There’s something incredibly sumptuous about the food of the Middle East. It is steeped in history and mystery, teasing the palate with exotic and tantalizing flavors. Delicate and spicy, aromatic and fragrant, scented and syrupy- these are some of the words that come to mind. The tastes are rich and pleasing, the images romantic, airy, and ancient. Rose petals and orange blossom, tamarind and dates, figs and apricots, mulberries and melons, saffron and orchid root, almonds and pistachios, olives, coriander and cumin- indeed a myriad of flavors and dishes that are intricately entwined in the fascinating history of this vast, diverse, and exciting region.
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Herbs, flavorings, and spices have been used throughout the Middle East since antiquity, but it was during the early Abassid period that spices began to be extensively employed in the region’s cuisine. They came from the Arab domains such as Southern Arabia, Syria, Persia, and Central Asia, as well as from East Africa, India, and China. Top-quality spices were expensive and the ability to purchase them was a mark of status. Spices and herbs were essential to the medieval Arab kitchen, valued for their alleged medicinal and aphrodisiac properties. Flavorings such as rose water and orange blossom water have also been used since medieval times.
Fruits, such as mulberries, grapes, and dates, offer an ancient and vital sweetener. The oldest written reference to the use of honey dates back to Egypt, around 5500 BC, when Lower Egypt was called Bee Land and Upper Egypt was known as Reed Land.
Honey is also mentioned on Babylonian tablets for its medicinal uses and it has long been believed to sweeten life and ward off sadness. Today it is mainly used to sweeten syrupy pastries and is poured over wild duck roasted with almonds and eaten daily with fresh bread or yogurt. One of the joys of honey is its immense range of colors and flavors. Whether it is in comb form or pressed, each one has its own distinct fragrance and taste and with such an enormous variety of scented blossoms, the villages and markets of the Middle East provide an astounding choice.
Often drenched- in a good way- in palm oil, honey, or floral syrups, like ROSE, ORANGE, DATE, and POMEGRANATE these pastries and sweets are perfect accompaniments for the feasts of hearty, zesty fare they typically cap off. They also make use of fragrant, floral ingredients like rose water and orange blossom water to offset the richness.
From fried almond pastries to Lebanese shortbread cookies, we know them as our best North African and Middle Eastern dessert recipes.
The tradition of mezze is one of the most enjoyable and relaxing features of Middle Eastern food. The savoring of freshly roasted pistachios, fleshy green olives, juicy melon, delicately flavored pastries, garlicky eggplant dips, pink-tinged pickled turnips, cubes of white cheese, strips of salted cucumber, and thin slices of perfumed quince can be an indulgent experience. It is an ancient tradition, enjoyed by the Greeks, Romans, Persians, medieval Arabs, and Ottomans.
Traditionally, the mezze table was laid out to accompany araq (raky) or wine, with the aim of achieving a “pleasant head” to delight the palate, not to fill the belly. Originally, it was a custom enjoyed only by men (traders, travelers, kings, sultans, and noble men), but in the less restricted parts of the Middle East it can be a family affair. The word mezze has come to mean a “pleasant taste.,” probably derived from the Persian word maza, meaning “taste” or “relish.” In Syria and Lebanon the word is mazza and in Turkey it is meze.
There is no set time or place, just the unspoken understanding that the food should be served in small quantities to be shared and savored at a leisurely pace and that one should rise from the table feeling contented and comfortable, not stuffed. Throughout the Middle East, the Lebanese and the Turks are renowned for their delightful mezze spreads.
On the shores of the Bosphorus, the strait of water that divides Europe on one bank from Asia on the other, sits Istanbul. It’s now an overcrowded Turkish city of 15 million people- a place where tradition and modernity rub shoulders. But for nearly 500 years Istanbul was the capital of the Ottoman Empire, a colossus that stretched from the Arabian Gulf, across North Africa, and into Greece and Eastern Europe. And though the empire collapsed in the flames of the First World War, in Istanbul Ottoman traditions still live on in the kitchen- especially when it comes to anything sweet.
But it wasn’t just indulgent sweets that the Turks brought home from the far corners of their empire. The Ottoman ruler, the Sultan, collected women for his harem. And the harem needed to eat. The journey down the Bosphorus, past old Ottoman palaces and fortresses, finds us desserts that, according to Turkish legend, were invented and served in the Sultan’s harem.
The sun may have set on the Ottomans in 1922 while modern Turkey rose from the ashes, but in the kitchens of Istanbul, sweet memories of an old empire linger on.
Sources Cited
- Willard, P. (2002), Secrets of Saffron: The Vagabond Life of the World’s Most Seductive Spice, Beacon Press.
- Basan, Ghillie. Middle Eastern Kitchen. Hippocrene Books, 2007.
- Isin, Mary. Sherbet and Spice: The Complete Story of Turkish Sweets and Desserts. I.B. Tauris & Co, Ltd. 2013
- Gamm, Niki, The Ottoman Sweet Tooth. Hürriyet Daily News. https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/the-ottoman-sweet-tooth-28027. August 17, 2012.
