Syrian cuisine
The term Syrian cuisine refers to the style or method of cooking in Syria.
Pita bread (khubz), which is round flat bread, and hummus, a dip made of ground chickpeas, sesame tahini, lemon juice, and garlic, are two popular Syrian foods. Baba ghanoush, or eggplant spread, is also a dish made by Syrians.
The Syrian cuisine includes other dishes like stuffed zucchini (mahshe), dolma, kebab, kibbeh, kibbeh nayyeh, mujaddara, shawarma and shanklish. Syrians often serve selections of appetizers, known as meze, before the main course. Za'atar, minced beef, and cheese manakish are popular hors d'oeuvre. 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 accomany their cheese called ka'ak. These are made of farina and other ingredients, rolled out, shapped 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. Another way to eat jibbneh mashallale is to toast some "khubz"(Arabic for bread) and top with cheese. The Syrian alcoholic drink is the arak beverage. One of the popular desserts made by Syrians is the ba'lawa, which is made of filo pastry filled with chopped nuts and soaked in honey.
A spice mixture called baharat mshakale' is widely used in Syrian cooking.
See also
- Arab cuisine
- Iraqi cuisine
- Lebanese cuisine
- Levantine cuisine
- Mediterranean cuisine
- Middle Eastern cuisine
- Ottoman cuisine
- Palestinian cuisine