A Lebanese economist announced that the cost of the family dish of fattoush for 4 people is estimated at one million pounds, less than a week before the start of the month of Ramadan, as fattoush is considered the main dish at the Ramadan Iftar banquet in Lebanon, and it is eaten immediately after soup.
The head of the International Information Bulletin (local statistical bulletin) Jawad Adra wrote, on his own account via Twitter, that the cost of a plate of “fattoush” per person is at least 225,000 Syrian pounds, and Adra compared the price of a plate of fattoush since the beginning of the economic crisis. Pass over Lebanon, and how it rose as follows:
In 2020, the cost of the dish was 4,250 liras.
In 2021, it reached 12,300 liras.
In 2022, the cost amounted to 50,500 liras.
A week before the start of Ramadan 2023, the cost of a fattoush dish is 225,000 pounds, a figure that is likely to rise, according to fluctuations in the exchange rate of the dollar.
225,000 pounds is equivalent to about $2 and a quarter of a dollar, according to the exchange rate of the US currency on the black market, in which the price of the dollar is close to 104,000 pounds, while a large number of Lebanese are still receiving their salaries on the basis of 1,500 pounds per dollar.
Fattoush needs many types of vegetables, most notably lettuce, cucumber, parsley, lemon, tomato, fresh mint, watercress, thyme, radishes, olive oil and toasted Lebanese bread.