Food heritage and innovation: are we talking the same language? Reine Barbar Associate Professor USEK

Transcription

1 Food heritage and innovation: are we talking the same language? Reine Barbar Associate Professor USEK Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques Fall et Alimentaires 1

2 In Lebanon? Lebanese cuisine is mainly based on rural dishes. Lebanon is a small country of the Levant. Its name comes from the Semitic name lubnan which means white in reference to the snow-capped peaks of Mount Lebanon. The Bekaa Valley was long considered the breadbasket of the Roman Empire. From the Roman Empire, the Bekaa Valley provides wheat for the entire region. The bourgoul, cracked wheat, became one of the staple foods. Traditionally, the meat was only eaten at special events and celebrations. 2

3 The Mediterranean, cradle of the three monotheistic religions is rich in cultural, culinary and intellectual exchanges,. The gastronomy of each territory is the expression of culture of the place and the people who inhabit it. In 3000 BC, the Canaanites settled in Lebanon. These are the ancestors of the Phoenicians. Until its independence in November 1943, the country was under the rule of several major foreign powers: the Persians, Assyrians, Greeks (Macedonians), the Romans, the Byzantine Greeks, Arabs, Crusaders, the Mamelukes, the Ottoman Empire, and France. 3

4 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, UNESCO The term cultural heritage has changed content considerably in recent decades, partially owing to the instruments developed by UNESCO. Cultural heritage does not end at monuments and collections of objects. It also includes traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts. 4

5 They may add further domains or new sub-categories to existing domains. This may involve incorporating subdomains already in use in countries where intangible cultural heritage is recognized, including traditional play and games, culinary traditions, animal husbandry, pilgrimage or places of memory. Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, UNESCO Culinary heritage of Zahlé recognized by UNESCO Creative cities network- Gastronomy category 5

6 Souk El Tayeb has evolved since 2004 from an experimental farmers market promoting small-scale farmers and producers, to an organization working on both, national and international projects to promote and preserve culinary traditions, rural heritage and the natural environment Tayeb holds several meanings in Arabic Tayeb as good, Tayeb as tasty or Tayeb as goodhearted when talking about a person. Souk El Tayeb s mission is to create environments that bring people of different regions and beliefs together celebrating the land we love, supporting small-scale farmers and producers, encouraging organic, eco-friendly practices, contributing to local communities, leading research and educational campaigns about food traditions and heritage, and promoting organic foods and a healthy lifestyle. 6

7 Slow Food Beirut is an international eco-gastronomic, membersupported, non-profit organization. Internationally it was founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life and promote local sustainable food. In Lebanon Slow Food Beirut was created officially in Slow food is a grassroots network whose supporters are linking the pleasure of good food with a commitment to their community and the environment The convivium organizes activities to highlight local foods and producers such as tastings, workshops, farm visits, film screenings, school gardens and food education for kids And Innovation? The term tradition derives from the Latin word tradere, which essentially means to transmit or to send. Tradition thus represents a form of transmission or an information flow during time of ideas, praxes, habits, methods, etc., with a character of more or less continuity. This character of continuity gives to traditions not only a link to the past but also a push to the future (Cannarella and Piccioni, 2011). Also tradition and modernity are not necessarily conflicting terms: they collide when one of these human expressions becomes an absolute value. For this reason progress and modernity are opposed to tradition when modernization tends to interrupt the links with the past 7

8 And Innovation? And Innovation? 8

9 And Innovation? And Innovation? 9

10 And Innovation? And Innovation? 10

11 And Innovation? Esmalliya Bel Achta: Crunchy and fresh esmalliye served with ice cream 11

12 Preservation of Lebanon s culinary heritage Help in rural development by the valorization of culinary ancestral know-how in Lebanese villages Help in sustainable development through the development of local products Help the development of agro-tourism in Lebanon by insuring a better visibility to Lebanese rural regions, their food as well as culinary resources Collaborative work with other universities Regional surveys 1. Research 2. Social Outreach Monthly seminars Knowledge transfer 4. Regional expansion 3. Teaching University and schools 12

13 1. Research Optimization of non gluten kneffe bread Study of traditional Marzipan from Zouk-Mikael Exploration and colloidal stability development of fermented milk drinks (ayran) Scientific exploration of culinary precisions of different preparation modes of Hommos Bi Tahine Development of a new lebanese menu: explorative study a. Hommos bi tahiné (without lemon and ice) b. Hommos bi tahiné with lemon c. Hommos bi tahiné with ice 13

14 2. Social Outreach Mixing order of arak with water Whitening effect on Baba Ghanoush or moutabal Salting eggplants before frying Marinating chick peas with sodium bicarbonate Browning of different fat sources used in Lebanon 14

15 Experience 1 Experience 2 Experience g of Laban - Egg - Salt -Mixing + heating -300 g of Laban - Starch -Mixing + heating g of Laban without mixing - Heat treatment 3. Development of teaching structures Master s degree level: Involvement in Science Days 15

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17 3. Development of teaching structures Bachelor s degree level: On the road of our culinary heritage In collaboration with the project "Baladiyat" (Laboratoire IDEES) of the Social Sciences Department at the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities, the food engineering students registered in the course «Molecular Gastronomy» went to search for culinary precisions in traditional Lebanese recipes in different regions With Molecular Gastronomy it is possible to track the technical components of the recipe through history and understand how they were born, how they evolved, why they are true or false. On the road of our culinary heritage. Culinary precisions were considered as the way for a better comprehension of our Lebanese food culture and thus our culinary heritage Students work was exposed and evaluated Among some culinary precisions: the role of salt during onion frying, the addition of starch to the yogurt produced from cow milk and not goat milk during kebbe bi laban production. Students proposed some ideas for renovation like Lebanese sushi for kebbe bi laban, frying with water and deconstructed tabboule. 17

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22 Despite our cultural differences, we share the love of taste 22