing a complaint about her computer, based on the translated title...
Saw in Claudia Roden's Arabesque a recipe for Escarole or Hindbeh. Now I remember Hindbeh, even though I'm not sure I've eaten it in Lebanon. It also gets called wild escarole, or frisee, or even wild chicory. Which is it? And is that the topic of Ms. Yasbeck's article?
Hi uncle you are the best. Love you . Laila
Leila, chicory is hindbeh and it is not qurs `anneh. The latter is a small wild plant that is absolutely excellent but with a very short season. I has some for lunch today with onions and lemon and olive oil.
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