Taste the flavors of the Middle East with our collection of classic Middle Eastern recipes. From savory falafel to flavorful kebabs, we have a variety of dishes for you to try.
Shakriya – a Syrian soup with yogurt, lamb, chickpeas and pine nuts, as well as a mouthwatering infusion of spices and herbs – is the kind of dish of our dreams we never imagined could exist until we accidentally ordered it one day in a restaurant in Aleppo more than 14 years ago. It came … Read more
Maqbous is a chicken and rice dish packed with a legion of spices and a sweet rosewater-raisin tang that hails from Oman in the south-eastern corner of the Arabian peninsula. It’s a close cousin of the Saudi kabsa, the Yemeni mandi, and the Indian biryani and reminds us a lot of Gambian benachin. Oman is one of the … Read more
Carrot cakes made from scratch – from real carrots – is a recipe that’s hard to find. Fortunately for us, we stumbled on this Persian sweet carrot confection called Halva Ye Havij. It’s a celebratory cake in Persia. We get really excited at Arousing Appetites, whenever we find a recipe that combines fruit and pastry … Read more
Sure, there are some foods that have become so popular that everyone knows about them. Tabouli certainly qualifies in that category. Even in non-Mediterranean, non-Levantine restaurants around our area, chances are good you can find at least some form of this parsley and bulgur wheat salad on the menu. And yet, despite its ubiquity, it seems … Read more
The turn of the seasons from winter to spring is a good enough reason for anyone to rejoice, but Nowruz in particular takes it up a notch. With traditions and celebrations spanning weeks, Nowruz is a very symbolic and special time of year for cultures stemming from the Old Persian Empire. For Iranians especially (including Cyrus and his … Read more
For a culture with such a rich history and tradition as Egypt’s, it is pretty ironic that a newcomer “transplant” dish is as ubiquitous and popular as koshary. And yet, thanks to a fusion of incoming influencing cuisines, it has rapidly become one of the most authentic and recognizable foods in this former bastion of the … Read more
