The middle east serves plenty of dishes that are both delicious and good for you. A middle eastern staple for many countries is hummus, a dish made with chickpeas mixed with tahini, garlic, and lemon juice. This is a classic dish served as part of Middle Eastern fare; similarly popular dishes include dolma-filled vine leaves or falafel.
Try balancing sweet and savoury flavours in your kitchen worktops when creating dishes. Use spices like nutmeg, caraway, and turmeric to achieve strong flavours in your food.
Vegetables
Middle Eastern cuisine features grains and legumes as the core elements, but vegetables also play a critical role. Leafy greens, squash, eggplant, and okra are often featured alongside tomatoes; beans such as chickpeas are another essential staple. Many Middle Eastern dishes are vegetarian-based, while spices such as nutmeg, caraway seed, cumin seed, and turmeric create a strong regional flair in each dish.
As the Middle East lies within what’s known as the Fertile Crescent, where many major civil advances were accomplished, ancient wheat and barley crops have played an instrumental role in shaping regional diets. Nowadays, these staple foods can be found throughout this region in forms such as hummus, falafel, tabbouleh, couscous, and freekeh (smoked green wheat).
Geographically speaking, this region served as the link between Asia, Africa, and Europe through trade routes, forever altering regional cuisines. Ancient olive groves still flourish within its borders, while both oil and butter are still widely used as cooking fats.
Meat is rarely the main course, yet it plays an essential part in many popular dishes. Lamb is the most frequently consumed red meat, often slow-cooked and wrapped up in pita bread for shawarma or added to hearty stews. Chicken, beef, and goat are also often seen, while pork is rarely seen due to Muslim and Jewish religious taboos and ancient cultural beliefs. Furthermore, fish and seafood are commonly used as ingredients in Middle Eastern meals.
Chickpeas are an increasingly popular food in this region and serve as a key component in both hummus and falafel dishes. Chickpeas provide a protein source while providing ample amounts of fibre as well.
Dolma, or stuffed vine leaves, are an easy and delicious home meal that’s full of nutritional goodness. Dolma offers an easy way to incorporate more healthy veggies into the diet while providing an array of essential minerals and vitamins such as iron, vitamin A, riboflavin, potassium, and calcium. They’re especially low-cal too—just make sure that before consuming any excess sodium has been removed—and packed full of antioxidants!
Meat
The Middle East is a land where great civil advancement has occurred, leaving its cuisine greatly influenced by these achievements. It’s an array of vibrant spices combined with fresh herbs and delicate vegetables for delicious culinary treats; its modern-day regions grew out of ancient Mesopotamia; grain-based foods are staples such as breads like pita and naan; salads with dips such as hummus, baba ghanoush, and tabbouleh; slow-cooked stews braised meats made in tagines or similar clay pots; etc.
Lamb is the most frequently consumed red meat in the Middle East, enjoyed as part of hearty meals or sliced off a rotating spit for shawarma sandwiches and wraps. Pork rarely appears due to Muslim and Jewish dietary laws; however, chicken, goat, and camel meat is readily available and typically slaughtered using either halal or kosher methods to ensure its consumption according to religious law.
Other essential ingredients include turmeric, known for its healthful and warming qualities and vibrant yellow hue; sumac from Sumacus syricum shrub fruit used as a garnish on meat or salad dishes to add tart, lemony flair; as well as the sweet syrupy ingredients carob or pomegranate molasses often added as seasoning for savoury dishes and marinades.
Coriander is an indispensable ingredient in Middle Eastern dishes, both as whole seeds and as ground powder. Its citrusy-floral aroma adds brightness to richly spiced meals that are so beloved in this part of the world.
Other key ingredients include sesame seeds, which are toasted and ground into a buttery paste known as tahini; dried fruits like dates, figs, and apricots, which add sweetness to desserts; cheeses such as feta and labneh (a soft and creamy cheese made from strained yoghurt); as well as mortar and pestle sets, which are used to grind spices, seeds, and nuts before being added to recipes, further heightening flavour and aroma!
Bread
Bread is an integral component of Middle Eastern meals and its primary variety is flatbreads that can be filled with fillings or used to wrap food. A popular variety is pita, which was first invented from wild cereal grains harvested in north-eastern Jordan over 14,500 years ago and can now be found at most restaurants around Dubai as well as being easily made at home.
Pita bread is an extremely versatile food, suitable for accompanying an array of different dishes. You can grill, fry, or bake it in an oven before topping it with spices, herbs, or chopped nuts and raisins (known as Za’atar) for additional flavour and sweetness. Pita is often served alongside dips such as Hummus, Baba Ghanoush, Cucumber Salad Falafel, or Marinated Olives as a delicious dip or spread!
Lavash is an extremely thin and unleavened flat bread that can be shaped into large circles for wraps or made into smaller, oil-brushed flat breads that can be baked either in an oven or on a griddle, often featuring either thyme or sumac combined to form za’atar as a sauce—popular dishes across Syria and Lebanon.
Saj bread (also referred to as kmaj, marook, or marquq) is an unleavened round flatbread traditionally prepared on an upside-down iron disc called a saj and commonly served for breakfast in Syria and Lebanon with toppings like za’atar, or sour cream, and vegetables such as onions and tomatoes.
The cuisine of the Middle East reflects its long history as a crossroad between Asia, Africa, and Europe. Wheat, barley, figs, and dates were first cultivated here, as was the fermentation technique used for leavened bread production and beer brewing. Furthermore, invasions and trade have had their effect, with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and turmeric from Asia, spices from the Spice Islands, beans, okra dumplings, and garlic being brought over from Africa, influencing its cuisine too.
Herbs
The Middle East is an intricate crossroads of cultures and has long been known for trading spices, which has had an immense effect on its cuisines as well as the herbs and spices used. Parsley, cilantro, mint, and dill are popular choices used in Middle Eastern cooking due to their vibrant flavours and aromatic fragrances. They are often chopped and sprinkled onto dishes or mixed into sauces to add freshness and depth of flavour.
Slow cooking is essential to many Middle Eastern recipes, allowing the ingredients and spices to come together more harmoniously and deepen in flavour over time. Braising or simmering are common techniques used for this process and allow flavours to deepen further as braising deepens or simmers for longer.
Middle Eastern cuisine features many popular spice blends, such as baharat and za’atar. Baharat is made up of dried thyme and sumac and used to flavour meat, salads, and dips; its popularity for use with hummus also makes it an appealing seasoning option. Za’atar contains different spice mixtures depending on where it’s being produced; these typically include paprika, cinnamon, coriander seeds, nutmeg, cloves, and pepper. Both blends can also be added to marinades before being added directly to meat or even used when topping off grilled vegetable dishes!
Middle Eastern cooking incorporates various spices such as fenugreek (known in India as methi), cumin, turmeric, ginger, and saffron. These ingredients are often added to meat dishes or grain preparations to provide colour and a mild, earthy flavour.
Though meat and grains dominate most Middle Eastern meals, vegetarian dishes are also widely eaten in this region. These consist of vegetables, legumes, and cheeses such as feta and halloumi. Stuffed vegetables like grape leaves, chard, and cabbage often come with fillings such as ground meat, pine nuts, rice, or potatoes, which are then stewed in oil and tomatoes before being served for lunch or dinner. Milk and yoghurt consumption are also among its staples, with both plain and flavoured options being popular choices among Middle Eastern consumers.