May I ask for your vote for Lebanese cuisine?!
Great news! Rose Water & Orange Blossoms is a finalist in the Saveur Best Food Blog Awards…I’d be so honored to have your vote (takes just a moment, right here), which closes April 9th.
As a warm welcome to all of our new readers, the photos here (they’re linked to stories and recipes) are meant to give you, and all of us, a little taste of the Lebanese table we love to gather around….
Being recognized by Saveur means a lot to me for a whole slew of reasons.
Food magazines like Saveur have been a staple of my reading diet for a lot of years. As long as I can remember, really, since my mom always had them around when we were kids. I remember sitting behind the family room door (the only place the fourth of five kids could find some privacy) to dive into Bon Appetit and, for good measure, Ladies Home Journal. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t meant to be reading the “Can This Marriage Be Saved” column so religiously at 10 years old, and I don’t think it did much for me after all (this happened), but the food stuff—that stuck with me.
As soon as I had my own address, my mama started me on my own magazine subscriptions. I signed on for others whenever I found a magazine I didn’t want to miss a single issue of, which included the then-brand-new Saveur magazine (launched in 1994). Saveur’s way with story, with history, and above all with culture and cuisine was completely unique and riveting.
From the start I thought This is my food! These are my people! I remember telling a guy I was dating that if I could do anything at all, it would be to have Lebanese food, written by me, published in Saveur. That I might even like to write books about it. He kinda laughed, and not in a way you’d approve of. He, also a writer, thought I was reaching a little too high. Good thing that one ended when grad school did.
Then, when I was living in Chicago working on everything but my food writing, I could see the eyes of the culinary world turning its gaze and palate toward Middle Eastern ingredients and recipes and culture. I was anxious that I wasn’t in the mix. I was living with my sister, and every month when the magazines arrived, we’d scan for traces of our food. Each time we saw a tidbit, Peg would wait for my reaction, which was not pretty. Yes, happy for Lebanese and other Middle Eastern cuisines, happy for the world to get to know how special, delicious, and interesting it is. But not happy, not happy at all, that I wasn’t the author of any of it.
One day I walked in and Peg said: Ummmm, go in the kitchen?
Saveur was on the kitchen table, opened to a full-on spread about hummus. I stared at the thing viciously. Tears burned my face. I grabbed it and tore the story out of the magazine. Peg thought I was going to trash it in the alley before she could even read it.
Instead, I marched to my desk and taped the ripped pages to the wall above it, directly in my daily line of vision.
Not too long after that, I did publish a short piece in Saveur, about learning to make laban, yogurt, with Sitto. And then some other stories, here and there, inspired by the beauty and love of Lebanese cuisine.
I started taking the (not always obvious, not always easy) leaps from one stone in the path to the next: leaving my corporate job in the city, going to culinary school out west, moving back to my hometown in Michigan, launching the Rose Water & Orange Blossoms blog, and now, publishing a Lebanese cookbook.
Do I still freak out whenever I see our food authored by other writers in all kinds of places? A little (okay, sometimes a lot; just ask Peg). Do I struggle not to laugh away my own big dreams? The “yes” to that has an expletive before it, it’s such a big yes. But above all, I’m so very glad the stories and the writers of the Lebanese way in the kitchen, and the wonderful magazines that publish them, are out there shining the light. And I’m grateful to be right there with them, sharing the love.
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I'm so glad you're here! You'll find among these pages the fresh and classic Lebanese recipes we can't get enough of! My mission is to share my tried + true recipes -- and to help our Lebanese food-loving community keep these culinary traditions alive and on the table. What recipes are you looking for? Let me know!
Maureen, I have already voted for you of course, love the blog the pictures above, still miss your Dad, and cannot wait for your book. Good luck, God Bless. Cousin Gregory.
Thank you cousin–you’re the best.
Congratulations — you SO deserve it, your blog is a joy to visit. Off to vote!
Oh Sue, thank you–your site is also a great joy to visit!
Done deal. Looking forward to seeing your lovely, deeeeelish blog declared tops! Also looking forward to your book, yummmmmm!
Thank you so much! Yummmmmm!
I tried the lentil patties recipe and everyone thoroughly enjoyed them. I have have made many variations of meatless burgers, and this was one of the best. My wife gave me some grief because of my presentation with the lettuce leaf and kalamata olives. I did however the make tried and true cucumber salad as well w/mint – I thought tasted very well with it. Congratulations on your being a finalist in your category. I did register (BM’d) a new site (Saveur) and voted for you of course. Thank you, and keep up the great work!
That’s great Nick! Maybe your wife wanted a bun?! Love the cucumber salad with it, great idea. Thank you for everything!
Impossible not to vote! Your blog is one of the best things I’ve ever read online. It’s so much more than wonderful Lebanese cuisine: it’s life experiences lived with loved ones around food, it is a journal generously filled with stories, culture, passion and fun. Best of luck with the voting. (And I can’t wait for your book to come out.)
Carlos, wow. Thanks so much for your kind, kind words and the way you’ve captured this site so beautifully.
I only saw one place to vote, your photo of hummus at the Saveur site. Had to register first, hope I didn’t miss anything..
I think you’ve got it Jerry, and many thanks for taking the time!
done!! & well deserved.
Just registered and voted for you… hope you win! 🙂
Thank you Marilyn!
M: I tried to vote yesterday and today foryou. It would not take my pass word. good luck getting your book out,
Sorry for the trouble voting, Tootsie, and thank you for trying!
Maureen,
I stick with my people! You’re one of them…:)
I have also been reading Saveur for years – amongst so many others.
I have loved your site since coming across it a short time ago. Too bad you don’t live closer to the east coast.
Soooo pretty, smart (and shares my love, the warmth and cooking of Lebanese culture & food), and single?
Yours, and good luck!
Jim
You are so kind–many thanks to you Jim, my people!
Maureen
Voting accomplished – – best wishes!
Loved reading your post and learning more about you. I’m amazed at how similar our backgrounds are . . . we are sisters of different mothers!
Have a great weekend.
Elaine
http://www.OMGlifestyle.com
Thanks so much, sister!
you got my vote ! good luck !!
Thank you Michelle!
Hi Maureen , I think you have won already .
Amen Joannoz, thank you!
The picture review of all the food is great. I’d forgotten how many memories have come from your cooking of all the traditional foods.
How nice–thank you Roger!
Maureen – I was cruising thru the Saveur categories and noticed your hummus photo! yeahhhhhh! lady! fantastic. you deserve it – your food, photos and stories are gorgeous! best wishes, Megan
How cool Megan, thank you thank you!!
Good luck, Maureen! I voted for you.
This post resonated with me in a very powerful way. I appreciate your seething honesty and drive to be part of the Middle Eastern food conversation. I have felt exactly the same way. I am Palestinian-American, a writer, a thoughtful cook and blogger. I am in many ways part of the food sphere, and very much in the writing sphere (I work at an int’l literary festival) but not enough yet to satisfy my drive, especially when it comes to having more Middle Eastern voices representing our cuisine.
Thank you for your wonderful contribution to the blogging world and for this post especially, which made me feel much less alone in my ambition 🙂
A kindred spirit! Keep doing what you do, Yasmeen! Many thanks, and it’s an honor to be on this path together with you.
You won! Congrats!
Thank you!
Felicitations! Vous avez gagne.
Well deserved Maureen.
I voted for you!
Very inspirational! Congrats on your win.