Levantine cuisine

Levantine cuisine is the traditional cuisine of Ottoman Syria, now usually called the Levant. This region shared many culinary traditions under the Ottoman Empire which continue to be influential today. It covers the modern states of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, northwest Iraq (the province of Mosul), and southern Turkey near Adana, Gaziantep, and Mardin.

Aleppo was the cultural and commercial capital of this region.

Perhaps the most distinctive aspect of this cuisine are mezze including tabbouleh, hummus bi tahini, baba ghannouj, and the like.

Foods in Levantine cuisine

* Baklava
* Hummus
* Pita bread
* Shawarma
* Tabouleh
* Labaneh
* Eggplant salads
* Yoghurt
* Pickles
* Lentil soup
* Hard boiled eggs
* Olives
* Stuffed vegetables
* Chopped vegetable salads
** Fatoush
** Israeli salad
** Matbucha
* Grilled meat skewers:
**Kebabs
**Shashlik / Shishlik
* Meat, vegetable, fruit, or cheese filled pastries:
** Bourekas
** Fatayer
** Katayef
** Sambusak
** Shish Barak
* Stuffed leaves:
**Stuffed grape leaves
**Stuffed cabbage

ee also

* Assyrian cuisine
* Iraqi cuisine
* Israeli cuisine
* Lebanese cuisine
* Middle Eastern cuisine
* Palestinian cuisine
* Syrian cuisine

References

* Sami Zubaida, "National, Communal and Global Dimensions in Middle Eastern Food Cultures" in Sami Zubaida and Richard Tapper, "A Taste of Thyme: Culinary Cultures of the Middle East", London and New York, 1994 and 2000, ISBN 1-86064-603-4, p. 35.