country Essentials · 11 foods
Palestine Essentials
A considered first route through Palestine: the foods that carry its everyday habits, celebrations, ingredients, and memory.
Explore all Palestine foods →THE
ESSENTIALS
The complete shortlist
11 foods to know.
Each selection includes the reason it belongs here—so this is a guide, not just a pile of names.
Palestine
Musakhan
مسخّن
Roast chicken over sumac onions and olive-oil-soaked taboon bread — Palestine's national dish.
Nablus, Palestine
Knafeh
كنافة
Nablus's stretchy cheese pastry under orange-tinted crust, drenched in syrup.
Palestine
Maftoul
مفتول
Hand-rolled Palestinian couscous pearls steamed with chickpeas and chicken in a cumin-spiced broth.
Hebron, Palestine
Qidreh
قدرة
Hebron's clay-pot lamb and chickpea rice, cooked in communal stone ovens for weddings and feasts.
Jordan
Maqluba
مقلوبة
Upside-down rice layered with eggplant or cauliflower and lamb or chicken, dramatically inverted at the table.
Gaza Strip, Palestine
Sumaghiyyeh
سماقية
Gazan beef and chickpea stew sharpened with sumac and enriched with tahini.
Gaza Strip, Palestine
Rummaniyeh
رمّانية
Palestinian lentil and eggplant stew sharpened with pomegranate and tahini, especially associated with Gaza.
Nablus, Palestine
Tamriyeh
تمرية
Nablus's fried filo parcel filled with mastic-scented semolina pudding.
Palestine
Mfarrakeh
مفركة
Cubed potatoes and scrambled eggs with cumin and za'atar, an everyday Palestinian breakfast.
Nablus, Palestine
Nabulsi Cheese
جبنة نابلسية
Brined Nabulsi cheese from the city of Nablus, eaten fresh or melted into knafeh.
Egypt
Falafel
פלאפל
Herb-green chickpea patties stuffed into pita with tahini, pickles and salad.