Lebanon Xploring - Amal

Lebanon’s food lovers

Amal Doumet

Amal is a housewife in her early 50’s. She has a passion for gourmet food and aims to make home meals as refined as possible. She is also a cautious woman who always watches after her family’s health. However, Amal is a food lover and understands that using a healthy alternative for a certain ingredient does not always give the best result in terms of taste. According to her, achieving a balance between healthiness and taste is very important. I accompanied Amal to the supermarket on a Tuesday morning to buy groceries for the week. “My list depends on what I have planned to cook during the coming few days”, she said. “The meat is already in my freezer. I buy meats only once a month and keep them in the freezer for later use.” She also mentioned how she has gotten her family used to eating vegetable servings three times a week, fish meals twice, and red meat no more than twice a week.

The Organic Fad

Amal has gotten accustomed to buying groceries from one supermarket. She has memorized the order of aisles and writes her list accordingly. The first thing on her list was vegetables. She immediately reaches for the organic division. “Wow, there are all kinds of vegetables today! I am buying four bouquets of parsley because I rarely find parsley in the organic section. I noticed that in less than three minutes, the cart was filled with vegetables. She was very glad to have found so many organic vegetables.

“In Lebanon, there is absolutely no control over the amount of insecticides being used. They do not care about our health, it is chaos” she continues. As we were leaving the organic division, a lady in her mid 50’s approaches us. “All organic I see, excellent! I am an employee in the Canadian Association and have worked closely with “campagna” (the organic brand). You should trust them, they are absolutely excellent” she says. And the conversation goes on for approximately 15 minutes. Because of the lack of control by the government, Amal, like many Lebanese, has recently learned about the importance of consuming organic products.

Butter = Lurpak

Amal does not need butter; she needs Lurpak. “At home, we do not run out of Lurpak. It is always there. One pack lasts us approximately two weeks” She says. As we walk through the aisle, she stops next to the Lurpak segment and reaches for the unsalted one. She always uses unsalted butter. “I use sunflower oil to cook, and extra virgin olive oil for cold dishes and salads…I do not buy meat with fat, so I add a small piece of Lurpak to give it some taste, especially if I have guests. I also use Lurpak to prepare sauces, but rarely spread it on bread. My family and I never got used to that” she says. Amal continues by saying that she knows how French butter is the best, but its problem is that it’s too heavy, and its taste in food is very noticeable. She therefore uses Lurpak because it balances food and gives a good taste, without making her feel the texture and heaviness of butter. Whenever she can however, she avoids using Lurpak and enhances the taste by using ingredients such as spices, garlic, and onion. “One very important point,” she adds, “is a rule we have at home. By the end of our meal, none of our plates should be shining with butter or oil!”

An International Influence

Amal continues her morning shopping.

She stops by the cheeses to buy Camembert, Roquefort, and Fol epi for Wednesday’s “dinner in front of the TV”. Her husband’s brothers will be joining them as well. It is very common for Lebanese family and friends to gather in front of the TV, around a semi-low table to have wine, cheese, deli meat, and grapes. This is a very French habit. As we wait for the clerk at the deli meat station to slice the ham, Amal explains to me how the deli meat she buys is German, French, or Italian made most of the time.

We now stroll through the sauces aisle. She picks up sesame oil and oyster sauce for a Chinese noodles dish. “I usually buy the most expensive brands in any category, simply because they are the best. I also look at where they are manufactured and from that I can tell if they are good products or not” she adds. She closely examines the expiry date, puts the oyster sauce back on the shelf, and reaches for one that is placed further from sight. “These have a farther expiry date” she says.

The last item on the list is frozen fish. She keeps it for last so it doesn’t thaw. “Fresh Lebanese fish is excellent in Lebanon, and a very important part of our cuisine, but our sea is polluted because of previous disasters and because there is no control over how factories dump their wastes. So I would rather buy frozen and imported fish. I’m sad to be saying this but the more European or American the food the better” Amal says. Amal is influenced by international foods because she has lived abroad and travels frequently, and that is the case for numerous Lebanese. However, Amal cooks a lot of Lebanese food because it is healthy. It contains a lot of garlic, onion, and tomato, she says. But some dishes are just too fattening and she only consumes them infrequently at restaurants. As soon as she gets home, Amal benefits from all the organic vegetables she found and prepares “fattoush”, a typical Lebanese salad.

Implications for Lurpak

Lurpak is a well known brand and a leader in its category. It is also widely used amongst Lebanese. However, it is more often used for sweets and international dishes rather than typical Lebanese food which requires margarine and olive oil instead.