Maha’s Tabouleh
This is my version of tabouleh, which is made in the traditional way from the city of Saida where I grew up. I prefer to soak bulger in lemon juice and use plenty of fresh ingredients. Be sure to tast...
foodways
A Medley of Lebanese Meze
Old Country Flavors Fuel Maha Chamseddine’s Busy Life
The tabbouleh ingredients are arranged in neat rows of chopped tomato, onion, parsley and bulgur. When it’s time to mix them into her trademark tabbouleh salad, Maha Chamseddine uses utensils to stir the components together. Then, she puts aside the utensils and uses just her gloved hands, massaging the salad together, her motions rhythmic and familiar, the tabbouleh taking on its natural form.
A few of us are gathered in Maha’s kitchen to enjoy a generous spread of Lebanese meze (small-plate specialties), and quite a spread it is: There is the tabbouleh and also baba ghanoush adorned with pomegranate seeds and a smattering of parsley; hummus topped with garbanzo beans and decorated with radish slices and paprika prints (using the tip of a fork dipped into the container of paprika, Maha made a series of decorative linear markings around the edges of the hummus); a platter of falafel, all perfectly cylindrical and sprinkled with sesame seeds, surrounded by sliced onions seasoned with sumac; a cup of tahini sauce; a vegetable salad; and a jar of special olive oil she orders in bulk from Palestine.
The spread is as colorful as it is flavorful, all of the recipes reflecting Maha’s native Lebanon, specifically her hometown of Saida, a seaside city south of Beirut. The falafel especially, she says, is made using a traditional recipe and, whether it’s enjoyed on the coast of the Atlantic or the Mediterranean, tastes like the falafel of Saida.
On an ordinary day, Maha would be found not in her kitchen but at Ash Mart, the deli and convenience store she owns and operates in Newport’s Fifth Ward neighborhood. The market is named for her late husband, Ashraf “Ash” Chamseddine, who died in a tragic accident in 2017, just two weeks after buying the market outright after years of managing it (over the years it was a Dairy Mart and DB Mart). His death was a shock to his family, and also the community.
In the four years since, Maha has kept the deli and market going—a testament to her strength and dedication, which is unwavering— even when times have been hard. Raising four children on her own and, lately, navigating a pandemic have certainly presented challenges, as has living far from her family members, many of whom remain in Lebanon, but Maha refuses to sacrifice the quality of her food or her services.
“It’s not easy to be a woman and a mother and own a small business,” she says. “I’m not trying to be a boss; I’m trying to be a leader.”
“One hand doesn’t clap,” she continues, “we have to be all together to achieve.” She pauses, gesturing with her hands, which always seem to be in motion. “It’s all of our achievement,” she says of the store.
The couple opened the deli in 2004. First, they offered sandwiches, then after about two years began offering breakfast. Next, they added salads to the menu, along with home-cooked meals, like eggplant parmesan. Now, the deli is open daily from 6 am to 6 pm, offering breakfast, lunch and dinner.
“We started the deli with nothing,” says Maha. The lunch rush at the deli has just ended, and we are seated in her office, a small space tucked at the end of a storage room, not fancy but still homey with family photos and various adornments hung on the makeshift walls. Petite, she is wearing black pants and a floral shirt that matches her pale pink head scarf.
“Everything is made from scratch,” Maha says—including, of course, her Lebanese meze. While the home presentation is a bit different, at Ash Mart’s deli counter decorative bowls are swapped for to-go containers (although the hummus is still topped with a sprinkling of paprika), but the quality of the food is the same and the recipes consistent: Maha is not one to sacrifice flavor or freshness.
After 10 years of serving Boar’s Head products, Ash Mart was acknowledged by the company as the “Best Deli in Rhode Island,” an honor Maha took to heart. “It was really big for us after all that hard work,” she says. “It was a lot of hard work … a lot of hard work,” she repeats. Maha notes the early days of business were largely generated through word of mouth, which is still the case, especially when it comes to her Lebanese offerings.
After Ash died, Maha was determined to keep the market and deli going. Now, the business is entirely women-run. Lately, Maha has been working 10 or 12 hours a day, seven days a week. The day we met, she was tired, with an employee shortage taking its toll, but she was no less committed to making sure the deli—and her homemade offerings—were up to her usual standards.
Each afternoon, she begins food prep for the next day, which involves soaking garbanzo beans for falafel, as well as chopping all the fresh veggies. In winter, she offers hearty meals too, like chicken parmesan and pasta with meatballs—all made from scratch.
“Falafel is a lot of work,” she says, noting “the process takes four to five hours in prepping. I have to soak the beans the day before.” Then she grinds them in a meat grinder, adding in spices and fresh herbs. When the mixture is just the right texture, she puts it into a mold. Each piece is then fried as needed, to avoid getting dry. When the falafel is ready it can be eaten on its own or in a fresh pita (from a bakery in Fall River, Massachusetts), browned and crunchy on the outside and herby green on the inside.
“Each city does it a different way,” Maha says of falafel-making in Lebanon, noting that “add-ins change the flavor.” She prefers to keep hers fairly minimal, trusting in the quality ingredients. “I like to do it the right way with lots of fresh parsley—it tastes better,” she says.
How does she prefer her falafel? In a wrap with tahini, pickles, lettuce and tomatoes. “That’s it. I don’t go crazy,” she says.
When it comes to making baba ghanoush, she usually puts the eggplant directly on the stove so it burns a little and “will have the smoky flavor of the grill.” She then combines the eggplant with fresh lemon juice, salt and tahini. Maha is very particular about her tahini, lighter in color “just like home,” which she buys from a favored purveyor in Norwood, Massachusetts.
Of her own eating habits, Maha says, “I’m a very fussy eater. If I don’t enjoy the way it looks, I cannot eat it.” This principle also governs the deli, where she instructs all her employees to make sure that every sandwich and wrap looks as delicious as its ingredients.
Maha, now 45, left Saida at the age of 20, soon after marrying Ash in an arranged marriage organized by family members. They met a few times, then “got married on a Thursday, and left [for the U.S.] on Saturday night,” she recalls.
Ever since, she has lived on Aquidneck Island, in the same home on a quiet residential street where several skylights stream natural light into a spacious open kitchen and family room. This layout was designed by Ash, whom Maha lovingly describes as very creative and the sort of person who thought of everything. Maha lives with their four children, Mohamed, Ahmed, Aya and Nour, who range in age from 12 to 23, plus a family cat.
“It’s a blessing when you work very hard and you achieve,” Maha says, noting life hasn’t been easy in recent years but to see her business continue to grow and flourish fills her with pride. “I’m a tough woman—I will not surrender,” she says, not to grief or to the challenges of running a business as a single mother in an adopted country.
“You just have to have the will,” she says, “and, thanks to God, I have.”
Ash Mart
2 Carroll Ave. (at the end of Lower Thames Street), Newport
401.849.6710; AshMartDeli.com
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