Iraqi Cuisine

Browse All Iraqi Recipes: Iraqi Appetizers | Iraqi Soups | Iraqi Salads | Iraqi Vegetarian | Iraqi Meat Dishes | Iraqi Snacks | Iraqi Desserts

Overview of Iraqi Cuisine History
Iraqi cuisine represents the multiethnic-multicultural civilization at prevailed on the banks of Euphrates and Tigris, the two rivers that flow through the ‘Garden of Eden’. Just as Iraq is the crossroad of Eastern and Western Culture, the food there is also no different. The fruit and meat items from the cradle of civilization taste good, smell good. The rich aroma and taste of shrimp with rice or its taste will hardly ever go from the nose or tongue of one who has enjoyed it.

Tracing the history of Iraqi cuisine has never been easy and the farthest we go into the past are up to the times of Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians, though clay tablets tell the cuisine history of Mesopotamia with cuisine inscriptions of about 4000 years old. Medieval era and modern times saw many differences in Iraqi cooking. Muslims from India, Africa and from different parts of the world migrated to Iraq, making all other groups minority and giving unique tastes to Iraqi cooking. Christians, Jews and different Muslim communities have unique cooking methods. Iraqi cooking generally uses a lot of lemon, mint, dill, parsley, and coriander.

Cuisines of Iraq
Cuisines of Iraq have been evolved over many hundreds of years. Being the crossroad of eastern and western cultures, Iraqi cuisines also exhibits the diversity and mix of traditional cooking styles of Lebanon, Italy, China, India, Turkey, Iran, partly because of large scale migration of Muslims from different parts of the world and partly due to the invasion of Iraq by neighboring countries.

Vegetables mix with meat in different Iraqi cuisine styles. Beef, lamb and poultry are main meat items as Muslims don’t eat pork. Soups and have  and meat. Many cuisines of Iraq has meat and fish mixed with rice and vegetables like beans, chickpeas, lentils, okra, onions, tomatoes etc. Minced meat stuffed with nuts and raisins is still a delicacy in Iraq.

Preparation Methods for Iraqi Cooking
Iraqi cooking takes all the different forms of modern day cooking like baking, grilling, frying, stuffing, pickling and simmering. The most striking part of Iraqi cooking is mixing fruit with meat.

Special Equipment for Iraqi Cooking
No special equipments are a must of Iraqi cooking. For better frying of river fish, iron frying pans are used instead of non-stick skillets. Baking pans, non-stick kadaiis etc are the basic equipments for Iraqi cooking. Modern cooking also supports the use of electric ovens or gas stove, along with tandoori ovens (earthen ovens).

Iraqi Food Traditions and Festivals
There is nothing as such as Iraqi food festival. Iraqi food tradition starts from the Babylonian times, later enriched by Jewish and Arabic style cooking. Iraqi food tradition has created the complexities to get categories inside categories. Iraq cooking tradition is not only Muslim but also Jewish and Christian. One fourth of the total Iraqi population was once Jewish –a hard thing to believe. Religious festivals, just like everywhere else in world is a time to exhibit the culinary skills. Kurdish, Shiite, Sunni cooking styles merge in Iraqi food tradition.

People in Iraqi Food
Cooks and chefs experienced in Iraqi cooking serves the meat and vegetable dishes in New York and London. Though Iraq has lost to the military power, some of its delicacies have conquered the taste buds of even the worst critics of Iraq. If you are an experienced cook following Iraqi cooking tradition, share your knowledge and experience with the world here.