Middle-Eastern Food

Middle-Eastern Food — page 3
Middle Eastern Food Basics Traditions and Styles The Middle East is located between Europe Asia and Africa Over many centuries great civilizations have built the foundation of Middle Eastern cooking traditions and styles including the Mesopotamian civilizations and the Persian and Ottoman empires Traders also brought ingredients from Asia Africa and Europe to the Middle East Dates left figs center and almonds right are native to this area and commonly used in Middle Eastern cooking The Birth of Middle Eastern Food The first civilizations in the world to grow wheat developed in an area called Mesopotamia modern day Iraq between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers for at least 10 000 years They also used staple foods such as barley pistachios figs and dates Between 550 BCE and 330 BCE the Persian Empire ruled the area adding rice poultry and fruit to Middle Eastern food The wandering Bedouin desert peoples introduced meat stews dairy products grapes almonds and coffee and Arab traders brought back exotic spices from Asia Later Influences The arrival of the Ottomans 1200s 1800s ce also saw the introduction of rice pilafs and honey flavored sweets North African foods such as couscous common in Morocco and Algeria spread to the Middle East and from the 1600s CE new foods from the Americas such as tomatoes and beans were introduced through Europe During the 1900s CE Jews settling in Israel brought dumplings and other northern European