post 27/365

Because nothing says I love you like a warm wrapped tanjara straight from your mom’s stove, this post is dedicated to all the loving mothers in Lebanon and there are plenty of them out there. A Lebanese mom’s biggest fear is that you or your family might die of starvation. She will do absolutely everything to make sure that you and your family are well fed.

I’ve been able to cook and bake for as long as I can remember. My mom taught me how to cook for myself when I was maybe in my 20s, and I have been cooking ever since. I usually cook for my family 3 times a week because the other days I am busy at work or trying to write this blog and find myself strapped for time. Unlike other mothers in other countries, I find no need to panic when noontime arrives and I still haven’t thought of what to feed my 2 hungry boys.

All I have to do is make a call to my mom and say:

“Hi Mamy, shou tabkhin el yom?” (Hi Mamy, what’s cooking today?),

To which I have to fain a certain interest as I go with her through my home cooked delivered menu.

“Eh bass, ekher marra katarte l’ bharat, khafefiyon shway, atyab” (yes, but last time you went a bit heavy on the spices, don’t put as much today, it’s better).

Not only do I get to order my healthy home cooked meal from my mom, but I have the audacity to be a food critic too and find the need to give my opinion on how her cooking needs tweaking.

True to her word and as precise as Big Ben, at one o’clock sharp, there is a knock on my door and my warm tanjara wrapped in a checkered cloth arrives, filling my home with aromatic smells of spices and a good hearted meal, engulfing our space with her love and warmth.

So hats off to the women in our lives, in the kitchen, who have been feeding our families for years, and who run our world. Sadness for me is missing your mother’s cooking because nothing says comfort like the warmth of a mother’s home-cooked meal.

Because, like any other Lebanese person living on the planet, I utterly believe that my mom cooks better than yours I #livelovelebanon and I will #fight on