Arab cuisine

Barazij rounds glowing with lovely whiteness, more playful than gorgeous singing girls, They look like crystal trays, and were they indeed so, they would have served us as plates.

The 10th-century Kitab al-Tabikh written by Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq gives several recipes to be served with roasted fish, attributed to the various sources.

From the seventh Abbasid caliph Al-Ma'mun's recipe collection comes a sibagh made with whey, walnut, garlic, olive oil and murri.

Described as the "food of kings" and "supreme judge of all sweets", lauzinaj was an almond-based confection that had entered medieval European cuisine by the 13th-century from Andalusian influence, returning Crusaders and Latin translations of cookery books.

There are two versions of the dish known from medieval texts:[4] Vegetables include leeks, endive, melilot, fenugreek, okra, onions, purslane, Jew's mallow and radish.

[6] Some vegetables are consumed raw, but the following are usually boiled: asparagus, cauliflower, white soy beans, leeks, orach, a variety of mushroom known as ghushina[clarification needed], chard, cabbage, carrot, turnip, fresh fennel and eggplant.

One example of such a dish is eggplant with fried onion, fresh herbs and olive oil dressed with fermented sauces, vinegar and caraway.

A dish for fried carrots with fresh herbs, dressing and spices was described by the poet Kushajim:[8][9] Dinars of carnelian and gold in a vessel so delicate, it may almost melt and flow.

The scattered rue is flowers of turquoise gems, vibrantly green, Jiggling with murri and olive oil, ebbing and flowing with sheen.

Some of those foods are: There are two basic structures for meals in the Arab world, one regular schedule during most of the year and a second one that is unique to the month of Ramadan in which observant Muslims fast during the day.

In the Maghreb region, a visitor will find a table full of bread-like snacks, including m’semen, baghrir, and other stuffed breads.

In an average Arab Levantine household, a visitor might expect a table full of mezzes, breads topped with spices including za'atar and nuts.

Many Arabic food words are borrowed from Aramaic, the language originally spoken by the indigenous Christian inhabitants of Iraq and Syria.

The base is a brown meat is called maraq (مرق), a dollop of fenugreek froth, and sahawiq (سحاوق) or sahowqa (a mixture of chili peppers, tomatoes, garlic, and herbs ground into a salsa.)

Other dishes widely known in Yemen include aseed, fahsa, thareed, samak mafi, mandi, fattah, shakshouka, shafut, bint al-sahn, kabsa, jachnun, harees and Hyderabadi haleem.

[16][17][18] The Bedouins of the Arabian Peninsula, Middle East and North Africa rely on a diet of dates, dried fruit, nuts, wheat, barley, rice, and meat.

Breakfast consists of baked beans, bread, nuts, dried fruits, milk, yoghurt, and cheese with tea or coffee.

Another famous dish is shawarma, which consists of meat cut into thin slices which are placed in an inverted cone and cooked using a spit or a grill.

In Jordan and Palestine (and to a lesser extent in southern Syria), there is a much stronger emphasis on roasting various meats, and cooking thick yogurt-like pastes from goat's milk.

A type of thick dried yogurt made from goat's milk, called jameed, is poured on top of the lamb and rice to give it its distinct flavor and taste.

[29] Mujaddara, another food of the West Bank, as well as in the Levant in general, consists of cooked green lentils, with bulghur sauteed in olive oil.

Biryani, although influenced by Indian cuisine, is milder with a different mixture of spices, and a wider variety of vegetables, including potatoes, peas, carrots, and onions.

These customs also vary within Egypt itself, for example, in the coastal areas, like the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and Canal, the diet relies heavily on fish.

Fruits are also greatly appreciated in Egypt: mangos, grapes, bananas, apples, sycamore, guavas, and peaches are very popular, especially because they are all domestically produced and are available at relatively low prices.

A famous dessert from Egypt is called om ali, which is similar to a bread and butter pudding made traditionally with puff pastry, milk and nuts.

In Maghrebi cuisine, the most common staple foods are wheat (for khobz bread[33] and couscous[34]),[35] fish, seafood, goat,[36] lamb,[36] beef,[36] dates, almonds, olives and various vegetables and fruits.

Tunisian cuisine offers what is known as a "solar kitchen" that relies heavily on olive oil, spices, tomatoes, fish species, and meat.

[38] Bazin is prepared by boiling barley flour in water and then beating it to create a dough using a magraf, which is a unique stick designed for this purpose.

Another way involves adding lamb chops, chickpeas and garlic to the sauce before serving hot with a sprinkle of extra virgin olive oil, lemon, fresh chili and optional crusty bread.

[citation needed] In addition, Algeria's rich history has contributed to the abundance of food from different periods and regions of the world.