Sunday, cozied up on a light brick colored couch, enjoying a creamy feta, pomegranate molasse, zaatar and tomatoes manouché with fragrant sage, lemongrass & rose tea, a Brazilian bossa nova light tune playing, we listen to Rita’s Saj Stories.
It’s the morning at Saj Stories, groups of foreigners and Lebanese are dropping by to choose their manouché. Some pick the classics, zaatar or jebneh, while others, intrigued, ask about the original flavors. Rita tells us her favorites are the fatteh saj with eggplant, tahini yoghurt mix and pomegranate seeds and the pear manouché, with goat cheese, rosemary, almonds and a drizzle of honey. In this newly opened spot in Gemmayze, the traditional Saj is revisited with a twist, creative recipes on a classic to rediscover our own heritage & introduce it to others. ‘The menu will be seasonal,’ she adds. While chatting with Rita, we meet a customer, Arthur; he is French, has a Lebanese grandfather, and decided to travel across the globe. He just ended his road trip in the mountains of Lebanon and is leaving the country tomorrow. He wrote his story on the Saj Stories board, and Rita enthusiastically reads it. Alongside Arthur’s, plenty of stories are scribbled on paper; that of Saj Stories and its first popups, and notes of visitors from around the world. Near the board, a shelf is stacked with Lebanese specialties; jams, syrups, marmalades, debs remmen, olive oil. Each product is handpicked and tells a tale about Lebanon. ‘The guys behind the wine Chateau Trois Collines for example’ Rita says ‘decided to safeguard and plant a hill that had become a quarrying site.’ Behind us, the wall is dotted with pastel flowers, chosen by José, who started Saj Stories with Rita and is now a florist, and founder of NGO ‘Nation Station’. A location opened up in Gemmayze and Rita chose it for her saj adventure. With her background in interior design, she transformed the place with cozy natural materials; clay, bricks, wood, rattan, a soothing color palette of light oranges, blues and creams, maintaining the characteristic terrazzo floor. With the opening in January, ‘everything became real, we meet people all the time, we listen to their feedback and stories.’
Saj Stories started in 2017 when Rita went to Rome to visit her friend Josephine, who was doing her masters there. In Italy, Rita was craving a zaatar manouché and wondering how her friend coped without this staple Lebanese breakfast. She thought why not introduce the manouché to Italian foodies. Back in Beirut, Rita asked Abou Joseph, at her local saj to transmit his know-how to her and teach her his tricks, ‘that he had only ever taught to his son!’ he told her. He showed her how to prepare traditional dough with a crispy yet fluffy crust. She went back to Rome with two saj in her luggage, a couple of aprons, and with José they started brainstorming how they could introduce this delicacy in the Italian city. ‘The whole process happened organically, we chose the name on one of our cooking nights together, sketched the logo, and started connecting with NGOs to create pop up experiences.’ From there, started their collection of stories; they took a stand at a farmer’s market in collaboration with ‘Hummus town Rome’ an NGO which supports Syrian refugees, created a picnic around Saj with an Italian food writer featuring pesto alla Trapanese. They also ventured into the Airbnb Experience, for a Mediterranean flavors night ‘everyone cooked together, we made tabboule, baba ghanouj and of course saj.’ Seeing the enthusiasm of Italians around saj ‘the smell of zaatar, discovering kishk…’ encouraged them. The two ladies even created their own version of ‘akkawi’ cheese mixing fetta and mozzarella. For a while Rita stayed in Rome to study Food Systems & Sustainability, José moved back to Beirut, and they organized pop ups at local bars and restaurants here. ‘It wasn’t without its bumps along the road,’ Rita was in Rome with her money stuck in Lebanon then Covid struck, she came back on a repatriation flight to Beirut a short time before the port explosion. But ‘it all came together’ with this cocooning space in Gemmayze and delicious saj as a canvas of choice to share stories, ‘its potential is limitless.’
Some words:
Manouché saj: a flatbread baked on a curved hot plate
Zaatar: a mix of dried oregano, sumac with toasted sesame seeds (can contain other herbs)
Jebneh: cheese
Fatteh: grilled Arabic bread (pita) dipped assorted with ingredients such as yoghurt, meat broth, chickpeas or meat
Debs remmen: pomegranate molasse
Kishk: a mix of bulgur wheat and fermented milk
