Mezza '', type of Iraqi bread. Meals begin with appetizers and salads, known as
mezza. Mezza is a selection of appetizers or small dishes often served with a beverage, like anise-flavored liqueurs such as
arak,
ouzo,
rakı,
sambuca,
pastis, or various wines, similar to the
tapas of Spain, or
finger food. Mezza may include: • Iraqi sumac salad, a typical Iraqi salad with the addition of sumac berries. •
Baytinijan maqli, a dish often served cold, consisting of fried aubergine (eggplant) with
tahini, lettuce, parsley and tomatoes, garnished with sumac and served on pita bread or sliced bread, often grilled or toasted. Variations include bell peppers, or a garlic-lemon
vinaigrette. •
Fattoush, a salad made from several garden vegetables and toasted or fried pieces of pita bread. •
Tabbouleh, a salad dish, often used as part of a
mezze. Its primary ingredients are finely chopped parsley, bulgur, mint, tomato, scallion, and other herbs with lemon juice, olive oil and various seasonings, generally including black pepper and sometimes cinnamon and allspice. •
Turshi, pickled vegetables in the cuisine of many Balkan and Middle East countries. It is a traditional appetizer,
mezze for
rakı,
ouzo,
tsipouro and
rakia.
Dips •
Baba ghanoush, a dish of baked
aubergine (eggplant) mashed and mixed with various seasonings. •
Hummus, a dip or spread made from cooked, mashed
chickpeas, blended with
tahini,
olive oil,
lemon juice, salt and garlic. •
Jajik, an appetizer, also used as a sauce for
shish and
döner kebab.
Jajik is made of
strained yogurt (usually
sheep's milk or
goat's milk in Greece and Turkey) with cucumbers, garlic, salt, usually olive oil, pepper, dill, sometimes lemon juice and parsley, or mint added. The cucumbers are either puréed and strained, or seeded and finely diced. Olive oil, olives, and herbs are often used as garnishes.
Soups and stews Various stews served over rice form a major part of Iraqi cuisine. •
Fasolia yabsa (Iraqi white bean stew), made up of tender lamb or veal, white kidney beans (also called cannellini beans), tomato sauce and served over rice. •
Fasoulia, a soup of dry white beans, olive oil, and vegetables. •
Harissa, similar to
keşkek, a porridge made of stewed and boned chicken and coarsely ground soaked wheat. •
Kebabs, a dish consisting of grilled or broiled meats on a skewer or stick. The most common
kebabs include lamb and beef, although others use chicken or fish. •
Lentil soup, may be vegetarian or include meat, and may use brown, red, yellow or black lentils, with or without the husk. •
Maqluba, an upside-down rice and aubergine (eggplant) casserole, hence the name which means "upside-down". It is sometimes made with fried cauliflower instead of aubergine and usually includes meat—often braised lamb. •
Margat bamia or simply
bamia, a stew made with
okra and
lamb or beef cubes in a tomato sauce. •
Margat baytinijan, an aubergine-based dish of the Balkans and the Middle East. All versions are based primarily on sautéed aubergine (eggplant) and tomato, usually with minced meat. '' or
samoon •
Masgouf, a traditional Mesopotamian dish made with fish from the
Tigris. It is an open-cut freshwater fish roasted for hours after being marinated with olive oil, salt,
curcuma and tamarind while keeping the skin on. Traditional garnishes for the
masgouf include lemon, chopped onions and tomatoes, as well as the clay-oven
flatbreads common to Iraq and much of the Middle East. •
Pomegranate soup, called
shorbat rumman in Iraq. It is made from pomegranate juice and seeds, yellow split peas, ground beef, mint leaves, spices, and other ingredients. •
Qeema, a minced meat, tomato and chickpea stew, served with rice. Traditionally prepared at the annual
Ashura commemorations in southern Iraq and can also be served in funerals, weddings, etc. The name
qeema is an ancient
Akkadian word meaning "finely chopped". '' •
Quzi, stuffed roasted lamb. •
Falafel, a fried ball or patty made from spiced chickpeas or fava beans. Originally from Egypt,
falafel is a form of common fast food in the Middle East, where it is also served as a kind of
mezze and more commonly eaten with samoon with a
salad and usually
Amba (condiment) as dressing •
Kofta, a family of meatball or meatloaf dishes in Middle Eastern, Indian, and Balkan cuisines. In the simplest form,
koftas consist of balls of minced or ground meat—usually beef or lamb—mixed with spices or onions. :Vegetarian varieties include
lauki kofta,
shahi aloo kofta, and
malai kofta. •
Kubba, a dish made of rice or
burghul, chopped meat, and spices. There are many varieties and variations of kubba. One of the best-known varieties is a
torpedo-shaped
burghul shell stuffed with chopped meat and fried. Other varieties are baked, poached, or even served raw. They may be shaped into balls, patties, or flat. •
Pilaf, similar to that of Iran. •
Quzi, a rice-based dish served with very slow-cooked lamb and roasted nuts and raisins. • Tibeat, a Jewish-Iraqi dish made for
Shabbat, slow-cooked chicken stuffed with rice, tomatoes, dried apricots and raisins, with a strong cardamom flavor. In
Iraqi Arabic, rice is called
temmen, which is an
assimilation of English "
ten men" (a brand of Indian
basmati rice). According to a common folktale, the word originated after
World War I when Iraqi farmers declined to provide the
British with rice to feed their soldiers in
Basra. Thereafter, the British imported "Ten Men" instead. As such, when Iraqi porters used to hear British soldiers requesting them to carry the pouches of "Ten Men", they thought it meant rice in English. The word
temmen has since entered the Iraqi vocabulary, and today, Iraqis still use that word for rice.
Sandwiches and wraps •
Shawarma, a Middle-Eastern Arabic-style sandwich-like wrap The traditional Iraqi
kleicha cookies are believed to have their roots in Mesopotamian
qullupu—date filled pastries baked in a wood-fired oven called
tannour. In modern times, other types of cookies (
biskit) and cakes (''ka'ak
) are made at home, usually flavored with cardamom or rose water. Some variations include the disc-shaped khfefiyyat
, half-moon shaped kleichat joz
made with nuts, and date-filled kleichat tamur''. Cookbooks dating to the
Abbasid Caliphate between the 10th and 13th centuries include recipes for hundreds of desserts. The tradition continues into the modern day, but the rich, syrupy desserts like
baklava are usually prepared for special occasions or religious celebrations, as most daily meals are usually followed by a simple course of seasonal fruit, especially dates, figs, cantaloupes, nectarines, apricots, pomegranates, peaches, mulberries, grapes or watermelons. Though not as recognizable as
baklava, the fried pastry called
lauzeenaj, flavored with
mastic and
rose water, was a specialty in imperial Baghdad. Rosette-shaped
fritters called
zalabia are a local specialty, believed to take their name from
Ziryab, a well-known Iraqi musician in the
Caliphate of Cordoba.
Baklava and
zalabia are typical offerings during the
Eid al-Fitr celebrations that follow
Ramadan.
Halqoum (commonly known as
Turkish delight) are traditionally given as gifts during the holiday. Others include: •
Halva, popular in the Balkans, Poland, Middle East, and other areas surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. The primary ingredients in this confection are sesame butter or paste (
tahini), and sugar, glucose or honey. •
Kanafeh, a pastry made with layers of semolina, white cheese and a sugary syrup sprinkled with rose water. •
Luzina, a candy similar to Turkish
lukum, made from ground fruits. •
Mann al-sama, an Iranian nougat that originated in
Isfahan. •
Qatayef, an Arab dessert reserved for the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, a sort of sweet
crêpe filled with cheese or nuts. It was traditionally prepared by street vendors as well as households in the Levant and more recently has spread to Egypt. •
Zardah, a
Persian dessert. It is also used on religious occasions, such as
Ramadan and
Eid. It is made of soaked rice with a sticky consistency like jelly, with sugar and yellow tea dye added to it, along with cinnamon, coconut and nuts to decorate the dish. == Beverages ==