Beirut cuisine: how to cook like a local

Want to learn about the cuisine of Beirut? Discover what makes this unique cuisine special, plus three recipes to try, from Hisham Assaad. For more global recipes, check out our guides to Malaysian cuisine and Hokkaido cuisine.

Recipes extracted from Bayrūt by Hisham Assaad (£27, Smith Street Books). Photographs: Liz and Max Haarala Hamilton. Recipes are sent by the publisher and not retested by us.

Beirut cuisine

Bayrūt, a city that keeps regenerating. Well acquainted with tragedy, Lebanon has suffered through years of turmoil, leaving many parts of its capital severely damaged or left in ruins. But there is a resilience and a will to live in this city that is always recovering. Nothing beats a slow walk through the alleyways and streets, admiring beautiful century-old buildings with their backdrops of modern architecture.

The food scene in Bayrūt too is constantly evolving. Bayrūt has taken Lebanese food, touched by the many cultures it has interacted with, and given it a glow-up – adopting new trends, introducing a few and reviving traditional recipes that you will find in home kitchens rather than restaurants.

But one thing you can rely on is how well made its classics are and where to find them throughout the day. In almost any local bakery you can breakfast on manouche, Lebanese flatbread topped with za’atar or vegetables, or fattet hummus, a savoury breakfast trifle of chickpeas, pita and yogurt you can find in the Ras Beirut neighbourhood.

The on-the-go option is always popular in Bayrūt and over in Bourj Hammoud, the Armenian quarter on the outskirts, you can drop by sandwich shops like Mano and Bedo where tender meat from huge shawarma spits are expertly shaved directly into thin Lebanese bread. Or look for the famous Sahyoun brothers along the green line that separated east and west Bayrūt during the civil war, selling generously filled falafel wraps drizzled with tahini sauce.

If you’re not tempted by street food then sitting down for a Lebanese maza (meze) is a marvel to the senses. A lavish spread of tabbouleh, stuffed vine leaves, sautéed beef tenderloin with pomegranate molasses, cheese rolls, sambousek and kibbeh balls is an opportunity to sample many of the flavours Lebanese cuisine has to offer.

Happy hour in Bayrūt can often drag into midnight and Mar Mikhaël street or Badaro are popular destinations to sample Bayrūt’s vibrant nightlife, where knefe, a cheese-stuffed pastry drizzled with syrup, is a good idea for the journey home, or to be had for breakfast in the morning with a sip of Lebanese coffee.

Hisham's recipes from Beirut

Arayes kafta (Kofta in pita bread sandwiches)

This is another of the many meat and bread recipes that abound in Lebanon. The meat options are plentiful and so are the dough or bread varieties. This one is a home-style replica of kafta bil aajine, a grab and go item often seen in Lebanese fast food chains and a popular post-drinking food after a night out in the bars and clubs. Although it’s not traditional, it is a popular custom among the young crowd to top arayes with mayo. I’d suggest a good slather of toum garlic sauce or a good chilli sauce is also an amazing fiery serving option.

Fattet hummus (Chickpeas and garlic yogurt with fried bread)

Fatteh, which comes from the Arabic for crumbling bread (fatta al khobz), is one of those recipes that went from being a leftovers solution to a glamorous dish. It uses stale bread that’s toasted or fried and crumbled to create a base, which is then covered with yogurt and other savoury toppings. The varieties are endless and they change based on what you have in your cupboard and what meal you’re serving it for. A few years ago a prawn fatteh became the talk of the town due to someone sharing it on Snapchat among the local traditional dishes in a Lebanese restaurant. While the dish doesn’t sound that bad, it surely isn’t traditional. I find this dish to be like a savoury breakfast trifle. Layer the fried or toasted crumbled bread at the bottom to soak up the delicious juices from the other ingredients and top with chickpeas and garlicky yogurt with fried nuts for a mixture of textures.

Nammoura (Semolina and coconut cake)

Nammoura is a fudgy, moist coconut cake with semolina and yogurt as a base. There are a couple of recipes for it in my mom’s old recipe book but I asked her for the easiest and most fail-safe one, and here it is. The prepared batter looks very runny before baking but the semolina absorbs the liquid and it bakes into a fine, soft cake. Don’t be afraid of the syrup quantity. The cake will absorb it and it creates the essential nammoura texture without being overly and sickeningly sweet. My mom couldn’t let go of the fact that I used only half of the syrup in the first testing, so don’t make the same mistake – otherwise she’ll judge you too!