- Circassian Chicken (Syria)
- There are many regional variants of this slow-cooked chicken,
but all share a toasted walnut flour and allspice sauce, touched
with saffron, onion, and garlic, and
drizzled with peppery walnut oil.
- Dolma (pan-Middle Eastern)
- Dolma are stuffed vine leaves, and they are enjoyed throughout the
Middle East. In general, hot dolmas are stuffed with meat and cold dolmas
are vegetarian.
- Ful Medames (Fava Bean Porridge)
(Egypt)
- This is the standard breakfast meal for the standard Egyptian: fava
beans are stewed with ground coriander,
cumin, garlic, and lemon, then topped with any
number of things such as hard-cooked egg, fresh cilantro, olive oil, or raw vegetables.
- Imam Bayildi (Turkey)
- Stories of the origin of this dish's name abound. They range from a
Turkish priest (Imam) fainting with pleasure after eating these stuffed
eggplants served by his wife to the Imam fainting after hearing how much
they cost. Imam Bayildi are eggplants stuffed with tomatoes
onions, garlic, and parsley and served cold.
- Kibbeh with Glazed Carrots and Pomegranate (Syria)
- Here lamb kibbeh (oval-shaped meat balls) are stuffed with a yogurt
filling, and set to cook in a rich lamb and pomegranate stew.
- Konafa or Kadaif (Syria and Lebanon)
- Konafa, a spaghetti-like dough, is browned with butter and
served over a sweet cheese filling. The whole is drizzled with sugar
syrup scented with orange-flower water and pistachio nuts.
- Musakhan (Syria)
- For this dish, chicken is double-marinated. First it is placed in a
mixture of lemon juice, sumac, nutmeg, cinnamon, and
black pepper; and then onions, olive oil and
chicken stock are added. The roasted meat is served with a garnish of toasted pine nuts.
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