Carnival night of Club “Les Amis de la Suisse” at Zouk Mikaël
Braving the cold and inclement weather, members and friends of “Les Amis de la Suisse” club as well as those of the Youth and Culture Center (YCC) – Zouk Mikaël met on February 25 in the beautiful theater of YCC to first watch the movie “Orfeu Negro”, masterpiece of Marcel Camus, who transported us to the magical ambiance of the very famous carnival of Rio de Janeiro. Released in 1959, this movie received the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival of the same year and revisits the myth of Orpheus and Euridyce in transposing Thrace to Rio de Janeiro during the Carnival.
A musical interlude followed with two German guitarists, Suzanne Hilker and Katrin Simon, on tour in Lebanon at the invitation of the Kulturzentrum and who resumed with much delight some of the movie’s melodies, including the famous Caraval da Manha e Felicidade and the compositions of Antonio Carlo Jobim and Luiz Bonfa that became standards of Bossa Nova and Jazz.
A friendly dinner gathered the participants at the YCC library, where Swiss culinary specialties that are generally prepared during the Carnival were served, namely the Basel flour soup and the donuts called “pieds de chèvre”. And since the soup was so popular, especially among the Lebanese public, here is the recipe:
Basel flour soup:
Preparation ca. 1 1/2 hrs
For approximately 8 dl
| 5 tablespoons of flour | roast and brown well while stirring in a large saucepan over medium heat. Reduce heat, let the flour cool on a plate |
| 50 grams of butter | heat in the same pan |
| 1 onion, thinly sliced | sweat for approximately 3 minutes, add the flour |
| 1 liter of beef stock | wet and bring to a boil while whisking, reduce the heat and let simmer for almost 1 hour, stir occasionally |
| 100 grams of cheese (i.e. gruyère) | grate |
Presentation: apportion the soup into pre-heated plates, sprinkle with cheese or serve it separately.
Suggestion: prepare the soup without onions, garnish with roasted onions before serving and enjoy!
Youth and Culture Center 