There has been a longtime relationship between France and Lebanon, and in 1920, after World War I, Lebanon officially became a French colony. There’s still a strong bond between the countries and there are over 250,000 Lebanese living in France today.
Although Lebanese cuisine in France has always had a strong presence, there’s been a new wave of restaurants and Lebanese food shops opening in Paris recently. We discovered two delectable Lebanese treats in the past weeks in the Marais neighborhood. They are:
Bältis
Bältis, is an artisanal ice cream shop that serves Lebanese-style ice cream. Although there’s lately been a proliferation of Lebanese ice cream shops throughout Paris, the Lebanese owner Nadim Kettaneh and his cousin Jean Michel wanted to take the taste to another level by making the product purely artisanal. They tapped Jean-Thomas Schneider, a master ice cream maker, who has won numerous prestigious awards, including World Pastry Champion in 2017 and the Ice Cream World Champion in 2018, to create and develop the flavors. The menu of ice cream and sorbet is a combination of exotic, Lebanese choices such as achta, which is infused with orchid, orange blossom and rose water, and chocolate infused with Arak (an anise-flavored liqueur), as well as more traditional flavors such as mango, salted butter caramel, intense chocolate, coffee and vanilla.
Given the list of fantastic choices, we decided to ask Nadim for his recommendation. He was kind enough to personally scoop the ice cream and add the toppings by hand and chose apricot sorbet with chopped dried apricots, crushed pistachio nuts and pine nuts. The flavor was sublime, and the tangy sorbet had more of a gummy and custard-like texture than the usual flavored ice.
During the summer, Bältis offers cold drinks including artisanal lemonade with orange and house-made iced tea. On the hot drinks menu there’s herbal anise tea, Lebanese coffee with cardamom and hot chocolate. A selection of delicate Lebanese-style biscuits and cookies is the perfect accompaniment to the ice cream and sorbet and are sold at the counter.
Kébi
Just a five-minute walk from Bältis, you can indulge in another beloved Lebanese delicacy, kibbeh. Kibbeh is a traditional, Lebanese dish made with ground bulgur wheat, which is rolled into a sphere or torpedo shape, then stuffed with ground meat, sauteed chopped onions and flavored with cinnamon, all spice and coriander and, finally, fried in olive oil.
Kébi, a new, sleekly designed restaurant, takes the traditional kibbeh and updates it with non-traditional ingredients. Owner Marc Namaan had a desire to invent new versions of kibbeh. The result is an imaginative menu with tapas-style plates of three kibbeh stuffed with meat, fish and veggies. Flavors include ground chicken with mushrooms and tarragon, foie gras with walnuts, dates and sage, sweet potato with butternut squash, caramelized onions, mint and yogurt, and shrimp with saffron, avocado, sesame and pine nuts. Side dishes—such as a salad of greens, pine nuts and molasses, sauteed spinach with crushed peanuts and sumac, and roasted eggplant—are a perfect complement to the kibbeh plates.
Tip: If you don’t want to wait in the long line in the summer for Bältis ice cream, they serve it at Kébi, in addition to a sweet kibbeh, composed of dark chocolate, roasted hazelnuts, cinnamon and banana.
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