Lebanon
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An Egyptian lentil soup, thick and golden, seasoned with cumin and lemon and often finished with a swirl of oil.
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Lebanon
Explore 95 foods connected to Lebanon, from everyday staples to rare local specialties.
95 foods12 leading categories1 Essentials guides
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The local shortlist
Lebanon Essentials
13 editor-selected foods for understanding the place through what people eat.
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Traditional foods from Lebanon.
95 foods in this view. Filter by category, type, rarity, or search every recorded name.
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Lebanon
Small Spiced Sausages
مقانق
Short lamb and beef sausages spiced with cinnamon and pine nut, fried and finished with lemon or pomegranate molasses.
Lebanon
Spicy Baked Fish
سمكة حرة
A whole fish baked and covered in a sauce of tahini, coriander, chilli, walnut and citrus, served warm or cold.
Lebanon
Spicy Potatoes
بطاطا حرة
Potato cubes fried crisp then tossed with garlic, coriander, chilli and lemon while still hot.
Lebanon
Spinach Triangles
فطاير سبانخ
Triangular pastries filled with spinach, onion and sumac, pinched into three corners and baked.
Lebanon
Strained Yoghurt
لبنة
Yoghurt hung in a cloth until the whey drains and it thickens to a soft, tart cheese, spread on a plate and flooded with olive oil.
Lebanon
String Cheese
جبنة مشللة
A braided, brined cheese pulled into fine strings and flavoured with nigella seed and mahleb.
Lebanon
Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
ملفوف محشي
Cabbage leaves rolled tightly around rice, lamb and spices and packed into a pot with garlic, mint and lemon.
Lebanon
Stuffed Courgettes
كوسا محشي
Small courgettes cored with a special corer and filled with rice, lamb and spices, then cooked in yoghurt or tomato.
Lebanon
Stuffed Pickled Aubergines
مكدوس
Baby aubergines salted, stuffed with walnut, garlic and chilli, and packed under olive oil until they soften and sour.
Kayseri, Lebanon
Sucuk
Sucuq
A dry, spicy fermented sausage made from ground beef mixed with tail fat, garlic, cumin, and red pepper, stuffed into casings and air-dried. First mentioned in the 11th century by Mahmud al-Kashgari, sucuk is sliced and grilled, fried with eggs for breakfast, or added to dishes like bean stews. Afyonkarahisar is renowned for its sucuk production tradition.
Lebanon
Sumac
سماق
The dried and ground berry of the sumac shrub, deep red-purple and sharply sour, dusted over salads, onions and grilled meat.
Lebanon
Tabbouleh
تبولة
Parsley and bulgur salad with tomatoes, mint, lemon, dominant fresh parsley with fine bulgur and balanced lemon, a popular and refreshing Arabic salad in UAE, traditional and beloved, daily and healthy.
Israel
Tahini
طحينة
A smooth paste of ground sesame seeds, the backbone of hummus, baba ghanoush, moutabal and many Lebanese dips and sauces.
Lebanon
Tahini Halva
حلاوة طحينية
A dense sesame confection made by working tahini with boiled sugar syrup until it sets into a crumbly, fibrous block.
Egypt
Tahini Sauce
طحينة
An Egyptian sesame paste sauce with lemon and garlic, served with falafel, shawarma and grilled meats as a daily staple.
Lebanon
Thyme Flatbread
منقوشة زعتر
Flat dough spread with a paste of dried thyme, sumac, sesame and olive oil and baked on the floor of a hot oven.
Lebanon
Turkish Coffee
Türk Kahvesi
A method of preparing unfiltered coffee using finely ground beans simmered with water and sugar in a cezve. The result is a strong, aromatic brew with a thick layer of foam, served in small cups with water. UNESCO inscribed Turkish coffee culture on its Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2013. The grounds are traditionally used for fortune telling.
Lebanon
Turmeric Semolina Cake
صفوف
A dense yellow cake of semolina and flour coloured with turmeric, scattered with pine nuts and cut into diamonds.
Lebanon
White Bean Stew
فاصوليا
A Lebanese stew of white beans simmered in tomato sauce with garlic, olive oil and coriander, served warm with bread.
Lebanon
Wild Thyme
زعتر بري
The wild hyssop-like herb gathered on the hills each spring and dried as the base of the thyme-and-sumac blend.
Lebanon
Yoghurt and Chickpea Layers
فتة
Torn fried flatbread under warm chickpeas, covered with garlicky yoghurt and topped with toasted pine nuts and butter.
Lebanon
Za’atar
زعتر
A Levantine blend of dried thyme or oregano, sumac, toasted sesame and salt, used on flatbreads, with labneh and as a table seasoning.