48th Annual Lebanese Festival at St. Maron Church!
Yesterday, we went for the first time to the St. Maron Lebanese church festival in South Philadelphia. I can’t believe we never attended this before, especially with our love of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine. The church and festival are located at 1013 Ellsworth Street, which is just a block off of Washington Avenue. It started yesterday and goes on through Sunday. There’s food, drinks and live entertainment. All proceeds benefit the church. The people we meet were so welcoming and friendly, and the food was absolutely delicious!
The food menu was extensive so that made it even more difficult to choose what to order, but that was a good problem to have. We started with saj bread, which is unleavened flatbread. In Middle Eastern cuisines, it’s baked on a metal griddle called saj. We ordered two of them, one cooked with cheese and one with zaatar spice. They were served with cucumbers, tomatoes, and yogurt. Both were delicious! The bread was cooked perfectly, and the sides just add more freshness and flavor.
It was then time to get a couple of drinks. My husband ordered their “Chubby Special”, and I ordered arak. The “Chubby Special” was named after the father of the man tending the bar, who passed away several years ago. His father came up with this drink about 40 years ago. It’s made with four different kinds of liquor and mixed fruit. Arak, is a Lebanese liquor that needs to be diluted with water, and has a black liquorish taste. If you have ever tasted Ouzo from Greece or Sambuca from Italy, its kind of tastes like that.
Now on to our entrees for dinner. We ordered the mixed grill kabob’s, which were chicken and kafta, stuffed grapes leaves, tabouli salad, and kibbi. Kafta is a Lebanese style beef that's made with ground beef, parsley, onions and a blend of Middle Eastern spices. It was so good! Tabouli is a salad made with parsley, mint, bulgur wheat, finely chopped vegetables and a zesty dressing. Kibbi is often made with ground lamb or beef, onion purée, spices, and toasted pine nuts. Everything was homemade and absolutely delicious. If you go, there is so much more on the menu to order, and they take both cash and credit cards.
Lastly, make sure you save room for dessert! We ordered Ghraybeh, and Shaabiyat. Ghraybeh is a Middle Eastern Shortbread Cookie made with flour, butter, and sugar. They are traditionally round, and covered in white powder. Shaabiyat is a puff pastry based dessert with Ashta, a thick cream, and topped with syrup. It’s similar to Greek Baklava, and was delicious. Both were so good, and there were so many good-looking desserts to choose from!
Please try to go to this festival if you can. The people are so nice, the food was outstanding, and it all goes to a good cause. Click on the following link for more information.
