16 April 2013
MARJAYOUN, Lebanon: For some, making the perfect homemade paella is no easy feat, given the difficulties of perfecting the rice and avoiding the common error of overcooked shellfish. But for 16-year-old Ali Amin, cooking paella is a breeze.
“Paella is delicious and so easy to cook,” said Amin, a student at the Technical School of Marjayoun. “I left school two years ago to study hotel management here. I want to be a chef and I want to travel abroad.”
The young culinary student learned paella thanks to exchange cooking classes put on by UNIFIL’s Spanish contingent in south Lebanon.
The five-week course seeks to broaden the culinary expertise of a dozen or so hospitality students in addition to teaching some of the Spanish UNIFIL members Lebanese dishes.
The program also seeks to promote cultural exchange and boost relations between southern residents and the UNIFIL troops tasked with maintaining peace and safety in the area.
The courses are held every Saturday and began at the beginning of April. They run until May 4.
Part of Amin’s confidence is no doubt due to his expert instructor, Capt. Cecilio Martin.
Martin works at the Spanish contingent headquarters in Blat and joined the students in Marjayoun to teach them a handful of very traditional Spanish recipes.
The captain began cooking when he was 18 years old, he said, adding that he has cooked for the Spanish president and has won a tournament for cooking the best rice.
“I love food,” Martin said. “During these five days we will teach the students how to cook five different Spanish plates and at the same time learn from them how to cook five different Lebanese plates.”
The first week, Martin taught paella, which, as noted was not a simple introduction to Spanish cooking.
The Daily Star joined the cooking course in its second week, when the students learned tortillas de patatas, or Spanish omelettes made with eggs, slices of potato and green pepper.
In the coming weeks, the students are scheduled to learn pollo asaolo, tuna-stuffed eggplant and piquillo peppers with shrimp.
So far, Martin said, the students have amazed him with their culinary prowess.
“The students have a big desire to learn. They are brilliant students and I’ve learned several Lebanese dishes,” he said. “I love tabbouleh and hummus and baked kibbeh.”
He said the two cuisines share a lot in common; for example, both countries use lots of olive oil in their cooking because it is healthier and has a special flavor. But Martin said he discovered that Lebanese cuisine contains a greater variety of spices.
“What I like most is there are a lot of vegetables on the Lebanese table,” he said.
During the class, a dozen students gathered around Martin, who explained how to prepare their Spanish omelettes: Beat the eggs, he told them; then combine the eggs, green peppers, sliced potatoes and spices.
Their teacher from the technical school, Michel Homsi, had the students take down thorough notes during the exercise, since the students are tested on each lesson.
When Martin finished his lesson, the groups switched places and the students and Homsi explained the recipe for stuffed cabbage.
“This idea with the Spanish contingent is nice,” Homsi said. “We usually teach the students Lebanese and foreign cuisine, and this session is important for the students.”
Homsi saw the program as a great way for students to network with UNIFIL troops, who may find a place for them among their chefs in the future.
“The Spanish contingent hires Lebanese from around the region and maybe they can be hired once they know about Spanish cuisine,” he said.
During the program, the students will also teach the UNIFIL troops how to make stuffed zucchini, stuffed grape leaves, kidney beans and kibbeh in all its varieties: fried, baked and raw. They’ll also teach the traditional mezze – fattoush, tabbouleh, muttabal and hummus – as well as several desserts.
The UNIFIL contingent supplies the ingredients for the Spanish dishes, while the technical school provides for the Lebanese fare.
At the end of each meal, the teachers and students eat the meals they have prepared together and offer their final feedback.
“We’re proud of the students who receive the high marks for cooking,” Homsi said.
The Lebanese students are a mix of ages and educational levels.
Rucinda Rizk, 18, was raised in Sweden and returned to southern Lebanon to learn traditional Lebanese cooking.
“The food here is different than in Europe and they learned a lot from us,” she said.
Rizk prepared stuffed cabbage and fattoush for the Spanish UNIFIL troops and said that the course inspired her to pursue more Spanish cooking.
“I want to travel to Spain to work there,” she said, though her specialty is desserts.
Spanish Capt. Estmer Fernandez said that she also had a knack particularly for making dessert.
Fernandez said she began working with the UNIFIL contingent to turn a new leaf in her life, and added that she had particularly enjoyed learning about Lebanese cuisine.
“It’s an interesting class – it’s delicious and at the same time I teach them how to make a Spanish dessert dish,” she said.
Every region in Spain specializes in a particular dessert, she said, except for the one she taught.
Gachas, a licorice bread pudding, is a traditional poor man’s dessert prepared all over Spain.
“They used to make it when there was poverty and a poor economy,” she said.
The ingredients include flour, milk, sugar, lemon zest, aniseed and dry chunks of bread.
“The Lebanese sweets are also delicious because they use a lot of nuts,” she said.
As for Martin, he said his favorite of all was baked kibbeh.
He even bought a Lebanese cookbook to bring home to his wife so the two could prepare meals together, and he plans to make lots of Lebanese food back at his headquarters: “I’ll always cook Lebanese plates for my troops at the contingent, and of course they always find it delicious.”
Copyright The Daily Star 2013.
