Farrah Berrou

Oct 17, 2024 | aanab.news | Farrah Berrou

Some days I wake up feeling like a live wire in that I’ll hiss at anyone who talks to me when all I really need to do is cry. Everything scratches at the little energy I’m conserving. Each time my dad coughs to clear his throat, each time my nephew’s baby monitor beeps, each time a door knob sticks and is wrestled open. Grating. It all grates on my nerves.

Jul 19, 2024 | punchdrink.com | Farrah Berrou

From the mid ’90s to the early 2000s, having a round of “zeitouna,” or “olive,” shots was rarely planned for Beirut bargoers. A tray of shot glasses containing vodka, a splash of lemon juice, a couple dashes of Tabasco and a pickled olive would mysteriously appear when the energy of the night conjured them. As a rite of passage for most coming-of-age celebrations at the beginning of the new millennium, the classic zeitouna established itself as a guaranteed staple at any Beirut bar.

Apr 6, 2024 | aanab.news | Dana Hourany |Yara El Murr |Farrah Berrou

Like Lebanon in international press, the country’s southern half seldom gets coverage locally unless it’s about friction with our unhinged neighbor. Since the exchange of fire on the border that began just a day after the October 7th Hamas operation, over 90,000 people have been displaced from southern Lebanon, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Jan 23, 2024 | aanab.news | Farrah Berrou

I’ve been building this wine thing for 5 years now. Up until I published this very newsletter, I still hadn’t perfected my elevator pitch because what I’ve been building here has been in constant flux. First it was wine classes, then there was a podcast, then there were mailers, a Patreon, a newspaper, and a shop. I moved from Beirut to Los Angeles and back again.

Sep 26, 2023 | aanab.news | Farrah Berrou

Does identity change over time or is it something that is fixed? Who defines it –your DNA or your environment? In the case of Lebanon’s winemaking grapes, is it their lineage that makes them native or is it how they’ve grown into what they are? Obeideh, Merwah, and Meksassi are white grapes that have been historically used for arak (and now wine) making and, over time, all three have been assumed to be Lebanon’s indigenous trio.