the sky`s the limit

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Travel | Brazil, Beirut
THE SKY’S THE LIMIT
Words by Kevin Raub and Jessica Lee
© Dudarev Mikhail / Shutterstock
© earlytwenties / Shutterstock
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Ternate,
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Beirut
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Travel | Brazil, Beirut
Formerly overlooked bits and pieces from
the Amazon, spearheaded by a foodie
resurgence in its two biggest cities (here and
Belém), have risen as the star ingredients in
Brazil’s nova cozinha Brasileira (new Brazilian
cuisine) movement. Tasty river fish – like the
famed melt-off-the-bone tambaqui ribs at
Banzeiro (www.restaurantebanzeiro.com.br)
– and the gourmet kitchen exploitation of
regional dishes such as tacacá, a soup made
from jambu (a mouth-numbing indigenous
herb), tucupi (a cassava broth) and dried
shrimp are the new culinary kings as far
south as São Paulo. Atala owes much of his
success to the contemporary rebirth of these
and other ingredients (edible saúva ants,
pupunha hearts of palm, priprioca root)
from the world’s most famous jungle.
Brazil
Just above the home
country of Aerolíneas
Argentinas, Brazil brims with
diverse regional flavours.
Kevin Raub reports from the
land of order and progress
in our culinary preview of
the tastiest host cities of the
2014 FIFA World Cup.
Words by Kevin Raub
It may be Peruvian cuisine that has
traditionally hogged most of the South
American foodie accolades (call it savvy
marketing!), but these days the continental
divide is shifting.
With famed Brazilian chef Alex Atala’s
D.O.M. restaurant in São Paulo rising
to sixth spot on the 2013 edition of San
Pellegrino’s swooned-over World’s 50 Best
Restaurants list, there was a simultaneous
changing of the flavours, a tipping point that
resulted in both the Brazilian table being set
under the world’s culinary spotlight and the
ending of the tendency of Brazilian chefs to
depend on all things French and Italian.
Alex Atala, of D.O.M. restaurant in São
Paulo, is currently enjoying his sixth place on
the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.
Brazil clocks in as the world’s fifth largest
country, sandwiched between the USA
(fourth) and Australia (sixth). It's deceptively
big to the naked eye, and its regional
diversity – especially when it comes to
culinary traditions – is as surprisingly varied
as the real estate it occupies on a map. Rising
from the rainforest in Brazil’s far north
is Manaus, host to the first World Cup
matches ever played in the Amazon. While
football teams who unluckily drew to do
battle in this sweltering jungle metropolis
may be dreading game-time heat and
Nearly 3,000km east, the coastal
Pernambuco capital of Recife stands as
the cultural cradle of Brazil’s northeast,
a colonially rich region that owes much
of its regional cuisine to the offerings of
its drier interior landscape known as the
sertão. Here, dishes such as carne-do-sol
(salted sundried beef) form the foundation
for hearty dishes such as baião-de-dois
(a mix of rice, beans, sundried beef, and
herbs and spices) and more serious recipes
such as buchada de bode – seasoned and
boiled innards (kidneys, liver) and viscera
of a washed goat cooked with the goat’s
stomach. It makes you sweat!
Speaking of perspiration, Brazilian cuisine
would never be considered spicy held up
against Indonesian, Thai or Mexican. But
the lone exception? Salvador de Bahia,
where fiery Afro-Brazilian cuisine is heavily
influenced by the Brazilian slave trade of
the 1500s, when legions of slaves were
imported from Angola, Congo, Gabon and
Mozambique. Today, this rich gastronomic
Courtesy of D.O.M. Restaurant
The meteoric rise of Atala’s outside-thebox cuisine has been the catalyst for Brazil’s
‘light-bulb’ moment: nowhere on the
continent can match the culinary pedigree
of Brazil. A treasure trove of domestic
ingredients, stretching from the exotic
flora and fauna of the Amazon to the unique
fruits and vegetation of the cerrado (Brazil’s
tropical savannah), and a collision of
cultures owed both to colonisation and to
waves of immigration have converged to
create a gastronomic melting pot as assorted
as the seating arrangements at a UN brunch.
The crowds are flooding Brazil for football,
but this is the country’s culinary moment.
Oyster with cupuacu at D.O.M. restaurant.
Image courtesy of D.O.M. Rediscovering Brazilian Ingredients
humidity, they won’t be complaining about
dinner after the match.
Travel | Brazil, Beirut
© Luis Carlos Torres / Shutterstock
A customer buying fruit
at Municipal Market
(Mercado Municipal) in
São Paulo City, Brazil.
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© Getty Images
Travel | Brazil, Beirut
© HLPhoto / Shutterstock
5 Senses – Sight
THE PANTANAL
The Amazon is on just about
everyone’s ‘bucket list’, but you’re likely
to see more wildlife in the open-spaced
Pantanal in an hour than you’ll see in a
week in the Amazon, where animals tend
to hide in the canopy. In the world’s
largest freshwater swamp, toucan,
macaw, caiman and capybara sightings
are as common as the cold – and that’s
just the beginning. If you’re lucky,
you’ll spot a jaguar, too.
www.pantanalnature.com.br
© Filipe Matos Frazao/Shutterstock
heritage is Brazil’s strongest regional cuisine.
The most famous dish is moqueca, a seafood
stew (usually swimming with fish or shrimp
or any combination thereof) made with
coconut milk, dendê oil, tomatoes, onion
and spices, served over rice and doused in
homemade malagueta pepper sauce. If you
see a World Cup match in Salvador, be on
the lookout for portly Bahian women serving
acarajé – black-eyed pea fritters stuffed with
vatapá, a creamy paste of shrimp, peanuts,
coconut milk and dendê oil – Brazil’s
tastiest street treat.
Amazon pastinya ada dalam daftar
tempat-tempat yang ingin dikunjungi,
tetapi Anda bisa melihat lebih banyak
kehidupan liar di Pantanal dalam satu
jam daripada yang bisa Anda lihat dalam
satu minggu di Amazon, di mana
binatang-binatangnya lebih suka
bersembunyi. Di rawa terbesar di
dunia ini, burung tukan, burung
macaw, buaya caiman dan celeng air
mudah ditemukan – dan itu belum
seberapa. Jika beruntung, Anda
bisa juga bertemu dengan jaguar.
It all comes together
in São Paulo, Brazil’s
gastronomic capital,
where 12,500
restaurants divided
between some 52
types of cuisine form
a culinary fusion.
Half a world away in Cuiabá, the smallest
of the World Cup host cities, it’s cowboy
cuisine that dominates. Here, the gateway to
the wildlife-flush Pantanal, rich agricultural
traditions and abundant river fish marry in
hearty regional recipes, many with origins in
the region’s massive cattle ranches. A meal
here might mean mujica (catfish in cassava
sauce), carne seca com abóbora (dried beef
with pumpkin), or river fish delicacies like
dourado, pacu and even the infamous
piranha! Don’t worry, it doesn’t bite back.
© Cat Downie / Shutterstock
It all comes together in São Paulo,
Brazil’s gastronomic capital, where 12,500
restaurants divided between some 52
types of cuisine form a culinary fusion
unparalleled in the southern hemisphere.
Swarms of immigration fuel the city’s
culinary traditions to this day (among the
21 million people who live here, the city
boasts the highest Japanese population
outside Japan, the biggest Italian population
outside Italy and the most Arabs outside
an Arab nation). But São Paulo’s culinary
renaissance has caught the world’s attention
for a different reason. Rather than lean
on established Old World habits, the city’s
new darlings of Brazilian cuisine – Atala at
D.O.M., Helena Rizzo at Maní, Rodrigo
Oliveira at Mocotó – tried a new and
novel approach.
They looked in the mirror.
Riverboats ferry passengers and cargo
through the Brazilian Amazon.
A famous dish, moqueca, a seafood stew
made with coconut milk, dendê oil, tomatoes,
onion and spices.
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Festas Juninas is a popular festival in Brazil's
northeast, celebrating the countryside lifestyle
and the saints of June.
Several varieties of hot chilli peppers at the market,
including Brazil's most widely used, malagueta.
Tacacá, a soup made from jambu (a mouthnumbing indigenous herb), tucupi (a manioc broth)
and dried shrimp, is a popular Amazon speciality.
Berada tidak jauh dari negara
asal maskapai Aerolíneas
Argentinas, Brasil semakin
dikenal dengan kelezatan
kulinernya yang beragam. Kevin
Raub melaporkan perkembangan
kuliner terkini dari kota-kota
yang pernah menjadi tuan rumah
2014 FIFA World Cup.
Kuliner dari Peruvia mungkin banyak disukai
penyuka makanan di Amerika Selatan, tetapi
kini daerah-daerah yang terkenal dengan
kulinernya mulai mengalami pergeseran.
Hidangan karya Atala yang tak biasa ini
menjadi katalis bagi Brasil: kini, tak ada
tempat yang dapat menyaingi kuliner khas
Brasil yang sedang naik daun. Mulai dari
bahan-bahan lokal yang berasal dari flora
dan fauna khas Amazon hingga buah dan
sayuran dari cerrado (padang savana Brasil),
dan beragam budaya akibat kolonisasi dan
gelombang imigran, yang mengakibatkan
keragaman kuliner. Walaupun banyak
pengunjung datang ke Brasil untuk
menonton sepak bola, namun kini
saatnya untuk berwisata kuliner.
Brasil merupakan negara terbesar kelima,
berada di antara AS (keempat) dan Australia
(keenam). Luas negaranya yang besar dengan
banyak daerah – khususnya ketika
Sebagai tempat di Amazon yang pernah
terabaikan, dengan bangkitnya kuliner dari
dua kota terbesar di tempat ini (di sini dan
Belem), kini naik daun seiring naiknya
popularitas bahan makanan dalam gerakan
nova cozinha brasileira (Kuliner Brasil Baru).
Ikan segar dari sungai – seperti ikan
tambaqui yang bertulang lunak di Banzeiro
(restaurantebanzeiro.com.br) – dan hidangan
dari beberapa daerah seperti tacacá, sup yang
terbuat dari jambu (tanaman asli Brasil yang
dapat menyembuhkan sakit gigi), tucupi
(singkong) dan udang kering, adalah kuliner
baru yang sangat populer di São Paulo.
Kesuksesan Atala tak lepas dari kuliner baru
ini dan juga bahan-bahan yang menyertainya
seperti saúva ants, pupunha hearts of palm,
priprioca root yang berasal dari rimba paling
terkenal di dunia.
Hampir 3000km ke arah timur, pesisir
Pernambuco, Ibu kota Recife di timur laut
Brasil, merupakan sebuah daerah kolonial
yang memiliki kuliner khas karena faktor
tekstur lanskapnya yang kering dikenal
dengan nama sertão. Di tempat ini hidangan
seperti carne-do-sol (dendeng daging sapi)
merupakan bahan utama untuk masakan
seperti baião-de-dois (campuran nasi,
kacang, dendeng daging sapi, sayuran dan
rempah-rempah).
Berbicara soal pedas, kepedasan masakan
khas Brasil tak terlalu tajam dibandingkan
dengan Indonesia, Thailand atau Meksiko,
kecuali satu tempat; Salvador de Bahia. Kota
© Francesco Torres Fotografia / Getty Images
Sejak masuknya D.O.M Restoran di São
Paulo milik Chef Alex Atala yang berdarah
Brasil ke dalam deretan 6 teratas pada
Majalah World's 50 Best Restaurants
tahun 2013, rasa yang ada pun mengalami
perubahan sehingga masakan khas Brasil
menjadi sorotan dunia dan para chef tak
lagi hanya berfokus pada segala hal yang
berbau Perancis dan Italia.
© Getty Images
menyangkut kuliner – sangat beragam.
Berkembang dari hutan di utara Brasil
bernama Manaus, kota ini merupakan tuan
rumah pertandingan Piala Dunia pertama
yang pernah diselenggarakan di Amazon.
Walaupun tim sepak bola yang berlaga di
kota metropolis ini mungkin mengeluhkan
soal suhu udara yang panas dan lembab,
yang jelas mereka tak pernah mengeluh
soal santapan setelah berlaga.
Travel | Brazil, Beirut
© Paul Cowan / Shutterstock
5 Senses – Sound
FOOTBALL
FANS
itu adalah tempat di mana masakan dari
masyarakat Brasil keturunan Afrika banyak
mendapatkan pengaruh dari perdagangan
budak asal Angola, Kongo, Gabon dan
Mozambique di tahun 1500-an. Kini, daerah
tersebut terkenal akan kulinernya. Masakan
yang populer adalah moqueca, makanan laut
(biasanya berupa kuah isi ikan atau udang
atau campuran lainnya) dibuat dari santan,
minyak dendê, tomat, bawang dan rempahrempah, serta disajikan bersama nasi dan
lumuran saus merica malagueta. Jika Anda
menonton pertandingan Piala Dunia di
Salvador, Anda bisa melihat para wanita dari
Bahia menjual acarajé – gorengan dari
kacang tunggak isi vatapá, pasta campuran
dari udang, kacang, santan dan minyak
dendê – jajanan khas Brasil yang lezat.
Di Cuiabá, kota terkecil dari tuan rumah
Piala Dunia, masakan ala koboinya cukup
mendominasi. Di tempat inilah, pintu
gerbang kehidupan liar Pantanal, perpaduan
antara tradisi agraris dan ikan air tawar
dalam masakan berpadu, banyak juga
resep masakan yang berasal dari daerah
peternakan sapi. Hidangan utamanya adalah
mujica (lele dalam saus yuka), carne seca com
abóbora (dendeng dengan labu) atau ikan
air tawar seperti dourado, pacu dan bahkan
piranha! Jangan khawatir, ikan ini tak
akan menggigit.
Kesemuanya itu dapat ditemui di São Paulo,
kota gastronomi yang besar di Brasil, di
mana 12.500 restoran menyajikan 52 macam
jenis makanan yang tak ada duanya di
belahan bumi bagian selatan. Gelombang
imigrasi menghidupkan tradisi kuliner
hingga kini (di antara 21 juta orang yang
tinggal di tempat ini, kota ini memiliki
populasi masyarakat Jepang terbesar di luar
Jepang, populasi masyarakat Italia terbanyak
di luar Italia, dan populasi Arab paling
besar). Tetapi kebangkitan kuliner baru
khas Brasil di São Paulo seperti Atala di
D.O.M., Helena Rizzo di Maní, serta
Rodrigo Oliveira di Mocotó lah yang justru
berhasil menarik perhatian dunia.
Throw yourself into the heart of a
Brazilian torcida (cheering section) at
a big football match and your ears will
ring for a week. The constant barrage
of chants, screaming and cheering
maintains a high-decibel rumble of
oncoming-freight-train proportions
throughout big matches. It's so loud,
it inspired an exhibition at São Paulo’s
excellent Museu do Futebol (Football
Museum), where the sensation is
recreated under the bleachers of
the city’s Pacaembu Stadium with
eardrum-bursting accuracy.
www.museudofutebol.org.br
Kunjungi torcida (tempat duduk
penonton) saat pertandingan sepak
bola dan telinga Anda akan berdenging
selama seminggu karena suara-suara
sorakan dan kehebohan yang terdengar
keras sepanjang pertandingan. Keramaian
ini menginspirasi pameran di Museu
do Futebol (Museum Sepak bola) di
São Paulo, di mana sensasi tersebut
direka ulang berdasarkan suasana
bangku penonton yang berada
di Pacaembu Stadium.
Land Comparison
Brazil clocks in as the world’s fifth largest
country, sandwiched between the USA
(fourth) and Australia (sixth).
Brasil merupakan negara terbesar kelima,
berada di antara AS (keempat) dan
Australia (keenam).
USA
9.827 million km²
Brazil
Manaus •
Belém •
Recife •
• Cuiabá
Salvadore •
São Paulo •
8.516 million km²
Australia
7.692 million km²
JAKARTA TO SÃO PAULO, VIA
AMSTERDAM AND BUENOS AIRES
Brazil •
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Travel | Brazil, Beirut
Beirut
“There are two entirely different cuisines
in Lebanon,” Kamal Mouzawak explained
to me. “In restaurants there is mezze and
grilled meat, and then there’s our private
cuisine – the food we cook at home has
traditionally been secret. The only way you
could access it was by getting an invite to
someone’s house.” Kamal is the founder of
Souk el Tayeb – a food enterprise turning
Beirut’s dining on its head. They run a
farmers’ market every Saturday right in the
heart of downtown, bringing Lebanon’s
small-scale food producers to the city to sell
their produce direct. And on weekdays they
run Tawlet restaurant, offering diners that
family soul food in a restaurant setting,
fuelled by a roster of Lebanon’s best
home cooks who serve up their regional
specialities in the Tawlet kitchen.
Jessica Lee digs beneath the
shiny veneer of this Lebanese
capital and home to Middle
Eastern Airlines to discover a
socially conscious culinary
landscape bursting with
flavours, heart and soul.
Words by Jessica Lee
Fully restored after the civil war, downtown
Beirut's Greek Orthodox Saint George Cathedral
has a fascinating museum of archaeological finds
in its crypt.
Visitors can be forgiven for seeing Beirut
as a thoroughly modern Middle Eastern city.
After all, the downtown district was
completely obliterated by 15 years of civil war
and was rebuilt from scratch. Yet there are
tiers of history under the pristine façade.
Below the restored Greek Orthodox Saint
George Cathedral, the crypt hides
Beirut’s most surprising museum where
archaeologists uncovered a necropolis
and the foundations of the original fifthcentury church. Between the cathedral
and the slender minarets of the new AlAmine Mosque, the remnants of Roman
Beirut’s Cardo Maximus lay strewn out
in rubble piles of hefty marble blocks across
an unkempt plot of land. Down the road,
the modern entrance to Al-Omari Mosque
contrasts with its beautiful prayer hall
boasting the distinct gothic architecture
of its Crusader church origins. Beirut is a
city where you have to dig a little deeper
to find what’s happening underneath.
Lebanese food is the perfect example of this.
Levantine cuisine is one of Beirut’s great
I had come to Tawlet for lunch. Their cheeky
motto ‘Make Food Not War’ is a reminder of
the not too distant past. “What we set out to
do,” Kamal told me, “is to try to connect the
Lebanese through food and celebrate our
diversity.” Today, with neighbouring Syria
mired in war, they’re now going one step
further: starting up a food project with
some of Beirut’s ever-expanding population
of Syrian refugees.
Syrian women are now serving up their
home cooking every weekend at the Souk
el Tayeb farmers’ market, and this lunchtime
they were in the Tawlet kitchen creating
© f8grapher / Shutterstock
For first-time visitors Beirut can seem
a jazz-hands city, intent on blinding you
with fast cars, glamorous dining and fancy
boutiques. As I walk through the rejuvenated
downtown district, the construction cranes
are busy grinding up above, adding another
high-rise to the city’s evolving skyline. The
arcaded pavements radiating out from Place
d’Etoile are full of shoppers toting designer
bags. It’s the kind of scene I’d come to expect
in a city that markets itself as a glitzy
nightlife and restaurant destination.
Look beyond the glossy veneer, however,
and you find Lebanon’s capital has layers
that are easily missed.
Shoppers and café-hoppers throng the arcaded
streets of downtown Beirut in the evening.
© diak / Shutterstock
drawcards for visitors, but the dishes offered
in most of the capital’s restaurants are only
the tip of the iceberg.
Travel | Brazil, Beirut
© Nick Ledger / Getty Images
Beirut's Al-Amine Mosque
is a triumphant symbol of
the city's rebirth after 15
years of civil war.
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The centre of Beirut's
rejuvenated downtown
district is café-strewn
Place d’Etoile.
Travel | Brazil, Beirut
© Giacomo Perasti
their spicy Syrian cuisine. It’s a way of not
just helping to generate income for the
refugee community but also preserving
Syria’s distinct food heritage. Ibtissam
Nesto was one of the cooks in the kitchen.
“Cooking is our way of showing affection.
If I’m not cooking from my heart, you won’t
like my food,” she told me as she set down
a tray of kibbeh (fried meatballs) smothered
in a pomegranate and chilli paste sauce.
You can taste the love.
Cooking from the heart was definitely what
was going on. Everything that Ibtissam and
her fellow cooks produced for lunch sang
with the flavours of Syria.
As I head back on to the street, a beautifully
coiffed woman saunters past on skyscraper
heels, leading a tiny dog bedecked in a
diamanté-encrusted jacket. Beirut’s
penchant for over-the-top glamour is
well deserved. The city has become
adept at creating a shiny façade, but with
local initiatives like Souk el Tayeb and
Tawlet, savvy travellers can find plenty
of soul underneath.
Beirut in numbers
4,000
© Getty Images
The country’s name ‘Lebanon’ is known to be the
oldest in the world and has remained unchanged for
over 4,000 years.
Nama negara Lebanon dikenal sebagai yang
tertua di dunia dan tak pernah berubah selama
lebih dari 4000 tahun.
1st
The world’s first ever law school was founded
in the city of Beirut in Lebanon.
Fakultas hukum tertua di dunia berada
di Beirut, Lebanon.
7
Beirut has been destroyed and built from scratch
seven times and is known as the ‘Phoenix’.
Beirut hancur dan dibangun dari awal sebanyak
tujuh kali hingga kota ini dikenal dengan nama 'Phoenix'
3,088
Qurnat as Sawda is the highest point in Lebanon
at 3,088 metres above sea level. It has cold weather
and frequent snowfall.
Qurnat as Sawda adalah puncak tertinggi di
Lebanon setinggi 3.088m di atas laut yang memiliki
cuaca dingin dan salju sering turun di sini.
A vendor displays the skill of markook making
(Arabic flatbread) at Souk el Tayeb.
Flying the flag for Lebanon's wine industry at Tawlet
restaurant, where home cooks from across the country
come to serve up their regional specialities.
A vendor displays her wares at Souk el Tayeb, Beirut's
weekly farmers’ market where food producers from the
countryside can sell direct to the public.
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© char abumansoor / Alamy
berasal dari abad kelima. Di antara katedral
dan menara-menara Masjid Al-Amine yang
baru terdapat puing-puing besar
reruntuhan Roman Beirut’s Cardo
Maximus yang tergeletak begitu saja di
tanah tak bertuan. Di ujung jalan, pintu
masuk Mesjid Al-Omari yang modern
tampil berlawanan dengan arsitektur
bergaya gotik di ruang ibadahnya, yang
mencerminkan suasana asli bangunan
sebelumnya, sebuah gereja Crusader. Beirut
adalah sebuah kota di mana Anda harus
menggali lebih dalam untuk menemukan
apa yang terpendam di dalamnya.
Contoh yang paling tepat untuk
menggambarkannya adalah kuliner
Lebanon. Levantin adalah salah satu
hidangan yang banyak diminati turis yang
mengunjungi Beirut, namun hidangan yang
disajikan banyak restoran di Ibu Kota ini
hanyalah satu dari sekian banyak menu
makanan yang dimiliki negara ini.
A must for all foodie visitors to Beirut, Souk el
Tayeb is a one-stop shop of local flavours.
Kibbeh, one of Lebanon's national dishes and
a staple of the mezze spread.
Beirut's famous Corniche at sunset.
Jessica Lee menjelajahi
kemewahan penjuru Ibu Kota
Lebanon yang juga negara asal
Middle Eastern Airlines untuk
menemukan daerah yang
menawarkan kelezatan kuliner,
lengkap dengan keramahan
penduduknya.
Wajar jika para wisatawan menganggap
Beirut sebagai kota modern di Timur
Tengah. Pusat kotanya yang hancur akibat
berlangsungnya perang sipil selama 15 tahun
telah dibangun ulang dari awal. Namun ada
hal bersejarah di balik bangunannya yang
glamor. Di bawah Greek Orthodox Saint
George Cathedral terdapat sebuah museum
yang paling mengejutkan di Kota Beirut, di
mana para arkeolog menemukan makam
kuno dan fondasi asli sebuah gereja yang
© Enrique Chavarria / Getty Images
Pertama kali menginjakkan kaki di Beirut,
wisatawan dapat melihat niat kota mewah
ini dalam memikat para pengunjungnya,
lewat kemewahan restoran dan butikbutiknya. Saat berjalan di pusat kota yang
sedang berdandan, saya melihat mesinmesin pemasang tiang pancang tengah sibuk
membangun, menambah jumlah pencakar
langit dan mengubah bentuk cakrawala kota.
Jalanan penuh pertokoan di Place d’Etoile
dipenuhi para pecinta belanja yang
menenteng tas-tas belanja produk desainer
terkenal, sebuah pemandangan biasa di kota
yang mempromosikan dirinya dengan
kehidupan malam yang gemebyar dengan
beragam restoran mewah. Namun coba lirik
apa yang sering terlewatkan di balik
gemerlapnya Ibu Kota Lebanon ini.
“Ada dua jenis hidangan yang sangat
berbeda di Lebanon,” kata Kamal Mouzawak.
“Di restoran terdapat mezze dan daging
panggang, kemudian ada makanan rumahan
yang hanya dimasak untuk dihidangkan
pada keluarga saja. Satu-satunya cara
menikmatinya adalah menunggu undangan
dari sebuah keluarga yang mengajak Anda
bergabung dengan mereka.” Kamal adalah
pendiri Souk el Tayeb – sebuah perusahaan
makanan yang membawa perubahan untuk
Beirut. Mereka menyelenggarakan pasar
petani setiap hari Sabtu tepat di pusat kota,
membawa serta para produsen makanan
Lebanon berskala kecil untuk dapat
Travel | Brazil, Beirut
© Henryk Sadura / Shutterstock
langsung menjual hasil produksinya kepada
para pembeli. Dan pada hari lainnya, mereka
mengelola restoran Tawlet, yang
menawarkan masakan rumahan dalam
suasana restoran, hasil olahan beberapa
tukang masak rumahan jempolan
yang menyajikan makanan khas daerah
masing-masing.
Saya datang ke Tawlet untuk menikmati
makan siang. Moto mereka ‘Mari Memasak
Jangan Berperang’ mengingatkan kita akan
masa lalu kota ini yang belum lama
berselang. “Yang ingin kami lakukan,” kata
Kamal, “adalah mempersatukan para
penduduk Lebanon melalui makanan dan
merayakan keberagaman kami”. Walaupun
negara tetangga mereka Suriah tengah
dilanda perang, saat ini mereka telah
mengambil satu langkah lebih jauh; memulai
proyek makanan dengan para pendatang
baru Beirut, yaitu pengungsi dari Suriah.
© h-bomb/Flickr
© JamesGallagher/Flickr
Para wanita Suriah saat ini memasak
makanan rumahan mereka di pasar petani
Souk el Tayeb pada setiap akhir pekan.
Dengan cara ini, pengungsi Suriah tak
hanya dapat terbantu untuk memperoleh
penghasilan, namun juga dapat melestarikan
warisan kuliner khas Suriah yang berbeda
dengan Lebanon. Ibtissam Nesto adalah
salah satu dari mereka. “Memasak adalah
cara kami menunjukkan kasih sayang. Jika
saya tidak memasak dari hati, Anda mungkin
tidak akan menyukai makanan saya,” kata
wanita itu sambil meletakkan senampan
kibbeh (bakso goreng) yang dilumuri saus
cabai dan delima. Anda dapat merasakan
kasih sayangnya.
Mereka benar-benar memasak dengan
penuh cinta. Semua yang dimasak Ibtissam
dan teman-temannya untuk makan siang
dipenuhi cita rasa khas Suriah. Saat saya
kembali melanjutkan perjalanan,
seorang wanita dengan tatanan rambut
yang trendi berjalan penuh gaya dengan
menggunakan sepatu berhak tinggi bersama
anjing mungilnya yang mengenakan jaket
kerlap-kerlip. Beirut memang layak
mendapatkan sentuhan kemewahan.
Kota ini memang telah berusaha untuk
terlihat lebih bersinar, tapi dengan inisiatif
masyarakatnya seperti Souk el Tayeb and
Tawlet, para pecinta jalan-jalan dapat
menikmati semangat di balik itu semua.
JAKARTA TO BEIRUT,
VIA JEDDAH
Beirut •
5 Senses – Scent
THE CORNICHE
5 Senses – Sight
BEIRUT NATIONAL
MUSEUM
In the evening Beirutis love to
promenade, and there’s no better way
to feel this city’s beat than by taking a
stroll on the seashore Corniche. As dusk
sets, the ocean breeze casts a salty scent,
which mingles with the aromas from
the snack-food carts selling kaak (thymestuffed bread) and ahwa (coffee)
to the crowds. Join the locals and take
a sunset walk downhill, starting from
where the city’s famous Pigeon Rocks
rise dramatically out of the ocean
just offshore.
Sore hari adalah waktu yang tepat untuk
menyusuri pantai di Beirut, dan tak ada yang
lebih cocok menggambarkan suasana kota
selain berjalan di pinggir Pantai Corniche.
Saat senja menjemput, angin laut
menghembuskan aromanya yang bercampur
wangi kaak (roti yang diisi thyme) dan ahwa
(kopi) yang ditawarkan kepada para pejalan
kaki. Bergabunglah dengan masyarakat lokal
dan nikmati perjalanan menuruni bukit
waktu senja di Pigeon Rocks, yang kala
matahari terbenam terlihat menjulang dari
tepi pantai, sangat dramatis dan indah.
Beirut’s National Museum offers an
incredible collection of objects spanning
Lebanon’s rich history from the Phoenician
age up to the Arab era. The intricately
crafted sarcophagi and delicate bronze
figurines on display are some of the ancient
world’s great artistic treasures. The
collection is even more extraordinary for
having been saved from destruction by
dedicated museum staff during the civil
war when the museum found itself on the
frontline of the fighting.
www.beirutnationalmuseum.com
Museum Nasional Beirut memiliki
berbagai koleksi luar biasa yang dapat
menceritakan sejarah kota ini dari masa
Phoenician hingga era Arab. Beberapa
contoh harta karun artistik dunia yang luar
biasa ini adalah sarkofagus yang diukir
dengan indahnya dan juga patung
perunggu. Yang lebih luar biasa lagi adalah
koleksi museum ini bisa selamat dari
kehancuran saat perang sipil karena
dedikasi para pegawainya yang luar biasa
yang menyelamatkan koleksinya saat
museum sedang diserang.
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