Barely a day after 28 hours in airports and planes, the tastes of Lebanon still linger.
The first week I was in Lebanon, I had the most delicious pistachio ice cream cake at an Eid lunch at my new friend’s Bahia’s family home in Tripoli.
It was the second day of Eid, when my hosts and their families gathered together and feasted after finishing their month long Ramadan fast. The cake temporarily distracted me from watching the family dynamics and maybe from staring too much at Bahia’s cute older brother.
I’ve had pistachio ice cream before but never like this. It was served with ashtar a thick clotted cream, and topped with a thin white cotton candy topping and pistachios.
That piece of pistachio ice cream cake was so delicious that when I had pistachio ice cream again on my last night in Lebanon at an ice cream shop in Hamra, Beirut, I connected the sweet taste with the sweet memories of Bahia’s kind (and cute) family in Tripoli.
Another delicious sweet bite of Lebanon was from the watermelons. I’ve eaten plenty of watermelon in California, but in Lebanon it was served as an alternate and as an addition to dessert at homes or in coffee shops.
The first time I tried watermelon in Lebanon was my second night in Tripoli after smoking a delicious mint lemon hooka with Bahia.
Summers in Lebanon are warm and humid about mid 80s Fahrenheit with sixty percent humidity, while summers in Sacramento are just hot over 100 degrees without the humidity. I joked with someone when I when returned home, I walked out of a sauna then into an oven.
The watermelon in Lebanon tasted like a refreshing cold shower for the throat. The flavor although familiar just tasted new.
In suburban Sacramento, I live by myself with my cat Habibi and I eat most meals by myself.
Both the pistachio ice cream cake watermelon were tastes I enjoyed communally with my hostesses families. Enjoying these sweet bites with Bahia, her mother-in-law Sadika and their families at their homes or in coffee shops were authentic experiences I will never forget.
I doubt I would have experienced such hospitality if I visited the country on my own or if I somehow managed to find a tour group.
While I was writing this blog, an email from Farm Fresh to You asked me to confirm my fruits and veggies for a delivery next week.
I opted in for the mini seedless watermelon if only for another reminder of a sweet bite of Lebanon.
Sahteen.
Beres to Beirut 