Nafas – which means ‘cook with love’ in Lebanese – is a term that Florence ElMurr Gebara first heard from a young age.
“Being raised in a Lebanese family, I learned how to cook from my beloved mother who instilled in me to always cook with love,” she says.
The now 51-year-old refers to it daily, as she spends a great deal of time whipping up tasty meals.
But not just for her family.
Florence runs her own business, Simply Flo, with the help of her husband .
As part of my Preparing for a Farmers’ Market with… series, I caught up with Florence to hear all about the business, as well as the pros and cons of farmers’ markets.
Simply Flo
Florence and her husband reside in Perth and Kinross’ Auchterarder with their three children.
They moved to Scotland eight years ago and Florence says the family “love living here”.
“Many ask us ‘Why Scotland?’, and I say I don’t know,” she added.
“We came to visit friends of ours one February. The temperature was -7C, but there was a beautiful blue sky and sunshine.
“Travelling around the Perth and Kinross area, we fell in love with it and decided to make it our home.”
Soon after relocating, in late 2015, Florence launched Simply Flo as a hobby and on a part-time basis produced homemade authentic Lebanese vegan food.
Items include hummus, spinach pies, falafel and baba ghanouj, as well as a range of different desserts.
Also among her offering is tabouleh (a Levantine salad), batata harrah (a vegetable dish consisting of potatoes, red peppers, coriander, chili, and garlic all fried in oil) and moussaka (an eggplant or potato-based dish, often including ground meat) among others.
Everything is made fresh in the business owner’s home kitchen.
Florence said: “Raising a family with three kids meant that I needed to provide a balanced and nutritious diet to keep them off any temptation toward unhealthy food.
“Mediterranean food is classified as the healthiest diet to follow and is recommended by British Health.
“The team consists of me and my husband. I am the chef, so I am the only one who does all the preparation.
“My husband manages the marketing, technical and operational side of the business.”
Farmers’ markets
Keen to buy some produce? You can catch Simply Flo at farmers’ markets in St Andrews, Cupar, Aberfeldy and Stirling monthly.
Florence makes 15 to 18 dishes (accumulating to around 50 to 60kg) every week and brings all her produce to markets.
“I spend 60 to 70 hours making them,” she said.
In terms of what she enjoys most about markets, the chef loves being able to interact with customers and other traders.
“It’s great being able to introduce Lebanese food to people,” Florence added.
However, she thinks more needs to be done to promote local markets.
“We not only need to be promoting and advertising the events on social media, but on boards and in supermarkets to attract the local community to them.”
For more information, visit simplyflo.co.uk
Conversation