Muhallabia Bee (139)

"Muhallabia Bee (139)", oil on canvas, 24x24". For sale on Etsy.

Muhallabia is a milky, rose-water-flavored rice pudding that is popular in Lebanon and other parts of the Middle East. I prepared the pudding so that I could taste it for the first time and use it as a model for this painting. I also cooked a dish of mujadara (lentils, onions and rice), which can be seen on the plate in the upper right of the painting. My goal for this piece was to find a connection between two randomly selected topics: Lebanon and insects. I chose a recipe for muhallabia that includes honey in the topping. I chose a honeybee as an appealing insect attracted to the honey and the rosy fragrance of the two small glasses of pudding. The table setting is meant to evoke a waterfront cafe in Beirut.

This painting represents Libanon-Blau, a blue hue that is color #139 in Naomi Kuno's Colorscape book.