Syria
Syrian cooking — and Aleppo’s especially — is layered with Aleppo pepper, pomegranate molasses, purslane and pine nuts. From hand-stuffed kibbeh to a walnut-and-pepper dip, here are twenty of its defining dishes.
Makdous
Baby eggplants stuffed with walnuts, red pepper and garlic, cured under olive oil — the crown jewel of the Syrian autumn pantry.
Shanklish
Aged, za’atar-crusted cheese crumbled with tomato, onion and parsley under a flood of olive oil — the boldest plate on the mezze table.
Fatteh Shamiyeh
Crackling pita under warm chickpeas and cool yogurt-tahini, finished with fried nuts and a sizzling garlic–Aleppo-pepper oil — the great Damascus breakfast.
Kibbeh Halab
Torpedo-shaped bulgur-and-lamb shells stuffed with spiced meat and pine nuts, deep-fried crisp — Aleppo famously works ground lamb shank into the casing itself.
Muhammara
Aleppo’s signature mezze — a thick, nutty, sweet-tart-spicy spread of roasted red peppers, walnuts and pomegranate molasses.
Yabra (Stuffed Grape Leaves)
Grape leaves rolled tight around spiced, lemony rice and simmered slowly over a layer of chicken until silky and tangy — a labor-of-love centerpiece.
Shakriyeh
Tender lamb in a thick, tangy cooked-yogurt sauce, served over vermicelli rice — celebratory comfort food.
Fattoush
A bright, herb-heavy chopped salad defined by sumac and crisp fried pita — purslane is the distinctly Syrian touch.
Shorbat Freekeh
Smoky green-wheat soup in golden chicken broth — the soup that opens Ramadan tables across Syria.
Harak Osbao
Damascus’s sweet-sour lentils and pasta under fried onions, crispy pita, garlicky cilantro and pomegranate — the dish so good ‘he burned his finger.’
Kibbeh bil Sanieh
The weeknight, no-shaping cousin of fried kibbeh: a tray layered with raw bulgur-lamb top and bottom around a spiced lamb-and-pine-nut filling, scored and baked.
Kabab Karaz
Aleppo’s celebrated sour-cherry kebab — little lamb meatballs glazed in a sweet-tart cherry sauce, served over pita points with pine nuts and mint.
Sheikh al-Mahshi
‘The sheikh of stuffed dishes’ — fried baby squash filled with meat and pine nuts, finished in a garlicky, minty cooked-yogurt sauce.
Dawood Basha
Meatballs and potatoes simmered in a tomato sauce edged with pomegranate molasses — an Ottoman-named supper beloved across Syria.
Shish Barak
Tiny meat-filled dumplings simmered in warm yogurt, crowned with caramelized garlic and cilantro — a feast dish a thousand years old.
Freekeh bil Djaj
Smoky freekeh pilaf under braised chicken and a rain of butter-fried nuts — the celebration grain of the Syrian table.
Sfeeha Halabieh
Aleppo’s open-faced meat pies — thin yeasted rounds under lamb worked with tahini, pomegranate molasses and Aleppo pepper.
Halawet el Jibn
Soft sweet-cheese dough rolled around orange-blossom clotted cream and dusted with pistachio — the pride of Hama’s sweet shops.
Barazek
Damascus’s paper-thin cookies pressed into honeyed sesame on one face and pistachios on the other — sold by the tin, gone by the dozen.
Tamer Hindi
The tart tamarind cooler of Damascus — sold by costumed vendors from great copper urns, and the taste of Ramadan evenings.
Middle Eastern home cooking, organized by country. Your family’s version is the one that counts.