Beirut: Lebanese Cooking Class & Family Meal with Tania

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/11

Duration3h

GroupPrivate

LanguagesEN · AR +1

Mobile ticketAccepted

Cook Lebanese Food in a Family Kitchen, Then Eat What You Made

You spend an afternoon in a Beirut family kitchen learning to cook five authentic Lebanese dishes from scratch — mezza, mloukhieh, kibbeh labniyeh, and dessert — then sit down and eat them together. The lesson includes local arak tasting, Lebanese coffee, homemade jams, and all beverages. It's a private, hands-on experience with Tania's family in their traditional home.

Step-by-step itinerary

Authentic Lebanese cooking and meal

Meet host Tania and family
Learn to make five Lebanese dishes
Cook traditional mezza and mloukhieh
Prepare kibbeh labniyeh meatballs
Enjoy dessert with the family
Chat about Lebanese culture and cuisine
Listen to Tania's father explain arak making
Eat traditional meal together
Drink Lebanese coffee with jams and fruits

The Experience

The smell hits you first — garlic and fresh herbs filling a small kitchen in the outskirts of Beirut, where Tania or her mother is already moving between pots, their hands moving the way hands move when they've done this a thousand times. You're not watching from a stool. You're in there, sleeves rolled, learning to roll kibbeh by hand, to layer mloukhieh so the vegetables don't break apart, to build a plate of mezza the way it's supposed to look. Five dishes across the afternoon, each one a recipe that's been in the family for years, not written down anywhere — just passed along the way Lebanese cooking actually works.

Tania is an agronomist and food safety specialist, but in her family's kitchen she's just the person who knows how things go together. Her mother has been cooking these meals her whole life. Her father, a retired butcher, grows the tomatoes and herbs in the garden out back — most of what you'll cook with came from there, picked that morning or the day before. He'll also explain how he makes arak, the Lebanese national drink, while you're working. There's no script here, no "and now we do this step." The family talks while they cook. You ask about Lebanese food, about Beirut, about what it means to eat this way. The conversation moves the same rhythm as the cooking.

When everything is ready, you sit down together and eat what you made. The meal ends with Lebanese coffee, homemade jams from the family's fruit, and fresh fruit from the garden. It's a private experience — just you and the family in their home, no group, no schedule beyond the natural pace of cooking and eating together. If you have dietary restrictions or allergies, let them know when you book, and they'll adjust. Vegetarian options are available too.

What’s included

Your afternoon includes a private, hands-on cooking lesson where you prepare five authentic Lebanese dishes in the family kitchen, a traditional homecooked meal featuring what you've made, Lebanese coffee, homemade jams and fresh fruit from the family garden, 1–2 glasses of local arak with an explanation of how it's made, all non-alcoholic beverages, and gratuities. The experience is private to your group only.

Good to know

Wheelchair accessibleAccessible transportStroller friendlyInfant seats availablePets welcomeNot for back problems

Operated by Traveling Spoon

Is this one for you?Right for travelers who want to learn Lebanese cooking from people who actually cook it every day, not in a classroom. The afternoon is unstructured and moves at the pace of cooking and eating together — expect to be there for several hours, which is what lets you cook five dishes and sit down as a family.