Talking about the Syrian gastronomy is not easy. It is
like talking about the French or the Italian gastronomy in
a few lines or even few pages.
Each Syrian
regional cuisine is tributary from its proper specificity
depending on its geographic position, the soil that
composes it, its climate, its culture, its region…etc.
On the
other hand, all these cuisines have a very important
common denominator: it is the freshness of their
ingredients.
In fact, in
Syria, growing vegetables has remained individual and
seasonal, despite that some are available during the whole
year (tomato, cucumber…), to the detriment of their real
flavor.
The
freshness of these vegetables determines their taste and
flavor.
The meat,
especially the lamb (many species), is tender and its
taste is delicious, because the cattle pasture in the open
air and eat exclusively natural grass without chemical
products.
The
fruits of the season are delicious (sour cherry “washna”,
apricot of Damascus, pistachio of Aleppo and many
others…).
Delicious spices season the most delicious plates (without
forgetting that Aleppo was on the silk and spices road)
like the thyme, the sumac, the cumin, the famous paprika
paste, etc…
To
mention the gastronomic Syrian plates, we have a great
deal of choices:
Meat balls
with sour cherries.
Stew of
quinces, with or without kebbe.
Dishes with
hot yogurt.
Kebbes
assorted with spinach, hot yogurt, grenades or cabbage.
Tender meat
assorted with different sauces.
Vegetables,
which are only found in Aleppo, such as the ajjour, the
caper and the akkoum.
Sweets of
Aleppo or of Damascus, such as the karabij, the baklava
with cherries.
In
this site, we are going to offer you
many easy recipes of dishes to cook at home. Periodically, we will add the names of the
restaurants with their specialties, which are worth to be
visited. We are going to watch over these restaurants to
respond to the highest standard of quality. Also, we will recommend
the best books of oriental cuisine to you.
In the
famous “The Guardian Week” magazine, and in an article
published in April 2002, Mrs. Nada Saleh, an excellent
gastronome and a member of The English Academy of
Gastronomy wrote:
“It is
impossible to explore the whole complexity of the Syrian
gastronomy in three plates, but at least some of them give
an idea about the difference between the cuisine of Aleppo
and that of Damascus, and for this, it is worth to discover
the two of them”.
Please, write your suggestions, ask your questions and we
will answer them as soon as possible. We hope this site
becomes yours. Do not hesitate to ask all what you like to
know about the Syrian gastronomy. We will try to help you
in the limits of our competence and means.
Georges Ph. Husni
Founding President of the S.A.G.
|