A taste of Lebanon at the Tate Modern

Is a museum a showcase for arts and antiques or has it become a "living space" where one can see art, eat and shop?

Museums nowadays are no longer the cold and dead display spaces they might have been; they've become places to meet, socialize and live. Especially in vibrant cities like London or New York. One can go to the MOMA just for lunch, to the Tate for a drink or even better: for a Lebanese dinner!

To celebrate the 10 years of Massaya wines, and as part of Souk el Tayeb's Farmers Exchange Program (see annex below) and le Vieux Telegrapghe wine tasting, a Lebanese dinner took place in one of the Tate Modern's art galleries, on Thursday April 17 2008.

The setting was just unbelievable. The Tate Modern itself is one of the nicest museum in the world (not to say the nicest), set in an imposing red brick electrical plant from the last century.

The main entrance to the Tate is breathtaking. A hall of tens of meters high opening from one side to the seven floors filled with art. Arriving on the 3rd floor gallery (where the event took place) from the back entrance was a real shock. The dinner was in one of the museum's exhibition spaces.

And serving dinner surrounded by Picasso, Chagall & co, made me reconsider my humble paintings hanging on the wall back home! Organizing an event in a museum is something that only British would dare do. Running from the 7th floor kitchens (along amazing sunset views over the
Thames) and the 3rd floor dinner setting, was quite surreal. Like moving home from the kitchen to the dinning room, through long corridors.

Colin, the Birtish chef in charge, and his team managed to come up with perfect dishes with authentic Lebanese notes. What started as a headache of unknown tastes and techniques, turned fast into an amazement and discovery of a new cuisine. The menu was a mix of tastes from North and South, from Mountain and Sea. A real mix, as is Lebanon. Fattouch for a start, to contrast with the venue's setting and sophistication; followed by an oven baked cauliflower, topped with coriander, garlic and lemon. If Lebanese cuisine had one taste, it would definitely be this one!
Then a tajen samak, a real taste of the coastal plains, and a scent of lemon and oranges.
More fish in a brown caramelized sayadyieh. And green pearls of frikeh to end with the best of our land, scented with southern fragrances of kamounieh, rose buds, marjoram and cumin.

If the dinner was a success, and a pleasure as of wine and food, the preparation adventures are not to miss too. A bit like stories of lost luggage, we had our share of accidents, starting with the terrorist cauliflower! Don't want to go anonymous, or add panache to a Lebanese dinner? Add some (burnt) cauliflower.

Let me explain...Cooking cauliflower during the practice run (in the kitchens of the Tate Britain) two days before the dinner, led to the fire alarm going off, and a complete evacuation of the museum, and that includes the hundred of visitors and employees. It was just hilarious to see all crowds evacuating the building, and seeking refuge in the nearby garden. All this, because of a small and innocent cauliflower!

But back to the dinner, it was a real success! An opportunity to share the best of our land, our traditions and gather around a meal and a glass of wine. Really trying to look for similarities beyond our differences.


Annex :
Farmers exchange program
Beyond difference towards similarity

A new initiative from Souk El Tayeb under the patronage of The Lebanese Ministry of Tourism

The Farmers Exchange Program and Souk el Tayeb (SET), Lebanon's first farmer's market, aim to gather farmers and small producers from around Lebanon, and thus since 2004. In a wider
perspective, SET is now working on a new initiative: the "Farmers Exchange Program" (FEP).

A bilateral exchange
Like many of Souk el Tayeb's projects, the "Farmers Exchange Program" aims to give recognition to small-scale farmers and producers of high quality food products.

The FEP's approach is seen as a bilateral exchange between farmers and producers around the world. Lebanese farmers and producers will visit international markets and share the work experience and daily life of fellow farmers and producers. During the course of their visit, they will participate in farmers' markets: present their traditional food in tasting sessions, themed dinners, cookery classes and workshops. They will stay with fellow farmers and producers, helping them on the farm and making field trips to the area.

In return, Souk el Tayeb will welcome farmers and producers from markets around the world to share the same experience in Lebanon and to introduce them to the Souk el Tayeb's family and to Lebanese traditions in general.

Each visit/exchange is themed differently according to the hosting country's food traditions or special projects. This program will be made possible through the extensive network of SET all around the world. It will be implemented in partnership with farmers' markets, international and local associations, schools and restaurants as well as individuals active in the fields of environment, agriculture, food
and travel.

The FEP has already established a strong network of partners for the year 2008 in London, Galway, Dublin, Amsterdam, New York, Lattaqieh.

The program's objectives:

To give recognition to small farmers and producers
To perpetuate and promote local traditions and food traditions
To encourage producers and farmers to innovate in their fields
To recognize the effort and quality production of small scale farmers and producers
To emphasize the farmer to farmer interchange
To establish an international network

This exchange is to explore similarities rather than differences.

Of course Abou Rabih, a Lebanese farmer from Akkar, is very different from a Tuscan smallholder in terms of language and traditions. But at the same time, the two will have much in common: their respect for nature, their devotion to the land, their quest for quality produce, their concern for
sustainable production and their desire to market and distribute their goods effectively.

Beyond difference towards similarity!
Always using the same visionary approach, the experiences from the Farmers exchange program will ultimately be collected in a book "Farmers and Markets of the World".

Allotment and Urban Agriculture
Each visit has a special theme and subject of exchange, so that the visiting farmers can come back to Beirut with a specific experience and a project to implement the latter in Beirut or Lebanon. Allotment and urban agriculture are the theme of FEP London, where Abou Rabih and Hadi el Solh will be visiting allotments in the UK and, back in Beirut, leading a project to implement allotments and urban agriculture in our city.