Local Dishes

1. حمص

   Ḥummuṣ

   Hummus (chickpea and tahini dip)

   Usage

   A Levantine mezze staple (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine) now found on menus across the Arab world and Egypt. The full name is حمص بطحينة (ḥummuṣ bi-ṭaḥīna, "chickpeas with tahini"). Some Syrian dialects, e.g. Damascene, call it مسبحة (masabbaḥa).

   Grammar Note

   حمص is literally the ingredient "chickpea"; on a menu it means the dip, in a market it means the dry beans. The Syrian city of Homs (Ḥimṣ) is spelled identically — context tells them apart.

2. بابا غنوج

   Bābā Ghannūj

   Baba ghanoush (smoky eggplant dip)

   Usage

   Eggplant charred over an open flame, then mashed with tahini and garlic. Many Lebanese and Syrian menus list the same dish as متبل (mutabbal), so look for that if بابا غنوج is not there.

3. تبولة

   Tabbūla

   Tabbouleh (parsley and bulgur salad)

   Usage

   In the Lebanese style the bulk is chopped parsley, with only a little bulgur. A standard mezze in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine.

4. فتوش

   Fattūsh

   Fattoush (salad with toasted flatbread)

   Usage

   A Levantine salad of vegetables tossed with sumac and pieces of toasted or fried leftover flatbread. Served alongside tabbouleh as part of the mezze.

5. ورق عنب

   Waraq ʿInab

   Stuffed vine leaves

   Usage

   Vine leaves rolled around rice or minced meat. Egyptian menus often write محشي ورق عنب (maḥshī waraq ʿinab, "stuffed vine leaves"). Served either cold as a starter or hot as a main.

6. كبة

   Kubba

   Kibbeh (bulgur and meat croquette)

   Usage

   A signature dish of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Iraq, differing in shape and seasoning from country to country. A bulgur-and-meat shell filled with minced meat, then fried — or served raw as كبة نية (kubba nayya).

7. شاورما

   Shāwarmā

   Shawarma

   Usage

   Meat stacked on a vertical spit, grilled as it turns, then shaved into bread. It began in Ottoman-era Greater Syria and is now street food across the Arab world. Specify دجاج (chicken) or لحمة/لحم (lamb or beef).

8. شيش طاووق

   Shīsh Ṭāwūq

   Shish taouk (grilled chicken skewers)

   Usage

   Chicken marinated in yogurt and garlic, then grilled on skewers. A fixture of Lebanese, Syrian and Jordanian grill houses (مشاوي mashāwī), served with garlic paste (ثومية thūmiyya).

9. منسف

   Mansaf

   Mansaf (Jordan's national dish)

   Usage

   The national dish of Jordan, also widely eaten in Palestine. Lamb cooked in a sauce of جميد (jamīd, dried fermented yogurt) and served over flatbread and rice. A wedding and celebration dish, traditionally eaten by hand from a shared platter.

10. مقلوبة

    Maqlūba

    Maqluba (upside-down rice casserole)

    Usage

    A home-style dish of Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. Meat, fried vegetables (eggplant or cauliflower) and rice are layered in a pot, cooked, then flipped upside down onto a plate.

    Grammar Note

    مقلوبة is the feminine passive participle of قلب (qalaba, "to turn over") — the name literally means "the turned-over one".

11. مسخن

    Musakhkhan

    Musakhan (sumac chicken on taboon bread)

    Usage

    A Palestinian dish: chicken baked with onions, sumac and pine nuts, served on خبز الطابون (khubz aṭ-ṭābūn, taboon-oven bread). Its origins are traced to the Tulkarm and Jenin areas.

12. كبسة

    Kabsa

    Kabsa (Gulf spiced rice with meat)

    Usage

    A staple across the Gulf and the main meal in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Long-grain rice cooked with lamb, goat or chicken. The same dish is called مجبوس (majbūs) in Bahrain and Kuwait, and مكبوس (makbūs) in some areas.

13. مندي

    Mandī

    Mandi (meat and rice cooked in a pit oven)

    Usage

    Originally from the Hadhramaut region of Yemen: meat and rice cooked in an underground oven (تنور tannūr). It is now served across the Gulf states and in Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Palestine.

14. كشري

    Kusharī

    Koshari (Egyptian rice, lentils and pasta)

    Usage

    Egypt's best-known street dish: rice, macaroni and brown lentils topped with fried onions and a spicy tomato sauce (دقة daqqa). Cheap and filling, sold at dedicated koshari shops all over town.

15. فول مدمس

    Fūl Mudammas

    Ful medames (stewed fava beans)

    Usage

    An Egyptian breakfast staple that spread across the Levant. Stewed fava beans dressed with olive oil, cumin and lemon juice, scooped up with bread. Shops usually shorten it to فول (fūl).

16. طعمية

    Ṭaʿmiyya

    Taameya (Egyptian fava-bean falafel)

    Usage

    The Egyptian form of falafel, made from fava beans rather than chickpeas, so the inside is green; it is often coated in sesame seeds. Egyptians understand فلافل too, but shop signs normally say طعمية.

17. فلافل

    Falāfil

    Falafel (fried chickpea fritters)

    Usage

    In the Levant it is made from chickpeas, usually stuffed into bread with طحينة (tahina, sesame sauce) and salad. Meat-free, so a reliable option for vegetarian travellers.

18. ملوخية

    Mulūkhiyya

    Molokhia (jute-leaf stew)

    Usage

    A viscous stew of finely chopped jute mallow leaves — a national dish in Egypt with roots in antiquity, also eaten in the Levant. Served with rice and chicken.

19. كسكس

    Kuskus

    Couscous

    Usage

    The staple of the Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya): steamed durum-wheat semolina granules served under a meat and vegetable stew. Also spelled كسكسي (kuskusī).

20. طاجين

    Ṭājīn

    Tagine (slow-cooked clay-pot stew)

    Usage

    A Maghrebi stew, above all Moroccan. The word names both the conical clay pot and the dish cooked in it. ⚠ In Tunisia the same spelling refers to a different dish — a baked, egg-set casserole closer to a frittata.

21. حريرة

    Ḥarīra

    Harira (tomato, lentil and chickpea soup)

    Usage

    A Moroccan and Algerian soup of Andalusi origin, simmered from tomatoes, lentils and chickpeas. Traditionally drunk to break the fast during Ramadan.

22. بسطيلة

    Basṭīla

    Pastilla (sweet-savoury filled pie)

    Usage

    A traditional Moroccan pie: thin pastry filled with pigeon, chicken, turkey or seafood together with parsley, coriander, boiled egg and almonds, scented with cinnamon. Made in both sweet and savoury versions.

23. شكشوكة

    Shakshūka

    Shakshuka (eggs poached in tomato sauce)

    Usage

    Eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, olive oil, peppers, onion and garlic. Believed to have originated in North Africa (Tunisia, Libya) and now a breakfast dish across the eastern Mediterranean.

24. كنافة

    Kunāfa

    Kunafa (shredded pastry with cheese and syrup)

    Usage

    Baked shredded pastry layered with cheese or clotted cream (قشطة qishṭa) and soaked in syrup (قطر qaṭr). Served hot; a signature dessert of the Levant and Egypt, with Nablus in Palestine especially famous for it.

25. بقلاوة

    Baqlāwa

    Baklava (layered filo pastry with nuts)

    Usage

    Thin pastry layered with pistachios or walnuts and steeped in syrup. Sweet shops (حلويات ḥalawiyyāt) sell it by weight, so order by quantity — "half a kilo, please".

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