NUTRITION: The Healthy Kitchen, Recipes From Rural Lebanon

Every indigenous culture has an innate wisdom of traditional healing and therapeutic benefits of their native plants. But much of this knowledge is deteriorating due to increased globalization and imports cheaper and more available "fast food". This trend, consequently, causes a wide variety of wild edible plants to be removed from the diet and Lebanese heritage.

Upon completion of a two-year research project entitled 'Wild Edible Plants: Promoting Dietary Diversity in underprivileged communities in Lebanon, "University of Ottawa professor Dr. Malek Batal teamed up with American University in Beirut Nature Conservation Center for Sustainable Futures (IBSAR ), to produce a "healthy kitchen, Recipes from rural Lebanon .'

According to Dr. Batal ", the region is blessed with a great biodiversity, as well as the population has access to many edible wild plants that could be easily harvested and used. Harvesting and use of wild plants, however, the attack because of the disturbance knowledge and environmental degradation, which threatens the survival of these fragile resources ."

Today the Lebanese diet is switched from the traditional Mediterranean diet, and now relies on refined foods like white flour and vegetable fats, creating an increase in obesity rates.

After two years of research, Dr. Batal has collected a variety of recipes are still used in three rural areas of Lebanon - Hermel and especially in the countryside Kuakh, Aarsal in the eastern Bekaa, a village chouf Batloun, Kfarnabrakh and Warhaniyeh. A simple and nutritious food is tabbouleh with lentils, hearty salad is rich in vitamin C and contain appreciable amounts of iron, obtained from parsley, and lentils.

"In the case of Lebanon, the traditional diet of the rural population, we found a shift in food consumption. It was more pasta or rice dishes, as opposed to traditional dishes using wild edible plants or traditional grains," says Dr. Batal. "The poor are always the first affected by poor diet, one of the reasons that refined starch, vegetable oil, white bread, chips and processed foods are cheaper than healthier alternatives, such as fresh fruits and vegetables and lean meats. We try to encourage people to have more vegetables, fruits and protein for a healthier diet ."

recipes in the book are original recipes acquired in the field come from. For each edible plant used in the recipe author gives a detailed description of its regional and historical dynamics and therapeutic uses, the active compounds and scientific name.

The idea was to put together a book that offers a view of the traditional Lebanese cuisine, because people tend to choose a more Western diet. Research and interviews were conducted with women who were known in their communities, to the knowledge of traditional Lebanese cuisine.

Making a written record of these dishes was vital because all the recipes from the villages were verbally passed down from mother to daughter. The ten most common meals provided during the interview replicated and tested for nutrients and potential health benefits.

The book brings the reader back to the Lebanese in touch with ancestral knowledge that has been preserved through generations. It offers in-depth research and scientific knowledge of various medicinal properties of plants that exist in traditional Lebanese culinary practices.

Although most of the wild plants mentioned are not readily available in Beirut, Dr Batal book offers readers a fun and fast approach to creating a healthier lifestyle and replacements are always possible with more available to plants.