Pickled Wild Thyme

Posted on June 29, 2020 by HishamAD

I made this recipe more than a year ago.
I haven’t shared recipes on the blog all the way from July 2019 to May 1st 2020. Things that kept me away ranged from getting sick to full on clown rehearsals followed by the trip and performances in Barcelona as part of a HUGE festival, then getting back home to the major instability starting from October till now.
I made and shot many recipes, prepared them and stored them away on a piece of paper or in my brain or on my hard drive. I know that at some point, I’ll share them, and here is one from the archives that deserves to see the light.

Pickled wild thyme -EOS 5D Mark IV_0153.jpg

This post might sound melancholic.
It is.
I want us, through this post, to go back in time when things seemed more “normal” on the surface. Continue reading →

The Spill

Posted on March 25, 2019 by HishamAD

The spill hisham assaad - cookin5m2.jpg

It is a late spill today because my body is trying to procrastinate and prevent me from writing the spill I want to share.
So I am obliging and listening to my body and postponing the heavy spill for next week where I’ll hopefully have more time to write it properly.
Speaking of procrastination, do you also feel that you leave important things till the last minute and only do it because you have to?
I do. I did almost all my life. Continue reading →

Scrambled Eggs with Desert Truffles

Posted on March 20, 2019 by HishamAD

I remember one time walking out of Hamra street, a once vibrant street in Beirut, during the last days of winter and seeing a vendor with styrofoam boxes overflowing with lump-like things held together with clear tape.
The first time I saw these sandy-stone-like produce I thought they were the world prized truffles with the amazing flavor and the unique aroma. I made risotto and shaved* some of those on top. I even buried one in a jar of short grain rice to fragrance it for risotto.

*shaved, more like crumbled it on the box grater’s slicer side only to get grains of sand later with every bite because I didn’t clean them well

PIN- Desert truffle kema kama with eggs recipe - cookin5m2-0010

Only later did I learn that these truffles are not the same thing.
These beautiful spores are called Desert Truffles. They are harvested not using dogs or pigs like western truffles but by roaming the desert landscapes (not desert dunes, but bare lands with rare vegetation) looking for bumps and cracks in the land. They dig their hands down and pull out the sand hoping there’s a something worthy in there.

Desert truffle kema kama food photography - cookin5m2-0012 Continue reading →

Sautéed Wild Greens

Posted on March 6, 2019 by HishamAD

PIN-Sauteed wild greens from tripoli recipe - cookin5m2-0022.jpg

This week is the first week of Lent for Christians following the Western church.

Although we are not fasting this year at home, we still made some Lent recipes.
For more inspiration recipes from the blog, I have posted an old collection of vegan and vegetarian recipes from my blog to try. Continue reading →

The Spill

Posted on February 14, 2018 by HishamAD

Weeks fly by. No recipe posted this week but this is the third spill. Some juicy stuff here so read along.

I conducted two tours this week with Taste Lebanon. January was such a drag. But I’m happy to be back on the road visiting the lovely producers and food makers. Mainly the ice cream 😍😍😍
Why don’t municipalities plant fruit bearing trees at the side of the roads? All I see is green messy trees. Except in Monot – Achrafieh. Citrus trees dot the pavement with their sight and coming up they’ll fill up the neighborhood with citrus blossom fragrance.
As part of an upcoming tour in Tripoli, Iffat and I had a Taste Lebanon tour in Tripoli and boy, I fall in love with every trip I take there.
Tripoli is such a beautiful, yet neglected, city. I love the souks. They look like what we know of the old Beirut Souks; lively and for everyone. Check what I wrote for this photo and tell me if you agree or not

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When you mom tells to wash your hands but you don't for 25 years so now they're ultimately stained. Jokes aside, this is a labor of love and passion. Juicing pomegranates is a labor intensive job, but the outcome is pure love ❤️ . . . #pomegranate #juice #fruit #lebanon #produce #tripoli #lebanon #man #hands #food #tastelebanon #tripolibites #passion #photography #livelovelebanon #streetphotography #people #foodphotography #foodblogger #cookin5m2

A post shared by Hisham (@hisham_ad) on Feb 11, 2018 at 12:03am PST

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfD29oljDyh/?taken-by=hisham_ad
Last week, my dad and I turns the garden pots upside down. We took out all the dead plants and weeds and I planted a few seasonal seeds. Let’s see how the garden will look like this year!
Looks like Clown Me In took all the spotlight this Sunday during the demonstration against the terrible waste management plans by our government. WE WERE ALL OVER THE NEWS YOU GUYS!
I’m so excited this week to be watching a performance by a friend of mine, Amal Kaawash, for the first time. And by the end of the week, we’re watching Victoria, a play about the first known trangender in Lebanon who was imprisoned in the 70s and when she got out, no one knew her whereabouts anymore
Speaking of performances, have you watched the Super Bowl Halftime show? What do you think?
I personally didn’t like it and felt it was bland. Probably we’re comparing to the previous breathtaking performances.
Who do you think should perform next year?
I am working on a project. Can’t share any details now. But had the first initial step today and it looks good! I’ll brag about it when it’s out
One of the most horrible feeling is designing something for yourself when you’re a graphic designer. YOU ARE YOUR WORST CLIENT! Therefore, I have tweaked my logo to something I find better suiting and more refined. I hope I am right. Let me know what you think!