A Few Flavors From Lebanon

Last week I had the opportunity to travel to Lebanon for 5 days for work.  It was such a change of scenery from Kuwait!  Lebanon has so much history and definitely has a strong French influence.  In fact, the neighborhood I was staying in mostly spoke French.  The scenery was beautiful with mountains and the Mediterranean Sea.  Lebanon still has some ancient Roman ruins, and there are still buildings that are bombed out from the after math of their civil war from 1975-1991.  Beautiful scenery, lovely people, delicious food and typical crazy Middle East driving at its finest. 

I spent a lot of time at the Maki Restaurant in Beirut.  It was fun meeting some people there and having a lot of business dinner meetings ;).

Outside of Maki Restaurant

Every morning I would have manoosha (?spelling) for breakfast.  Manoosha is very popular in Lebanon, and it was recommended to me to try.  I loved it!  It is a pita like bread drizzled with olive oil and topped with fresh zataar.  Zataar is a delicious herb with a basil-ish, thyme like taste.  It was very good!  Pairing it with some cut vegetables and tea, I was very happy. 

Breakfast! Manoosha

 Since there is such a strong French influence, French pastry shops were abundant every where.  There were 2 close to my accommodation that I tried.  I really don't have a strong sweet tooth, but OH. MY.  Once you walk in these places, the desserts are so beautiful, you just have to try some of their creations.  The French are of course known for being one of if not the top experts of desserts and pastries.  The flavors and textures were so much fun.  I forgot I was a dietitian...... just for a minute ;). 

The 2 French bakeries

Beautiful!

These may or may not have been the only desserts we got.......

I did enjoy some local healthy food too, like fruit.  The fresh grapes from the mountains of Lebanon were quite possibly the best grapes I've eaten!  So, all in all it was great trip and hopefully will be able to go back sometime.  Here are some more scenery pictures.....

Beautiful view by the sea

Sunset over the Mediterranean Sea