We were up and moving early because today we had a scheduled beatdown — and yes, we actually paid for it. Truly a brilliant business model: “Please hurt me, here’s my credit card.”
We escaped the punishment right at 10:00 a.m. because we had an 11:00 a.m. funeral in Newport Beach to attend. Nothing says “balanced day” like paying to get beaten up in the morning and then rushing off to be solemn by lunch. Somehow, we made it with minutes to spare.
We went to the service and then to the hillside burial but skipped the post-service get-together.
Nothing like a view!
Pat was like an Aunt to Mary over the years.
We decided to go to Daria’s for lunch and see about getting set up for the upcoming pool party on the 6th.
Beauty and the Beast took the picture!
All was going well until we found out that Persian food and Lebanese food have some differences! Persian and Lebanese cuisines are both Middle Eastern, but they’re quite different in flavor, ingredients, and style.
1. Flavor profile
• Persian food is often more subtle, aromatic, and slightly sweet-sour. It uses saffron, dried limes, rosewater, pomegranate, barberries, herbs, and slow-cooked flavors.
• Lebanese food is brighter, fresher, and more lemony/garlicky. It uses lots of lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, parsley, mint, tahini, and sumac.
2. Rice vs. bread
• Persian meals often center around rice, especially fluffy saffron rice with crispy tahdig.
• Lebanese meals often center around flatbread/pita, used with dips, grilled meats, and mezze.
3. Appetizers and sharing
• Lebanese food is famous for mezze: hummus, baba ganoush, tabbouleh, fattoush, labneh, stuffed grape leaves, falafel.
• Persian food has appetizers too, but meals are usually more focused on rice, stews, and kebabs.
4. Stews
• Persian cuisine has many rich stews called khoresh, such as:
? Ghormeh sabzi: herb stew with beans and dried lime
? Fesenjan: walnut and pomegranate stew
? Gheimeh: split pea and tomato stew
• Lebanese cuisine has stews too, but they’re usually simpler and often served with rice or bread, like bean, okra, or yogurt-based stews.
5. Herbs
• Persian food uses herbs heavily in cooked dishes and as fresh herb platters.
• Lebanese food uses fresh herbs a lot in salads, dips, and garnishes, especially parsley and mint.
6. Common iconic dishes
• Persian: kebab koobideh, chelo kebab, ghormeh sabzi, fesenjan, tahdig, zereshk polo, ash reshteh.
• Lebanese: hummus, tabbouleh, kibbeh, shawarma, falafel, fattoush, manakish, baba ganoush.
Quick summary: Persian food is more rice-based, saffron-scented, herb-rich, and often slow-cooked with sweet-sour flavors. Lebanese food is more bread-based, mezze-focused, lemony, garlicky, and fresh with lots of dips and salads.
