Syrian cuisine
Syrian cuisine is a diffusion of the cultures of civilizations that settled in Syria, particularly during and after the Islamic era beginning with the Arab Ummayad conquest, then the eventual Persian-influenced Abbasids and ending with the strong influences of Turkish cuisine, resulting from the coming of the Ottoman Turks. It is in many ways similar to other Levantine cuisines, mainly Lebanese and Palestinian.
The Syrian cuisine includes dishes like kibbeh, kebab halabi, wara' enab, hummus, tabbouleh, fattoush, labneh, shawarma, mujaddara, shanklish, pastırma, sujuk and ba'lawa. Ba'lawa is made of filo pastry filled with chopped nuts and soaked in honey. Syrians often serve selections of appetizers, known as meze, before the main course. za'atar, minced beef, and cheese manakish are served as hors d'oeuvres. Arabic flat bread is always eaten together with meze.
Syrians also make cookies to usually accompany their cheese called ka'ak. These are made of farina and other ingredients, rolled out, shaped into rings and baked. Another form of a similar cookie is to fill with crushed dates mixed with butter to eat with their jibbneh mashallale, a string cheese made of curd cheese pulled and twisted together.
A spice mixture called baharat mshakale is endemic to Syrian cuisine.
Kebab Halabi
A kind of kebab served with a spicy tomato sauce and Aleppo pepper, very common in Syria and Lebanon, named after the city of Aleppo (Halab). Kebab halabi has around 26 variants[1] including:
- Kebab karaz for cherry kebab in Arabic - meatballs (lamb) along with cherries and cherry paste, pine nuts, sugar and pomegranate molasses. It is considered one of Aleppo's main dishes especially among Armenians.
- Kebab kashkhash - rolled lamb or beef with chili pepper paste, parsley, garlic and pine nuts.
- Kebab hindi - rolled meat with tomato paste, onion, capsicum and pomegranate molasses.
- Kebab kamayeh - soft meat with truffle pices, onion and various nuts.
- Kebab siniyye for tray kebab in Arabic - lean minced lamb in a tray added with chili pepper, onion and tomato.
Kibbeh
A variety of Syrian dishes made with bulgur and minced lamb are called kibbeh. The northern Syrian city of Aleppo (Halab) is famous for having more than 17 different types.[2] These include kibbeh prepared with sumac (kәbbe sәmmāʔiyye), yogurt (kәbbe labaniyye), quince (kәbbe safarjaliyye), lemon juice (kәbbe ḥāmḍa), pomegranate sauce, cherry sauce, and other varieties, such as the "disk" kibbeh (kәbbe ʔrāṣ), the "plate" kibbeh (kәbbe bәṣfīḥa or kәbbe bṣēniyye) and the raw kibbeh (kәbbe nayye).
However, Kubbat Halab is an Iraqi version of kibbeh made with a rice crust and named after Aleppo.
Sweets
- Baklava - a dessert of layered pastry filled with nuts and steeped in Atar syrup (orange [or] rose water and sugar), usually cut in a triangular or diamond shape.
- Taj al-malek (King's crown) - a dessert of round dry pastry, centre is filled with pistachio, nuts or cashew.
- Swar es-sett (Lady's wristlet)-a dessert of round pastry steeped in Atar syrup while the centre is covered with smashed pistachio.
- Lisan asfour (Sparrow's tongue)
- Mabrumeh
- Balloriyyeh
- Yabra'a
- Znood Es-sett (Lady's arms) - filo pastry cigars with various fillings
- Asabe'e antakiyyeh (Antioch fingers) - a finger-like rolled and stuffed pastry.
- Halawet al-jeben - Cheese pastry, rolled and stuffed with cheese or thick milk cream, served with Atar syrup.
- Mamuniyeh - semolina, boiled in water and added by significant amounts of sugar and ghee butter, usually served with salty cheese or milk cream (qeshtah).
- Zilebiyeh - thin sheets of semolina dough, boiled, rolled and stuffed with pistachio or milk cream (qeshtah).
- Ghazel al-banat - sugar, toasted with a special system and stuffed with pistachio or cashew.
- Karabij
- Shuaibiyyat
- Mushabbak
- Halva - sesame paste sweet, usually made in a slab and studded with fruit and nuts.
- Kenafeh - shoelace pastry dessert stuffed with sweet white cheese, nuts and syrup.
- Ma'amoul - date, pistachio or walnut filled cookies shaped in a wooden mould called a tabi made specially for Christian holidays (traditionally Easter), Muslim holidays (such as Ramadan) and Jewish holidays (Purim).
- Qada'ef- Semolina dough stuffed with a paste of sweet walnuts or milk cream and honey syrup (qater).
- Nabulsiyeh- a layer of semi-salty Nabulsi cheese covered with a semolina dough and drizzled with a honey syrup (qater).
Beverages
- Arabic coffee
- Turkish coffee
- Syrian beer (Al-Shark and Barada beers)
- Arak
- Ayran
- Jallab
- Polo (Mint Lemonade)
- White coffee
- Tamarind sherbet
- Araqsûs
See also
- Arab cuisine
- Assyrian cuisine
- Iraqi cuisine
- Jordanian cuisine
- Lebanese cuisine
- Levantine cuisine
- Mediterranean cuisine
- Middle Eastern cuisine
- Ottoman cuisine
- Palestinian cuisine
References
External links
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