Faith, Family & Tradition - Celebrity Chef Julie Taboulie Shares Lebanese Holiday Magic!

written By Ralph Vincent | Photos by Julie Taboulie Enterprises

[From the 2025 Holiday Magazine]

Celebrity Chef Julie Taboulie Shares Lebanese Holiday Magic!

Each year many celebrities visit our fabulous Spa City. Recently I had the honor of meeting one myself, none other than celebrity chef Julie Taboulie, and even better, her sweet Mama too! Julie is host of the Award-Winning PBS Cooking Show series Julie Taboulie’s Lebanese Kitchen, where she and her mother create, and celebrate preparing and sharing Lebanese cuisine as well as their beloved culture. The acclaimed series is created in their beautiful kitchen -and vegetable garden in the Finger Lakes Region of New York. In addition, Julie is a bestselling and award-winning cookbook author winning the Gourmand World Cookbook Award for the Best Mediterranean Cookbook in the country, and Amazon Editor’s Pick Best Cookbook Food and Wine.

Julie’s love for Lebanese cooking began when she was a little girl. She spent countless hours in her family’s kitchen watching and learning from her mother whom she describes as her master chef and source of inspiration. Her enthusiasm for Lebanese cuisine gave rise to her childhood nickname “Julie Taboulie” which she has kept as her professional moniker.

In the interest of full disclosure, my partner Steve and I have been longtime fans of Julie and her awesome television series. So, you can imagine how thrilled we were to meet her and her amazing Mama, at a dinner hosted by her family during their annual visit to Saratoga. These lovely ladies are every bit as engaging and approachable in person, as they are on television. And the dishes they prepared were spectacular! Recently Julie and I reconnected, and she shared some of her family’s favorite Christmastime traditions. But before I get to that I want to share Julie’s Saratoga backstory…

Julie’s connection to Saratoga began when she was a little girl. Her beloved father Edward was a horse racing enthusiast, both professionally and personally, and loved bringing his family to Saratoga each summer to enjoy the racing season. After her dad passed, she and her family kept the tradition going. For Julie, these annual visits are a way to keep her father’s spirit alive, and she always brings his special horse heirloom to the races in his honor as well.

Her connection to Saratoga Springs goes beyond the track. She has also participated in book signings with NYRA at Saratoga Race Course, with both Northshire Books, and Barnes and Noble to showcase her popular cookbook, Julie Taboulie's Lebanese Kitchen, Authentic Recipes for Fresh and Flavorful Mediterranean Home Cooking. And she has shared her famous cuisine and heritage at special events at local venues such as the National Museum of Dance.

The Christmas holiday season is a cherished time of year in Julie’s life and is filled with family traditions. Julie loves to fill her home with holiday decorations, and they remain up into January for the beloved holy days of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, the Feast of the Epiphany, and the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. A cherished tradition she shares with her mother is assembling their Nativity scenes. They absolutely love creating each scene, one for inside their home and an outdoor scene too. Traditional Lebanese Nativity decorations such as asparagus greens are incorporated around the manger as well.

Julie and her family love the Midnight Mass service at their Lebanese-American Maronite Catholic church each Christmas Eve. The special service is a precious event spiritually and provides an opportunity to experience fellowship with other members of their religious community.

Holiday gatherings of family and friends are treasured events in Lebanese culture. Traditional dishes are savored, and sweets such as Baklawa, a layered phyllo pastry with a nut filling take center stage. For Julie and her mother making Baklawa is a labor of love and not as difficult as it would appear. Lebanese Baklawa is special and differs from the more well-known Greek version that is glazed with honey. Lebanese Baklawa is glazed with either orange blossom or rose water syrups. Julie makes the syrups herself, and her nut filling can vary with walnuts, pistachios, or cashews being used.

Julie Taboulie is proud of her culture and traditions, not only at Christmastime but every day as well. She is an inspiration for us all. Julie strives to make Lebanese cooking appealing and approachable for everyone. It is no wonder she is known as the Queen of Lebanese Cuisine!

layered phyllo pastry with walnut filling

When I think of Baklawa, I’m immediately transported to Christmastime evenings as a
child, watching my mother brushing carefully layered, paper-thin phyllo sheets with clarified butter, working like an artist into the wee hours of the morning. These days, I like to make my sweets at night, too; I find it so relaxing and therapeutic, especially when making Baklawa, pronounced “bak-lah-wa.”

You may have encountered this centuries-old dessert before, but most likely the Greek version, which although similar to the Lebanese preparation has some distinct differences. First, we do not use cinnamon, cloves, or nutmeg in our nut filling, and second, while Greek baklava is glazed with honey syrup, we finish ours with orange blossom or rose water syrup. Last, ours is baked light golden brown, whereas Greek baklava is a darker, deeper color. Although my baklawa is a labor of love, it is absolutely and totally worth it, every single chewy, nutty, sticky, flaky bite of it!

Ingredients

MAKES 40 TO 45 PIECES

40 sheets Athens Fillo Dough (9" x14"), thawed in the box to room temperature for about 1 hour
1 cup Samneh (Clarified Butter)
3 cups raw, unsalted whole walnuts
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon
orange blossom water
3 cups Ater b Mazaher
orange blossom syrup

Directions

In a food processor, grind the nuts and sugar to a grain like consistency. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and stir ¼ cup of the clarified butter and the orange blossom water into the nut mixture, so that all the ingredients are completely incorporated and the texture is somewhat moist.

Remove the phyllo from the box and the plastic wrap inside (reserve the plastic wrap) and carefully unroll onto a smooth, dry surface keeping the plastic wrap underneath the sheets of phyllo. Cover the phyllo with a damp, clean kitchen towel.

Brush the bottom and sides of the 9 x 13-inch baking pan with clarified butter, and lay the rest sheet of phyllo on the sheet. Lightly smooth the phyllo sheet with the palms of your hands. Brush lightly with clarified butter, and repeat with 12 more phyllo sheets, placing each on top, then buttering from the edges of the sheet and working your way to the center, to cover the entire bottom surface of the sheet. Make sure not to press down on the phyllo sheets with your pastry brush.

Evenly spread half of the walnut filling on top of the thirteenth phyllo sheet, and lightly smooth the filling out with the back of a silicone spatula so that the filling evenly covers the entire surface area of the pan. Lightly butter another sheet of phyllo dough on both sides and place on top of the walnut filling. Layer and butter 13 more sheets of phyllo (only on one side, as before.)

Spread the remaining walnut filling on top of the stack of phyllo sheets, evenly distributing it without pressing down, as before. Then, lightly butter another sheet of phyllo on both sides and place on top of the walnut filling. Layer and butter the remaining 14 sheets of phyllo dough (only on one side, as before), making sure that the final sheet of phyllo dough is as smooth as possible and generously buttered on top.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

To achieve the traditional diamond shape baklawa: Using the non-sharp side of the knife, score a straight vertical line down the center, creating two equal halves. Then, still using the non-sharp side of the knife, lightly score 2 vertical lines on each side of each half, so that you have 6 vertical rows.

Then, starting in the bottom left corner and working your way to the top right corner, diagonally score rows about 1 ½ inch apart from each other, creating diamonds throughout the baklawa. Using the sharp side of the knife, cut into the baklawa, starting with the vertical rows, then the diagonal rows—make sure to cut up and down and not run your knife through the traces, as you will tear the pastry sheets. Drizzle any remaining clarified butter on top.

Bake Baklawa in the center of the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes until the pastry is light golden brown. Remove from oven and cool for 5 to 7 minutes, then douse with Ater b Mazaher orange blossom syrup.

Let rest for 2 to 3 hours before cutting and serving.

NOTE You will need a pastry brush and 9 x 13-inch baking pan.