Iraqi cuisine - WikiHQ

Iraqi cuisine is a Middle Eastern cuisine that has its origins in the ancient Near East culture of the Fertile Crescent. Tablets found in ancient ruins in Iraq show recipes prepared in the temples during religious festivals—the first cookbooks in the world. Ancient Iraq's cultural sophistication extended to the culinary arts. growing wheat and crops requiring winter chill such as apples and stone fruits. Among the ancient texts discovered in Mesopotamia is a Sumerian-Akkadian bilingual dictionary, recorded in cuneiform script on 24 stone tablets about 1900 BC.

Bulghur wheat is used in many dishes, having been a staple in the country since the days of the ancient Assyrians.

Baytinijan maqli, a dish often served cold, consisting of fried aubergine (eggplant) with tahini, lettuce, parsley and tomatoes, garnished with sumac and served on pita bread or sliced bread, often grilled or toasted. Variations include bell peppers, or a garlic-lemon vinaigrette.
Fattoush, a salad made from several garden vegetables and toasted or fried pieces of pita bread.
Tabbouleh, a salad dish, often used as part of a mezze. Its primary ingredients are finely chopped parsley, bulgur, mint, tomato, scallion, and other herbs with lemon juice, olive oil and various seasonings, generally including black pepper and sometimes cinnamon and allspice.
Turshi, pickled vegetables in the cuisine of many Balkan and Middle East countries. It is a traditional appetizer, mezze for rakı, ouzo, tsipouro and rakia.

Dips

Baba ghanoush, a dish of baked aubergine (eggplant) mashed and mixed with various seasonings.
Hummus, a dip or spread made from cooked, mashed chickpeas, blended with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic.
Jajik, an appetizer, also used as a sauce for shish and döner kebab. Jajik is made of strained yogurt (usually sheep's milk or goat's milk in Greece and Turkey) with cucumbers, garlic, salt, usually olive oil, pepper, dill, sometimes lemon juice and parsley, or mint added. The cucumbers are either puréed and strained, or seeded and finely diced. Olive oil, olives, and herbs are often used as garnishes.

Soups and stews

Various stews served over rice form a major part of Iraqi cuisine.

Fasolia yabsa (Iraqi white bean stew), made up of tender lamb or veal, white kidney beans (also called cannellini beans), tomato sauce and served over rice.
Fasoulia, a soup of dry white beans, olive oil, and vegetables.
Harissa, similar to keşkek, a porridge made of stewed and boned chicken and coarsely ground soaked wheat.
Kebabs, a dish consisting of grilled or broiled meats on a skewer or stick. The most common kebabs include lamb and beef, although others use chicken or fish.
Lentil soup, may be vegetarian or include meat, and may use brown, red, yellow or black lentils, with or without the husk.
Maqluba, an upside-down rice and aubergine (eggplant) casserole, hence the name which means "upside-down". It is sometimes made with fried cauliflower instead of aubergine and usually includes meat—often braised lamb.
Margat bamia or simply bamia, a stew made with okra and lamb or beef cubes in a tomato sauce.
Margat baytinijan, an aubergine-based dish of the Balkans and the Middle East. All versions are based primarily on sautéed aubergine (eggplant) and tomato, usually with minced meat.

thumb|A prepared [[masgouf]]

thumb|Iraqi kebab, usually served with khubz or [[samoon]]

Masgouf, a traditional Mesopotamian dish made with fish from the Tigris. It is an open-cut freshwater fish roasted for hours after being marinated with olive oil, salt, curcuma and tamarind while keeping the skin on. Traditional garnishes for the masgouf include lemon, chopped onions and tomatoes, as well as the clay-oven flatbreads common to Iraq and much of the Middle East.
Pomegranate soup, called shorbat rumman in Iraq. It is made from pomegranate juice and seeds, yellow split peas, ground beef, mint leaves, spices, and other ingredients.
Qeema, a minced meat, tomato and chickpea stew, served with rice. Traditionally prepared at the annual Ashura commemorations in southern Iraq and can also be served in funerals, weddings, etc. The name qeema is an ancient Akkadian word meaning "finely chopped".

thumb|[[Quzi]]

Quzi, stuffed roasted lamb.
Falafel, a fried ball or patty made from spiced chickpeas or fava beans. Originally from Egypt, falafel is a form of common fast food in the Middle East, where it is also served as a kind of mezze and more commonly eaten with samoon with a salad and usually Amba (condiment) as dressing
Kofta, a family of meatball or meatloaf dishes in Middle Eastern, Indian, and Balkan cuisines. In the simplest form, koftas consist of balls of minced or ground meat—usually beef or lamb—mixed with spices or onions.<div style="line-height: 0.22em;"></div>

:Vegetarian varieties include lauki kofta, shahi aloo kofta, and malai kofta.<div style="line-height: 0.22em;"></div>

Kubba, a dish made of rice or burghul, chopped meat, and spices. There are many varieties and variations of kubba. One of the best-known varieties is a torpedo-shaped burghul shell stuffed with chopped meat and fried. Other varieties are baked, poached, or even served raw. They may be shaped into balls, patties, or flat.
Pilaf, similar to that of Iran.
Quzi, a rice-based dish served with very slow-cooked lamb and roasted nuts and raisins.
Tibeat, a Jewish-Iraqi dish made for Shabbat, slow-cooked chicken stuffed with rice, tomatoes, dried apricots and raisins, with a strong cardamom flavor.

In Iraqi Arabic, rice is called temmen, which is an assimilation of English "ten men" (a brand of Indian basmati rice). According to a common folktale, the word originated after World War I when Iraqi farmers declined to provide the British with rice to feed their soldiers in Basra. Thereafter, the British imported "Ten Men" instead. As such, when Iraqi porters used to hear British soldiers requesting them to carry the pouches of "Ten Men", they thought it meant rice in English. The word temmen has since entered the Iraqi vocabulary, and today, Iraqis still use that word for rice.

Sandwiches and wraps

Shawarma, a Middle-Eastern Arabic-style sandwich-like wrap

The traditional Iraqi kleicha cookies are believed to have their roots in Mesopotamian qullupu—date filled pastries baked in a wood-fired oven called tannour. In modern times, other types of cookies (biskit) and cakes (ka'ak) are made at home, usually flavored with cardamom or rose water. Some variations include the disc-shaped khfefiyyat, half-moon shaped kleichat joz made with nuts, and date-filled kleichat tamur.

Beer, a drink that originated in ancient Assyria and Babylon over 6,000 years ago.
Cusa Masqool, an alcoholic drink which is made from fermented goats milk. It is mostly only found in the Kurdistan region and dates back to antiquity.

Non-alcoholic beverages

Arabic coffee, a drink that has a strong and bitter taste, a popular beverage in Iraq.
Sharbat, a chilled, sweet drink prepared from fruit juice or flower petals.
Laban, a cold beverage of yogurt mixed with cold water, sometimes with a pinch of salt or dried mint added.
Tea, also known as chai, is widely consumed throughout the day, especially in the mornings, after meals, and during social settings. It is prepared in a special way involving boiling tea in hot water, then placing it over a second tea pot with boiling water to let the tea infuse.<div style="line-height: 0.22em;"></div>

References

Bibliography

Linda Dangoor, Flavours of Babylon, Waterpoint Press, 2014 <small>(ISBN 978-0-9567325-1-4)</small>
Lamees Ibrahim, The Iraqi Cookbook, Stacey International, 2011 <small>(ISBN 978-1-905299-54-6)</small>.
ʻAlī Akbar Mahdī, (2003) Teen life in the Middle East, Greenwood Publishing Group, p. 40 -41
Jacob, Jeanne; Ashkenazi, Michael. (2007) The World Cookbook for Students, Greenwood Publishing Group p. 1 - 5
Maurice Mashaal, Saveurs de Bagdad.- À la table des juifs d'Iraq, Diastatops, 2025 <small>(ISBN 978-2-9598135-0-4)</small>.
Nasrallah, Nawal (2003) Delights from the Garden of Eden: A Cookbook and a History of the Iraqi Cuisine, 1stBooks,

External links

Iraqi Food and Cuisine
Delights from the Garden of Eden - A Cookbook and History of Iraqi Cuisine
Ancient Mesopotamian cuisine