Syrian Cuisine Information
The term Syrian cuisine refers to the style or method of cooking in Syria.
The 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, 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 popular hors d'oeuvres. Arabic flat bread is always eaten together with meze. Syrians are also well-known for their cheese. The very popular string cheese jibbneh mashallale is make of curd cheese and is pulled and twisted together. 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 spice mixture called baharat mshakale is widely used in Syrian cooking.
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Syrian dishes
Typical Syrian dishes which could be taken as appetizers or during breakfast.
Typical Syrian breakfast, labneh, olives, halawa, eggs, tomatoes, khubz, served with tea- Baba ghanouj - char-grilled aubergine (eggplant), tahina, olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic puree—served as a dip.
- Batata harra - literally "spicy potatoes".
- Fetté Shamiyyé - A class of dish all by itself, made of crushed flatbread, yogurt and chickpeas, typical of Damascus.
- Fattoush - 'peasant' salad of toasted pita bread, cucumbers, tomatoes, chickweed, and mint.
- Falafel - small deep-fried patties made of highly-spiced ground chick-peas.
- Fried eggplant
- Fuul (Vicia faba) or Ful Halabi (after Aleppo)slow cooked mash of brown beans and red lentils dressed with lemon olive oil and cumin.
- Hummus - Also called 'Müsebbeha" in Damascus, dip or spread made of blended chickpeas, sesame tahini, lemon juice, and garlic, and typically eaten with pita bread
- Kibbeh - the national dish, mainly stuffed, can be made in different form like (fried,uncooked,cooked with yogurt)
- Kibbeh nayye - raw kibbeh eaten like steak tartar.
- Kabab - fingers, stars or a flat cake of minced meat and spices that can be baked or charcoal-grilled on skewers.
- Kousa Mahshi- stuffed squash, many varieties are used
- Labneh- strained yogurt, spreadable and garnished with good olive oil and sea salt.
- Lahm bil ajĩn a pastry covered with minced meat, onions, and nuts.
- Makdous - stuffed eggplant in olive oil
- Manaeesh - mini pizzas that are made in any number of local bakeries or Furns (Furn Assalam, Ain El Hilwe, Saida), traditionally garnished with cheese, Zaatar, or minced meat and onions. some bakeries allow you to bring your own toppings and build your own or buy the ones they sell there. Breakfast, lunch and dinner.
- Mujaddara - cooked lentils together with wheat or rice, garnished with onions that have been sauteed in vegetable oil.
- Mutabbel - made from eggplant
- Pastirma or Bastirma
- Shanklish -string cheese
- Shawarma -pieces of lamb or chicken layered on a vertical skewer with small pieces fat; slow roasted and served on a sandwich (see Doner kebab)
- Shish taouk- grilled chicken skewers that utilize only white meat, marinated in olive oil, lemon, parsley, and sumac
- Tabbouleh - diced parsley salad with bulghur, tomato and mint.
- Yabraq - stuffed grape leaves
- Za'atar - dried thyme and sumac that can differ from region to region and from family to family.
Sweets
Baklava sweets collection- 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'amoritz
- 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 (traditionally Easter) and Muslim holidays (such as Ramadan).
- 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
Mint lemonade served in Syria- Arabic coffee
- Turkish coffee
- Arak
- Ayran
- Jallab
- Polo (Mint Lemonade)
- White coffee
- Al Shark and Berada beers
- 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
External links
References
Categories: Arab cuisine | Levantine cuisine | Mediterranean cuisine | Middle Eastern cuisine | Syrian cuisine | Fertile Crescent
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