What was the occasion?Gavin: Mo and I have been together for about eight months; he always talks about his favourite dishes from Beirut, where he's from, and how hard it is to find Lebanese home cooking in London. He especially misses all the celebratory food that his mother and grandmother prepare on special occasions, so as his birthday was coming up I thought it was the perfect time to have a few friends over and see if we could try to replicate them.  I work in the wine trade, so I wanted to match a few French wines to the meal and see what everyone thought of the pairings. Lebanese wine can be quite heavy, spicy and tannic, and traditionally people drink arak (an aniseed drink) with their food, so I thought that lighter wines with more varied notes would match all the different dishes.  Mo: Gavin and I cook together most evenings, and every now and again I cook something traditional from my childhood – Lebanese food is about subtle spicing, care and preparation, and I think it's a sign of the times that that kind of home cooking is not so common any more. It's not often that you get the opportunity to prepare a feast, so it really felt like I was going back to my childhood.  What was on the menu? Mo: I chose to cook about eight classic Lebanese celebratory dishes but gave them a slightly lighter twist. There are only a handful of things I feel confident in making, and that's because I've seen my mother and grandmother preparing them so often. I cooked a chicken and rice dish with cinnamon, onions, pine nuts, almonds and a little minced lamb; a really light and fresh sea bass dish full of dried and fresh coriander that's very specific to Beirut; artichoke hearts stuffed with ground lamb; cauliflower with a tahini dressing and plenty of salads to go with them. My sister flew over for my birthday from Beirut, and she brought some homemade kibbeh [meat-stuffed croquettes] all the way from home. I would never have been able to make them – even my mum can't make it the way my grandmother and great aunt do, it takes so much skill and time. They even sent me a photo of them preparing them in the kitchen for me.  Gavin: I picked about eight different wines, from a white burgundy to reds from Bordeaux. It's not that I thought French wine would complement the food best, it's just that there's so much variation in that one country – a bit like the variations on the traditional food that you'd find across Lebanon. Some combinations worked well – a chardonnay was the perfect match for the sea bass for example – whereas others didn't work as well as I expected. You have so many different flavours going on in this style of cuisine that there's no right or wrong answer, but if you've got a tasting sample of several bottles, you can really engage and think about it. It just makes you appreciate the complexity of both the food and the wine.  What did you talk about?Gavin: People had really varied opinions on the wine and it was great to talk it all through – at the end of the day finding something that will suit a dish as well as many different palates is a tricky task and, as I hadn't tasted a lot of the dishes before, it felt like a really good experiment.  The dishes brought up the subject of food memories – we had people there from Lebanon, Armenia, Italy and the UK but everyone seemed to have one or two nostalgic favourites that a relative used to cook. When you think about the restaurant scene at the moment, it's about whole-table ordering. Sharing is so much fun, and that applies to food, wine and your memories, too.  Mo: Some of my family were there, so they were teasing me and comparing the food to my mum's! One of our friends is a chef, so he wanted the recipe for kibbeh. I find it fascinating how much Lebanese culture has changed in the past few decades. I thought that with my generation – and even my parent's generation – that traditions may have been lost, but now my youngest sister is learning how to make all this food with my grandmother, so maybe it's changing back again.  This dish (arnabeet b'tahini) is from Tripoli in north Lebanon and is usually served cold in a Sunday family feast.  Serves 41 cauliflower, cuts into individual floretsVegetable oil, for frying25g tahini500ml waterJuice of 2 lemons2 garlic cloves, crushed with saltA handful of coriander, finely choppedSalt  1 Deep fry the cauliflower, or half boil them then saute them in a frying pan. Then place on kitchen roll to absorb the oil.  2 Dissolve the tahini with 500ml of water and the lemon juice and bring to the boil.  3 Gently fry the crushed garlic. Before it becomes golden, add the chopped coriander and tahini sauce. Simmer them together until the sauce slightly thickens. The sauce should not be over-diluted.  4 Pour the sauce over the cauliflower and serve cold.  Samkeh harra is another side dish or mezze best served cold.  Serves 4500g sea bass filletOlive oil1 onion, chopped3 garlic cloves, crushed with salt1 dessertspoon dried coriander2 large bunches of fresh coriander 1 red chilli, chopped1 lemon, juicedSalt  1 Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Place the sea bass on some foil, season with salt and wrap. Place in the oven and cook for 15 minutes. The fish should be just cooked but still moist.  2 Fry the chopped onion, add the crushed garlic, and the dried coriander for a few seconds, then add the chopped coriander until it wilts. Add the chilli.  3 Remove the sea bass from the oven and remove the skin. Add to the pan. Break up the fish in the pan, add the lemon juice and cook for 3 minutes on a low heat. Allow to cool before serving.  Ardhishawkeh b'lahmeh is considered an everyday lunch in Lebanon and is similar to a stew. You'll find frozen artichoke hearts in any specialisedMiddle Eastern shop.  Serves 420 large artichoke hearts 1 onion, chopped200g ground beef mincemeatSalt 2 tsp cinnamon 2 tsp of ground allspice (bhar helo), or black pepper, for seasoning50g pine nuts, toastedJuice of 1½ lemons  1 Boil the artichoke hearts in water until cooked. Remove from the water and stir-fry in a bit of olive oil until golden.  2 Fry the chopped onion, add the mincemeat, salt, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp allspice.  3 Add the pine nuts to the meat and fill the artichoke hearts with the mix.  4 Boil 250ml water with the lemon juice, season with salt, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp allspice.  5 Pour the sauce in the bottom of the tray. Cover the tray with foil and cook in the oven for 15 minutes. Serve warm with rice on the side.
Get-togethers: Classic family recipes and a carefully curated wine list … this was a birthday to remember for Mohamad Hafeda