Qob Elias: A Historical Village in the Heart of the Bekaa. "History, Farmers Market, Wineries"

It was a bread bakery
and it became a Manakish bakery.

Hello Anthony, how are you?
Good? I hope so, happy holidays.

You are at Chafic Bou Assaly Bakery
in Qob Elias.

This is a thyme Manoucheh.
We are making it now.

This is a mixed Manoucheh.

Mhammara Manoucheh.
This bakery has been here since 1958.

Since the times of my late father.

First, it was a bread bakery.
Then it became a Manakish and pastry bakery in 1965.

Good morning.
Good morning Anthony, welcome to Qob Elias.

We're happy that you're here.

We're happy that you're here and we
are recording the oldest things present in Qob Elias

and we allow people to know Qob Elias,
and the beauty of the village and the area.

So we're on.
Ahmad, tell me about you.

Thank God, good.
I've been here for almost a year and a month.

From Canada. I liked to come and see Lebanon, and get my kids to Lebanon.

Because Lebanon is the most beautiful
country in the world. I follow you a lot.

Because you excited us to come to Lebanon,
and i've been here for a year and a month.

I am working in Lebanon.
We have about 6 stops today.

We will see the oldest bakery in Qob Elias
and in the area.

We will see another bakery for one of
the most charismatic people in Qob Elias.

We will see the largest vegetable market
in the area, in the Middle East.

We will see Domaine de Chouchene because it is very amazing, Anthony, you're going to love it.

We will start with the thyme Manoucheh.
Soft soft soft.

Large and filling.

I loved it a lot.
Maximum soft.

Filling, generous,
the thyme is good.

It is not chewy.
Very fluffy.

The dough is properly soaked
with oil.

Great start.

Then they have this.

What is this! About a kilogram.

3 kinds of cheese.

A mix.

Wow.

That is something.

Super something.

All these.

Enjoy enjoy.

This is a big thing.

Abou Alaa Bakery.
You're close to my heart, I respect you.

All kinds of Manakish.

Welcome.
You're close to my heart.

Yes, I've been in this business for 50 years.
Specifically in this place, I've been for 17 years.

This is the thyme. The bakery is related to thyme,
they initially say, a thyme bakery.

Then, the other kinds come. But originally,
they say that this bakery is a thyme bakery.

You're welcome a hundred times.

One for me and one for you.

The Manoucheh is wrapped like
a sandwich, like a school sandwich.

You have to try it.

Super soft.

Super smooth.
Super simple.

Light and clean, delicious,
uncomplicated.

Comforting.

Unbelievable.

I memorized the location.

For sure I'm coming back.
Let me go inside to tell him thank you and bravo.

We are at Qob Elias Central Vegetable Market.
Now, I work as a guard in this market.

I am responsable for the market and now
I will take you to

Sheikh Wajih Al Amoury,
he will tell you more about the topic.

This vegetable market was established
in 1997.

A group of traders, in agreement
with the municipality, made this market

with effort and energy and it is from
the best Lebanese markets

and from the most organized Lebanese markets.

The market is made up of 121 garages
or doors,

and about 60 corporations are there.

This market, almost all production
of Al Bekaa,

comes to this market.

The market during summer,
all Lebanese markets come take from this market.

Even for traveling and exporting,
this market gives the products.

Traders sell everything in this market.

It is organized.

There is a committee or union for this
market.

There is another market in Ferzol. It is parallel to
Al Bekaa market, but our market is bigger.

It can fit more amount of products.

Just come and fill your sight with colors.

From a place to a place to a place.

All kinds of vegetables.
Very good condition and very clean.

Some are in plastic boxes,
or carton boxes, or bags.

You can find all what you need
in very good prices.

As you can see, the organization,
cleanliness, calmness, there is no shouting.

I was not expecting that.

Very nice.

It is the biggest in the Middle East,
and I have not came to here before.

Oops.

Very very professional.
Very professional.

Impressive. And I am still walking and
I do not feel like stopping.

From a place to a place to a place,
there is not a tiny bit of trash on the floor.

Our prices here are very good,
package prices. Our products are very clean,

products with clean water,
most of it is clean water, artesian.

Qob Elias products.

Look, there is a very old
Sun Temple.

Of course, we will go there later on
and talk about it.

If you want to capture it from here,
the picture would look very nice.

How many of you did know that there is
a Sun Temple in Qob Elias?

We pass through this road

always, we all pass through this road.
We all go all the way

to a beautiful area called Ammiq.
Did we ever look to the right at this mountain?

A temple, they say that it has been
here for more than 6,000 years.

Wow, we will go and see it together
later on.

So next, after the vegetables market, I will take you to my uncle, who is the eldest mayor in the village.

Mahyidinne Toufic Hatoum.

I have been a mayor since 1985.

Yes.

And in the village, there are almost

70,000 person.

Its history is very old.
Its history, there's Haidar remains, as they call it.

This dates back to the Romans era.

And maybe the Phoenicians.

It was more beautiful than that
and nicer than that.

When the sun rises in the morning, it hits,
we had the schools place,

there was all yards,
decorated as they call it.

There were no buildings or schools
or anything,

there was the Sun Temple, as they call it.

Tal El Akhdar boarders it from here.
the south, Tal El Akhdar, and Ammiq.

Tal El Akhdar belongs to Qob Elias.

But Ammiq belongs to west Bekaa.

From the east, El Marj village.

And from the south, I mean the north,
Chtoura.

And from the west, the mountain
and then Ain Dara.

Lots of history.
Lots to cover.

Of course, Qob Elias is rich with history,
as you can see.

And almost all civilizations passed
through Qob Elias.

Of course, because it exists on both
sides of the river.

So a side was Mrayjet
and a side was Qob Elias.

Now, all of it is Qob Elias.

We reached Ras El Ain area which
very famous here.

Where water starts. We are seeing around us
iron pipes left and right.

Unfortunately, they're damaged.
Now we were talking about this topic,

that there was a water station,
a power station but it stopped from a long time ago.

So the pipes rusted and started to break.

Nice walk, I can tell you that the walk is very nice.
We can go forwards for more than 20 minutes and see

where the river starts. But they are waiting for us in the village, and I started to feel hungry.

Good morning. Good morning.
How are you? How are you? Welcome. Good.

Hello. Hello. How are you?
God bless you.

The table and the smell in your house,
it's crazy.

Hiam Alaaeddine from Qob Elias.
I've been working for 10 years with Mouneh and

Arabic food as well as foreign food.

Stuffed vine leaves, Coxinha, Empanada,
Empanada Con Pino, chicken croquettes,

Tabouli, different kinds of pumpkin Kebbeh with all
stuffing, potato Kebbeh,

everything you need is found here.
This is Tabouli with village parsley

also with olive oil.

Lemon is also from the mountains.

Tell us about catering.

I work from home.
I've been for almost 8 years.

I developed my work,
I work with NGOs, I participate.

Now I am still developing.
I am learning and doing everything new.

Stuffed vine leaves with oil.
As they say, the leaves are from village.

I make everything, I get them during season
and cut them, sort and organize them,

and I press them and keep them ready
for when there is an order.

Wow.

No, the food is very nice.

Finally,

as it should be. Passion of home,
taste of home, the perfect flavors.

The Tabouli has perfect lemon,
it pinches a bit.

The oil is exact.
Fresh ingredients.

Perfect.

Perfect.

Your food is amazing.

There are still these?
They became red, we forgot them.

Let me exchange them.
Amazing amazing amazing,

Enjoy enjoy, welcome.
I hope the better and nicer will happen.

And the more delicious.

Wow. Impressive.

I thought that I am done, and I said
no, I want to have some bites without eating a lot.

But the potato Kebbeh stuffed with meat.
You're having it with Labneh, yes?

Impressive.

The crisp on the outside, flakiness, craziness.
It's super juicy on the inside and extremely flavorful.

Put everything aside, there is an obvious passion.

Welcome. We're waiting for you
wherever you are, in Lebanon and the world.

Come visit us.

Welcome guys. God bless you.

We've been here since 1982.

We work with cheeses and Labneh.

Labneh, cheese, Halloum, double cream,
Akkawi, Baladi.

It is all natural milk.

There is a proper boiler.
It becomes frothy in 30 mins.

We take it for making yogurt or cheese.

They are on the tables.

Cheese on the tables.

We press it by the press.
Here, this cheese is pressed.

This is pressed by the press.

We put a specific amount of salt and we
pack it in boxes and cans,

in salty water. Everything is 100% naturally
made on the old way.

There isn't any preservatives or powder or starch
or any artificial materials.

As the milk comes, we work with it, and we
put it,

we don't soak it, and cheese is put in
cans, as it is.

Good morning. Good morning, welcome.
Welcome welcome. Chateau Heritage.

About Qob Elias, I have to tell you,
I am the ex mayor.

I used to say, it's the capital of the
world and the center of the universe.

So now, Chateau Heritage is the capital of the
world and the center of the universe. Welcome.

It's an honor to have you.

Thank you. First, congratulations
for the new award.

You're a pride to this nation.

Thank you. Welcome. Thank you.

The square is very nice, as if it is Hacienda.
As if it is a place for horses,

as if we traveled to Portugal or Spain,
and we are in the center of Lebanon.

You enter from a door to another.

Originally, from the entrance, the
atmosphere and the vibes are amazing,

Chateau Heritage

Let's tour and see what do they have.
It's an old school built in 1927.

This is actually the courtyard.
The classes were here. They come to the courtyard.

So when we bought it, it was
utterly destroyed by the war.

It passed in phases where it was a
chicken and cow farm at one time,

a carton factory at another time,
but when we bought it, it was completely damaged.

It had many bullets and bombs.

So we refurbished and adapted it to
become a winery.

We are the sons of Elias Touma.
One of the founders of Arak Touma.

So we are fourth generation wine makers.
I went to the states and studied

chemical engineer.

The masters in indology,
PhD in food and beverage science.

So my friends call me Dr. D,
Dr. Dargham. So it's Dr. D.

What else do we tell you?

When I started here it was a very
primitive operation.

Now, the vats that you are seeing
are imported vats.

It's for show and pictures.
You know, like a portrait.

But in the rest of the winery
there are vats that I've done myself.

I've welded myself, I've done myself.

They are called, you know,
colt of the business, they do everything.

So Chateau Heritage was founded in 1997.
That's when I came back from the states.

I started working in 1997.

2 years prior, we made wine.

88 and 91, now we will show you what are they.

And it is a family business.
My siblings and I,

it is a family operation.

May my father rest in peace,
he was a big part of the business,

he died 4-5 years ago.

The patron saint, all wineries of the world
have a patron saint.

Because sometimes you do the science
to the maximum, a time comes,

things mess up. You have to refer to a
higher power, so

we light candles and such things. Patron saint of out winery is St. Elias, in honor of our father.

This is 1 of 2 sellers of wine.
Now we'll go up there to the second.

This is where wine comes to be aged.

I'm not a humongous fan of oak.

Because it covers, it masks the smells
and fruits of the wine.

But nonetheless, some wines need oak, and we,
personally I am American educated,

but to be honest, I tried French oak,
what I found to be the best for Lebanese

tannins and weather and things

is American oak.
Because when I started using that,

ever since, I'm winning best Lebanese wine
in the world consecutively every year.

Both in Bordeaux and elsewhere.

And to commemorate you winning the award,
now up there. Thank you so much.

We took it from here, it has mold which is okay.

This is the 2003 which has won about
6 golden awards all over the world

including best Lebanese wine.

You don't drink these being careless.
After the car trip,

you have to leave it for about 10 days
because it's going to shake.

And you open the other one
on a very nice occasion.

But in both cases, you should
decant them.

Please, because I am not teaching you,
but it's for the info.

Second, for it to have oxygen and stretch.

This has been stuck in the bottle for
30 years.

So it needs stretching.

Give it some oxygen to stretch.

How great. How great,
the spider is working down,

turning and having fun.

The woods are resting, the wines being aged and are becoming sacred, if we can say that.

I can stay for hours down there.

But I asked I question, if it was a school
and there was such a thing,

what did students do down there?

This is a cellar for tourists.

This is where we put family reserve high end wines.

Chateau Heritage Nine. 9 grape varieties, the most popular 9 grape varieties in Lebanon.

Unoaked wine.

Château Heritage Plaisir du Vin. This si made out of 3,
Cabernet-Sauvignon, Syrah, and Cinsault.

Slightly oaked.

This is Syrah. It is a single varietal.

This is the Cuvee Saint Elie which we
released to commemorate the passing of my father.

And I would tell you the story about this.

This is made of my father's favorite grapes.

Cabernet-Sauvignon and Cinsault.
Well, the story goes that

my father was a huge fan of Cinsault
because it is what's he's used to work with.

When I came to work with the wines,
I told him that Cabernet-Sauvignon is the toughest

mother f* out there.

He said why. It's because anywhere you cultivate it in the world, it thrives.

He said, you know what, this Cabernet-Sauvignon is
exactly like the Lebanese people.

anywhere you put them in the world,
they rule.

So, to commemorate his passing,
we did a blend of the 2.

Cabernet-Sauvignon and Cinsault.

This is the Chateau Heritage, which is a blend
of Syrah in American oak, second wine.

And the family reserve, which is a
small vineyard. A 30 year old vineyard.

In the past, the Cab and Syrah in it,
during the times of my father,

it was fed to sheep.
Because the fruit of Cab and Syrah is small,

it doesn't yield.

The Cinsault is that big and it yields,
this makes money.

The Cab and Syrah were fed to sheep.

So, it does't yield a lot, it's around
5,000-6,000 bottles.

But it is so old, the vineyards are so old,
the wine is so dense.

Put it with the American oak,
brand new barrels,

and you were winning the best Lebanese wine
in the world consistently.

We're going to try, the Nine,

which is made from 9 most popular grapes
used in Lebanon.

It is

wine critics call it, Lebanon in a bottle.

We start with its beautiful smell.
It is very light and smooth.

Most importantly, you don't smell
the wood which usually covers everything.

Very smooth.

There is a fresh feeling.

Earthy, floral, all combined, I won't say the
smell of Lebanon, but it is very light.

And then

extremely smooth. Extremely balanced.

Lightly acidic. Enjoyably acidic, it tickles
the sides of the tongue.

It doesn't burn the throat,
it does not dry the palate.

And you say bam! Each person who didn't drink this thing yet, is missing a lot.

Now, it's because we took it from down there,
where I told you.

It is the 2003.

Here, we put 4/6 gold awards it has won.

This is honestly, also, I am not modest,

but this is one of the best wines in the world
you could ever taste.

I am responsible of my words.

So when you open in and taste it in an occasion,
after you open it for an hour,

give me a call and tell me if I am right
or I'm full of bullshit.

How beautiful. How beautiful.

We finished tasting and we will continue the tour.

Amazing experience.

I promised them that this is not the last visit.

Next time, there is meat with barbecue.

And some more wine.

I use the best crumble, of corse, there is the
Falghona,

and I also use the Calbeau.

And from when I started, I sell online.

We deliver to houses.

These are square praline with feuillantine.
Milk and dark.

There is the praline sphere with a
hazelnut in the center.

These are nuts covered with chocolate.

This is raspberry caramel with feuillantine.

Speculoos cream with cashew nuts.

The best seller of Ebene is caramel with exotic fruits and white chocolate.

These are almonds covered with dark chocolate.

A caramel flower of salt. Caramel with sesame, praline with sesame and some caramel.

I tasted on Instagram and I forgot that I am
filming for YouTube.

I tasted 3 pieces of chocolate. I should make you live the experience again because it is crazy.

When someone reaches here, and
crunches special chocolate,

the problem with chocolate for most people is
tempering, how chewy and sticky it is,

its quality, how sweet and how much sugar does it
has and the aftertaste it leaves in the throat.

Put all these aside. When you reach and
you find out about a chocolate

that firm, with such a nice stand,
and nice crunch.

Wow.

The taste is delicious
and it is addictive.

With light sweetness.

I am staying here.
Continue the tour on your own.

Move.

I'm coming, I want to finish them.

Welcome to Chateau St Thomas.

Chateau St Thomas is a winery
for Touma family.

We've been in the business, the
alcohol business, since 1888.

We started with Arak.

And in the 1990s, we started with wine, so
we took these lands and started to plant them,

we imported grape varieties from outside,
the Cabernet-Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot, Pinot Noir,

Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc.

And in the 1995, we almost started the
construction of the winery,

so as you can notice here, this area
is a bit rocky.

The winery has a story. It has a church,
guests are welcomed.

Tell us a bit about the setup here.
Here, the area is rocky.

We drilled in rocks to make a cave,
an underground cellar.

To maintain the humidity and specific
temperature to keep the wooden barrels.

And when we were drilling, we had like
a small cave, we liked to expand it

and make a chapel dedicated to
St Thomas.

Usually, we start the visit 9n the chapel.

Here is the entrance of the main cave.
I will go down to guide the pathway.

We kept the rocks as they are, naturally, to
keep the specific humidity

which should be between 65-80 %.

And the temperature which should be constant
to preserve the wine.

So in winter, when it rains here,
the area is rich with water, so

the rocks starts to moisture on their own.

In summer, when the temperature is very
high and the humidity is low, we help them a bit

by spraying some water in the cave
to get back the needed humidity for the wooden barrels.

This is our Obeidy bottle.

It is made from the Obeidy kind of grapes.

The Obeidy is known from a long time
ago in Lebanon as an edible grape.

And Arak is made from this grape.
We make Arak from a long time ago from Obeidy.

So we liked, in Chateau St Thomas,
in addition to using international grape variety,

highlight more on the local indigenous
variety which is here in Lebanon.

So we worked on Obeidy and what
did we make, we studied its origin.

We studied the

the DNA. We checked the DNA and
the results were that it is unique and not similar to any

known international grape variety in the world so
this ensured that it is 100% Lebanese.

So by this way,

we liked that who drink wine, even outside
of Lebanon,

to know that in Lebanon, we have the Obeidy.

For example, like how in Bordeaux are known for Merlot grapes,

or the Burgundy region are known for Pinot Noir.

So we liked Lebanon to be internationally known
for the Obeidy kind.

This is a preview of Nour el Ain,
St Thomas, The Diamond.

Rose, coming due very very soon.
When do we expect it to be in markets?

Now, we're launching it in the winery.
Ok, so a reason to come here.

It is called Nour el Ain because in English
it is the pink diamond.

So we liked to give it a Lebanese Arabic name.

We met in Souk el Akel and they were from the few people, or maybe the only winery that believed in us

and accepted to participate in Souk el Akel. They had a stand. Even if it's a street food market at night,

people used to take wine glasses or bottles and tour and have fun while eating.

Today, they took Obeidy to a different level,
which is the only Lebanese wine, or Lebanese grape.

They got Pinot Noir to Lebanon and found a very nice way to work with it.

Most importantly, the winery which you are seeing here
is recently built, but it is made in a very professional way.

You can all come and visit, tour, explore, learn,
buy, and in the end,

take this glass which we are seeing, it is Lebanese Obeidy. The main, original, traditional, old bottle.

Maybe it took the Lebanese wine to the whole world.
Of corse we have a red grape.

Do you know that Baalbak or Temple of Bacchus is
originally wine, it started a very long time ago here

Let's taste.

Wow.

It is not similar to anything else,
as if it has mastic, as if it has sugar

or a perfume that enters the nose,
very smooth, very very smooth. Non acidic at all.

Wow.

With all pride, it is Lebanese, and it is not
like any other wine in the world.

My tour continues.

I let them all go out and I am going alone.

Good morning. I am Elia,
a local guide in the area.

Now we reached Haidara mountain. We will see Roman remains. We'll climb the stairs. Welcome.

We reached Haidara here. They say that this was a cemetery for a prestigious person in the Roman era.

But they didn't finish building it.

It's height is 10 meters
and its width is 13 meters.

According to local legend, this was a
sun temple.

Because Qob Elias is known as
the city of sun.

The sun rises from the east
and reflects on Haidara mountain.

It reflects sunlight down into the village.

Anthony, Qob Elias extends from here
to the other village which we can see, El Marej.

And on the other side is Taanayel and Cascada Mall. Actually, Cascada Mall is a part of Qob Elias.

Where we were in St Thomas, it is also
for Qob Elias.

Even behind that, for almost 3 kilometers,
it is still Qob Elias.

Huge.

70,000 people.

This is the third time we distribute diesel.
We have distributed about 400 diesel barrels.

In here, so now we will show you
how do we give diesel to a family.

This diesel which is distributed is an initiative from Qob Elias expatriates to Qob Elias residents.

I am distributing since October
with Canadian help.

Again, from Qob Elias families to Qob Elias families.
Due to the situation in the country,

we should help Qob Elias families,
and Lebanese people in general, as much as we can.

I consider