Habeeb Salloum - The Scent of Pomegranates and Rose Water: Reviving the Beautiful Food Traditions of Syria

A Brief History

of Syrian Cuisine

Habeeb Salloum Leila Salloum Elias

Muna Salloum

The culina ry ar t of the Greater Sy ria re gion, the a rea k now n in A rabi c as bilaad al-shaam, whic h today enc ompass es Syr ia, Le banon, Jordan , and Pale stine, took shape cent ury aft er centu ry , a s cu ltu re a fte r cul tur e owed th roug h t he M idd le E ast. From th e mi sty days of ea rly c ivili zati ons u ntil our t imes, Hit tit es, Ak kad ians, Assyr ians, Eblait es, Egy ptian s, Pe rsians , Greek s, Ro mans, Armen ians, Byzan tin es, Ott omans , and mo dern Eu rope ans all left tra ces of t heir foods . Diverse eth nici ties such as Ar abs, Assyrian s, Ku rds, Arme nians , Ya zidi s, th e Syri ac-spea king peoples , and relig ious group s such as Musl ims, Christ ians, Jews, and Y az idis, have al l con trib uted to t he de pth a nd r ich- ness of Sy rian c uisin e.

e cui sine of Greater Sy ria re ached it s epit ome af ter the t urn of 7th centu ry , d urin g the Um ayyad and A bbasid d ynastie s, when the A rab-I slamic Empire reached its z enit h. e gre at cosmopo lita n cit ies o f the e mpire b ecame centers for the d evelopment of the culinary art s. Ar abic cook ing manu als origi nati ng in Baghd ad, Al eppo, Da mascus, Cair o, Murci a, Gran ada, an d Sev ille provide e videnc e of a gr eat foo d cul tur e. Docu ment s fr om mediev al A rabic manu als of mar ket in spector s ind icat e that nutr itio n and hygie ne went hand in ha nd w ith how peopl e ate, sol d, and regu lated thei r fo od. e or so rec ipes in the e arli est ext ant Ar abic cook book, fr om 10t h-cent ury Baghd ad, gi ve us a wind ow int o the me als of the upper ec helons of socie ty , f rom noble to ca lip h. r ee hun dred year s later , three Arabi c cooki ng man uals from Baghd ad, Al eppo, an d Cai ro, a nd t wo from Mu rcia

8 the scent of pomegran ates and ro se water

(Ar ab Spai n) inclu de recip es sim ilar to the 10t h-cent ury ones, pro ving th e Ar abs broug ht their food wi th t hem wh erever t hey went.

With e xpansi on cam e contac t wit h ne w peop les, ne w idea s, an d new fo ods. So me dishe s were adopte d, some were tran sform ed, an d man y were create d with new i ngred i- ents. One good exam ple is t he pre -Isla mic simple s weet s nack of t he 6 th cen tury cal led hays, whi ch was origi nally made on ly w ith dates, dri ed cu rd, a nd c larie d butt er. By th e 13th c entu ry , i t had ev olved i nto d ates, pista chios , wal nut s, al mond s, an d toas ted sesam e seeds, s prink led with nely grou nd suga r. Wh at helpe d imm ensely in t he ado ption a nd development of new fo ods an d di shes i n mod ern-day Syri a was that Al eppo an d its s ister city Damas cus w ere at th e wester n end of t he Si lk Road, th e path way of tr ade bet ween the Far E ast a nd Eu rope for some 4, years. No less i mport ant was the I ncens e Route , on whic h the perfu mes a nd spic es brough t by sea on Ar ab dhows from the Far E ast a nd I ndia to south ern Ar abia were tran sport ed overla nd. During the p eak o f creat ive de velopment of medi eval Ar ab food cul tur e, the cooks behin d the scenes in t he k itche ns of t he p alac es of the cal iph s an d emi rs, vi ed wit h eac h othe r, devi sing appeti zers ( bawaarid ) and entr es, to swee ts an d bev erages . In t hose great pal aces of the p ast, s cores of kit chen help prepa red lavish feast s an d ban quets. Al thou gh t he e arli est ext ant Ar abic cook book cre dits seve ral calip hs, n obles, mu sician s, ph ysician s, an d cooks all mal efor cer tain fabul ous re cipes, there are o ccasio nal references t o femal e cooks too. For e xampl e, the slave, Bid a, was known for her sou r stew cal led sikbaaj, appeti zers, and u npar alle led swe ets. H er mentor , A rib, was renowned for her own d ishe s, an d even c hastise d a gover nor, at one poin t, for not recogn izing her cu linary ski lls. Wo men cooked , but in a patr iarch al s ociety , m en got the c redit .