Middle Eastern
Middle Eastern cuisine
Sweets and puddings
Middle Eastern cooking is famed for its sweet tooth, even though its meals are usually rounded off with a simple bowl of fruit. The puddings and pastries we associate with the region are actually reserved for special occasions or for entertaining guests. The most well-known of these are Baklava (filo pastries) and kunafa (pastries made with shredded dough), both of which are soaked in honey or syrup, and filled with chopped pistachios, almonds and walnuts.
Another famous confection found all over the region is halva. Although this has many variations, its most common form in the Middle East is that of a solidified paste of sesame and sugar.
Did you know?
• There are traces of Middle Eastern influences in English cooking today: Christmas pudding, with its high concentration of dried fruits and marzipan decoration, is thought to have been the result of crusaders bringing back cooks they had hired in the region while they were away.
• Meat that is fit for consumption by Muslims is called Halal, and what is unfit for consumption is Haram. There is also a third category, Makrouh, which refers to foods that are frowned upon but not forbidden. Shellfish and some birds fall into this group.
• In some regions of the Middle East, brains are considered a delicacy and thought to improve intelligence, whilst in other parts they are thought to make you as stupid as the animal they came from and are avoided at all cost.
By Simon Philipse
Middle Eastern cooking is famed for its sweet tooth, even though its meals are usually rounded off with a simple bowl of fruit. The puddings and pastries we associate with the region are actually reserved for special occasions or for entertaining guests. The most well-known of these are Baklava (filo pastries) and kunafa (pastries made with shredded dough), both of which are soaked in honey or syrup, and filled with chopped pistachios, almonds and walnuts.
Another famous confection found all over the region is halva. Although this has many variations, its most common form in the Middle East is that of a solidified paste of sesame and sugar.
Did you know?
• There are traces of Middle Eastern influences in English cooking today: Christmas pudding, with its high concentration of dried fruits and marzipan decoration, is thought to have been the result of crusaders bringing back cooks they had hired in the region while they were away.
• Meat that is fit for consumption by Muslims is called Halal, and what is unfit for consumption is Haram. There is also a third category, Makrouh, which refers to foods that are frowned upon but not forbidden. Shellfish and some birds fall into this group.
• In some regions of the Middle East, brains are considered a delicacy and thought to improve intelligence, whilst in other parts they are thought to make you as stupid as the animal they came from and are avoided at all cost.
By Simon Philipse
