Lebanese cooking is the best-known Arab cuisine in the world, largely because of emigration: there are more people of Lebanese descent outside the country than in it. What is served abroad is a narrow selection of what is eaten at home.
The mezze
A proper mezze is not starters but the structure of the meal: cold dishes first, then hot, then possibly grilled meat, over two or three hours. Hummus, moutabal of smoked aubergine, labneh with olive oil, warak enab, makdous, and always a mountain of flatbread. Tabbouleh in Lebanon is a parsley salad with a little bulgur, not the reverse, and fattoush is dressed with sumac and pomegranate molasses over fried bread.
Kibbeh
Minced lamb pounded with bulgur, made in a dozen forms: fried torpedoes stuffed with meat and pine nuts, baked in a tray in layers, grilled, or eaten raw as kibbeh nayyeh, which is a Sunday dish and a matter of local pride. It is the national dish by common consent.
Hot mezze and grills
Batata harra, spiced potatoes; rekakat, cheese rolls; sujuk and makanek sausages; frog legs and raw liver in traditional places. Grilled meat means shish taouk, kafta and lahm meshwi, served with garlic paste toum that is aggressive and essential.
Bakeries and street food
Manakish, flatbread baked to order with zaatar and olive oil or with cheese, is breakfast for most of the country and costs almost nothing. Kaak, a handbag-shaped sesame bread sold from carts, is filled with cheese or zaatar. Falafel and shawarma are dinner. In Tripoli and Saida the bakeries also do the sweets.
Sweets
Knafeh, shredded pastry over melting cheese soaked in orange blossom syrup, eaten in a sesame bread roll for breakfast in the north. Baklava by weight. Maamoul at Easter and Eid. Ashta, clotted cream with pistachio and syrup, in everything.
Drink
Arak, distilled from grapes and flavoured with aniseed, is drunk with mezze, diluted with water and ice in that order — the mixture turns milky. Lebanese wine from the Bekaa is served everywhere. Coffee is Arabic, with cardamom, and jallab or fresh lemonade with mint are the summer drinks.
How a meal works
Nobody orders individually. The table shares everything, dishes keep arriving, and stopping requires saying so several times. Bread replaces cutlery for most of the mezze. Lunch on a Sunday can run from two until six, and the fruit and coffee at the end are not optional.