List of Middle Eastern dishes

This is a list of dishes found in Middle Eastern cuisine, a generalized term collectively referring to the cuisines of the Middle East. The Middle East is home to numerous different cultural and ethnic groups. This diversity is also reflected in the many local culinary traditions in choice of ingredients, style of preparation, and cooking techniques.

Middle Eastern dishes

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Name	Image	Country/region	Description
Asida		North Africa and Middle East	A lump of cooked wheat flour dough, sometimes with butter or honey added
Baba ghanoush		Levant	Mashed eggplant with virgin olive oil and various seasonings
Baklava		Middle East	A layered pastry dessert made of filo pastry, filled with chopped nuts, and sweetened with syrup or honey.
Bichak		Middle East	A stuffed tricornered appetizer.
Dolma		Middle East	A family of stuffed dishes from Ottoman cuisine that can be served warm or cold.
Duqqa		Egypt	A dip of herbs and spices.
Falafel		Middle East	deep-fried balls or patty-shaped fritters made from ground chickpeas, broad beans, or both.
Fesikh		Egypt	Fermented, salted mullet.
Freekeh		Levant	A cereal food made from green wheat that goes through a roasting process in its production. It is an Arab dish that is especially popular in Levantine, Arabian Peninsula, Palestinian and Egyptian cuisine, but also in North African and other neighboring cuisines.
Ful medames		Egypt	Mashed fava beans with olive oil, chopped parsley, onion, garlic, and lemon juice.
Hawawshi		Egypt	A traditional Egyptian food very similar to the Middle eastern pizza-like Lahmacun. It is meat minced and spiced with onions and pepper, parsley and sometimes hot peppers and chilies, placed between two circular layers of dough, then baked in the oven.
Hummus		Middle East	A Middle Eastern dip, spread or savory dish made from cooked, mashed chickpeas blended with tahini, lemon juice and garlic.
Kashk bademjan		Iran	A staple Iranian dish of kashk and eggplant either, with garnishes of caramelized onions, roasted nuts, herbs and spices.
Kebab		Middle East	A wide variety of grilled or barbecued meat dishes often skewered (Shish Kebabs) originating in the Middle East and later on adopted in Turkey, Azerbaijan, Southern Europe, South Asia and Asia Minor, now found worldwide.
Kibbeh		Levant	Kibbeh (also kubba or Köfte) is the basis of family of Middle Eastern dishes, and involves a filling of spiced ground meat and onions surrounded by a grain-based outer shell that is fried or baked.
Kibbeh nayyeh		Levant	A Levantine mezze that consists of minced raw lamb mixed with fine bulgur and spices.
Kushari		Egypt	Made from rice, lentils, chickpeas and macaroni covered with tomato sauce and fried onions.
Mulukhiyah		Egypt	The leaves of the Corchorus species are used as a vegetable in Middle Eastern, East African, North African, and South Asian cuisine. Mulukhiyyah is rather bitter, and when boiled, the resulting liquid is a thick, highly mucilaginous broth; it is often described as "slimy," rather like cooked okra.
Qatayef		Egypt	An Arab dessert commonly served during the month of Ramadan, a sort of sweet dumpling filled with cream or nuts. It is usually prepared using Akkawi cheese as a filling.
Shawarma		Levant	A dish consisting of meat cut into thin slices, stacked in a cone-like shape, and roasted on a slowly-turning vertical rotisserie or spit.
Shish taouk		Levant	Marinated cubes of chicken are skewered and grilled.
Tabbouleh		Levant	A Levantine salad made mostly of finely chopped parsley, with tomatoes, mint, onion, bulgur (soaked, not cooked), and seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and sweet pepper.
Toum		Levant	A garlic sauce as prepared in Lebanon, the Levant, and Egypt similar to the European aioli. It contains garlic, salt, olive oil or vegetable oil, and lemon juice crushed using a wooden mortar and pestle. There is a variation popular in many villages, such as Zgharta, where mint is added, called "Zeit and Toum".

See also

• List of African dishes