Thinking back on a food that I feel is special to me and representative of my life, I can think of many things; steak, mashed potatoes, etc. but only one food really pops in my mind when thinking of love and tradition. Ghrybe (spelled ghrybe) is special to me in many ways; it was just about the only cookie I ate for eleven years before eating any other types of cookies or sweets.
Ghrybe is beige and circular and tastes slightly plain with a sprinkling of nuts. The cookie is crunchy and has a faint buttery smell and walnut and honey flavor. Many people who do not have a Lebanese background are not fond of the cookie's seeming lack of taste.
Not all ghrybe is round but it has been a tradition in my family to make them round. My great-grandmother told us that the circle symbolizes our family, always being there for each other and never breaking our ties.
My family and I love the cookie and will always love it. It has been a favorite in my family for many years not only because of the flavor but also because of the traditions associated with ghrybe for us. It has been a tradition to bake the cookies with the youngest child in the family for many years. I remember when I was young standing on the colorful, plaid seat of the red bar stool baking the round, Lebanese cookies with my great-grandmother. I baked the cookies at least twice a month for many years, if not with my great grandmother, who is from Lebanon, I would bake them with my grandmother, Honey. Although Honey was born here in Alabama, she is also 100% Lebanese and cooks authentic Lebanese meals regularly.
We had many great times baking the cookies but I will always remember baking cookies on Christmas Eve the year I was seven. That Christmas Eve, as we were rolling out the tough dough, I thought it would be funny to start a food fight because I had seen them in movies but I had never actually experienced one. I suddenly, without much thought, threw a piece on the top of Honey's forehead. She looked at me, then laughed and began throwing back at me.
My mom started yelling "you are disrespectful and Santa is not coming, "but I continued to throw and so did Honey. We ended up having the food fight of my dreams. It was an unforgettable night and for the first time in my life we ended up not having Lebanese cookies because the dough was everywhere but the oven. Santa came anyways making the night even better.
Looking back on my childhood I realized I was the only one out of my friends that ate ghrybe. All my other friends brought chocolate chip, peanut butter, and sugar cookies to our school lunches; I brought ghrybe. They would all question me at lunch about the cookie and why I liked it because they thought it was so tasteless, nothing like their chocolate chip cookie or sugar cookie with sprinkles on top, but I loved them. I had grown up eating these cookies and to me they were just what a cookie was supposed to taste and feel like.
When I went to my friends houses their moms would try to cook us hot, gooey, chocolate chip cookies. The smell was so warm and potent that you could taste the crunch and the hot melted chocolate on your tongue before the cookie even touches the mouth; but as good as it sounds, it was not my homemade Lebanese cookie. I pretty much refused to eat another kind of cookie until I was eleven years old and I overcame my fear of chocolate chip cookies.
I was starving one day at my friend's house and she was baking the cookies that had always smelt delicious and looked delicious but never satisfied my needs; I looked at her and asked her to get me something else. She refused and told me I had to taste the cookie before I could have something else. I agreed and my mouth began to approach the hot melted cookie, I was scared, but finally bit into it. It was soft and melted into my mouth, I could immediately taste the chocolate chips as they melted on my tongue. The chocolate chip cookie was surprisingly good, yet did not compare to ghrybe that I shared so many wonderful memories with.
My friends used to think it was a little strange coming to my house because I did not have the regular kind of cookies they wanted and they did not like the cookie I spent years loving and knowing. My mom had to start making a stop on the way home from school in the afternoon when I had friends over so they could buy what they wanted for a snack. Once my mom went out of her way to make them happy they always wanted to come to my house after school because none of their moms would stop and let them buy anything they wanted.
I feel the reason my parents did not usually bring other cookies into our household is because they wanted to keep our Lebanese tradition going. Still today we eat ghrybe on every holiday for dessert and I think of the many years I had getting to know the cookie and the many memories I had with my grandmother cooking ghrybe. I hope my two brothers feel the same way about this as well -perhaps my mom and I can find some time this fall to bake a batch and send them off to my brother in North Carolina to see if he has the same nostalgic attachment as I do for these cookies.
The cookie has made a place in my heart and I will never lose my attachment to it. My friends think of me every time they hear the word "Lebanese" and they think of the cookie that I cherished for many years of my life and still cherish today. I hope to keep the family tradition going with my children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.
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