Lebanon
Maarouk
معروك
A soft, sweet brioche-like bread flavoured with mahleb and filled with date paste, traditionally baked for Ramadan in Lebanon and Syria.
western-asia
Syria
Explore 87 foods connected to Syria, from everyday staples to rare local specialties.
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Aleppo Essentials
7 editor-selected foods for understanding the place through what people eat.
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Traditional foods from Syria.
87 foods in this view. Filter by category, type, rarity, or search every recorded name.
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Syria
Maghmour
مغمور
Aubergine and chickpeas stewed in olive oil with tomato and a great deal of garlic, eaten cold or at room temperature.
Aleppo, Syria
Mamounia
مأمونية
Semolina toasted in ghee and cooked with sugar syrup into a soft, glossy porridge, topped with cinnamon and clotted cream.
Jordan
Mansaf
منسف
Lamb simmered in a sauce of reconstituted dried fermented yoghurt, poured over rice and thin shrak bread and scattered with almonds and pine nuts.
Jordan
Maqluba
مقلوبة
Rice layered with fried aubergine, cauliflower and lamb or chicken in a pot, cooked, then upended onto a tray so the layers show.
Lebanon
Marinated Chicken Skewers
شيش طاووق
Chicken cubes marinated in yoghurt, lemon, garlic and spices and grilled, served with garlic paste and pickles.
Lebanon
Meatballs in Tomato and Pomegranate
داود باشا
Lamb meatballs browned and simmered in a tomato and onion sauce sharpened with pomegranate molasses, served with rice.
Syria
Medloqa
مدلوقة
Aubergine, pepper and tomato roasted, chopped and cooked with garlic and pomegranate molasses into a soft, sour relish.
Lebanon
Meghli
مغلي
A dark pudding of ground rice, caraway, cinnamon and anise, set in bowls and covered with soaked nuts and coconut.
Lebanon
Muhallebi
Sakizli muhallebi
Muhallebi is the base Turkish milk pudding and the anchor of the muhallebici shop; it belongs in the catalog as the parent of the pudding family.
Lebanon
Mujaddara
مجدرة
Lentils and rice or bulgur cooked together and buried under deeply caramelised onions fried almost to black.
Egypt
Mulukhiyah
ملوخية
Jute leaves cooked into a green, slippery stew with chicken or lamb, finished with fried garlic and coriander and served over rice.
Rif Dimashq, Syria
Murabba' al-ward (Syrian rose jam)
مربى الورد
Rose petals are simmered with sugar into a fragrant Syrian preserve, served with bread, cream, or yoghurt.
Lebanon
Mutabbal
متبل
Aubergine charred whole over a flame, peeled and mashed with tahini, lemon and garlic into a pale smoky purée.
Syria
Nammoura
نمورة
Semolina cake baked in a tray with a whole almond on each diamond and drenched in syrup while hot.
Syria
Ouzi
أوزي
Spiced rice with minced lamb, peas, carrot and nuts wrapped in a thin pastry parcel and baked, then opened at the table.
Lebanon
Qatayef
قطايف
Small pancakes cooked on one side only, folded around walnut or clotted cream, then fried and soaked in syrup or served fresh.
Antakya, Lebanon
Red Pepper and Walnut Dip
محمرة
Roasted red peppers pounded with walnuts, breadcrumbs, pomegranate molasses and chilli into a coarse, sweet-sour paste.
Egypt
Salep
Салеп
A warm, creamy winter drink made from the powdered tubers of wild orchids, mixed with hot milk, sugar, and topped with cinnamon. Salep has been consumed since Ottoman times and is sold by street vendors during the cold months. The same orchid root powder is a key ingredient in Turkish dondurma ice cream.
Lebanon
Sayadiya
صيادية
White fish fried and laid on rice cooked in a stock darkened with deeply caramelised onion, topped with toasted pine nuts and a tahini sauce.
Damascus, Lebanon
Sesame and Pistachio Biscuits
برازق
Thin crisp biscuits coated with sesame seeds on one side and pressed with pistachio on the other.
Syria
Sfiha
صفيحة
Small open-faced pies of dough topped with minced lamb, tomato, onion and pomegranate molasses, baked hot and fast.
Syria
Shakriyeh
شاكرية
Lamb chunks simmered in a hot garlic-yoghurt sauce and served over rice with fried pine nuts.
Lebanon
Shanklish
شنكليش
Balls of aged, fermented cheese rolled in za'atar and chilli and left to develop a rind, sharply pungent and crumbly.
Syria
Sharab al loz
شراب اللوز
Almonds are ground and strained into a cloudy, milky sherbet, sweetened and poured over ice during Syrian Ramadan.
Syria
Sharab el-toot (Syrian mulberry syrup)
شراب التوت
Mulberries are cooked into a dark syrup and diluted with water as a tart, cooling Syrian summer drink.
Egypt
Shawarma
שווארמה
Turkey or lamb stacked on a vertical spit with fat between the layers, shaved off and served in laffa with tahini, salad and amba.
Iraq
Sheikh Mahshi
شيخ محشي
Aubergines or courgettes hollowed, fried and filled with minced lamb and pine nuts, then baked in tomato or yoghurt sauce.
Lebanon
Shish Barak
شش برك
Tiny meat-filled dumplings simmered in a tangy garlic-and-mint yoghurt sauce, a Lebanese comfort dish of Ottoman origin.
Lebanon
Shorbet Ads
شوربة عدس
An Egyptian lentil soup, thick and golden, seasoned with cumin and lemon and often finished with a swirl of oil.
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 Courgettes
كوسا محشي
Small courgettes cored with a special corer and filled with rice, lamb and spices, then cooked in yoghurt or tomato.
United Arab Emirates
Stuffed Dates
تمر محشي
Stuffed dates are Emirati sweets filled with nuts or cream cheese; the dates hold a generous filling and can remain moderately sweet.
Lebanon
Stuffed Pickled Aubergines
مكدوس
Baby aubergines salted, stuffed with walnut, garlic and chilli, and packed under olive oil until they soften and sour.
Damascus, Syria
Syrian Apricots
مشمش
Small, intensely perfumed apricots from the Ghouta orchards outside Damascus, dried into sheets or eaten fresh in June.