Segikuti 961 hours in Beirut and 321 dishes that accompanied them

In the spring of 2018, Ryoko Sekiguchi (b. 1970), a French-Japanese poet and essayist, came to Beirut with the goal of writing a book about a city that had survived a devastating war, not yet suspecting that in the fall of 2019 Lebanon would be swept by a new wave of street protests. Her “culinary chronicle” is a lyrical travelogue, consisting of many micro-chapters, variously echoing the dishes and tastes of Beirut. Sekiguchi paints the gastronomic landscape of the city, recalling his encounters and discoveries made during this journey, Lebanese stories of war, nostalgia and revolution. The author talks about cuisine and food as a means of building bridges between people. Together with the aromas of Lebanese dishes, the entire text is permeated with a premonition of the impending disaster that will soon hit Beirut.