The Levant is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west and core West Asia, or by the political term, Middle East, to the east. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is equivalent to Cyprus and a stretch of land bordering the Mediterranean Sea in western Asia: i.e. the historical region of Syria, which includes present-day Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Palestinian territories and most of Turkey southwest of the middle Euphrates. Its overwhelming characteristic is that it represents the land bridge between Africa and Eurasia. In its widest historical sense, the Levant included all of the Eastern Mediterranean with its islands; that is, it included all of the countries along the Eastern Mediterranean shores, extending from Greece in Southern Europe to Egypt and Cyrenaica in Northern Africa.
The oud is a Middle Eastern short-neck lute-type, pear-shaped, fretless stringed instrument, usually with 11 strings grouped in six courses, but some models have five or seven courses, with 10 or 13 strings respectively.
String cheese is any of several different types of cheese where the manufacturing process aligns the proteins in the cheese, making it stringy.
Hatay Province is the southernmost province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey. Its area is 5,524 km2 (2,133 sq mi), and its population is 1,686,043 (2022). It is situated mostly outside Anatolia, along the eastern coast of the Levantine Sea. The province borders Syria to its south and east, the Turkish province of Adana to the northwest, Osmaniye to the north, and Gaziantep to the northeast. It is partially situated on the Cilician Plain, a large fertile plain along the Cilicia region. Its administrative capital is Antakya, making it one of the three Turkish provinces not named after its administrative capital or any settlement. The second-largest city is İskenderun. Sovereignty over most of the province remains disputed with neighbouring Syria, which claims that the province had a demographic Arab majority, and has separated from its territory in violation of the terms of the French Mandate for Syria that was established on the heels of World War I.
Kashkaval is a type of cheese made from the milk of cows, sheep, goats, or a mixture thereof. In Turkey, Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia, the term is often used to refer to all yellow cheeses. In English-language menus in Bulgaria, kashkaval is translated as 'yellow cheese'.
Kibbeh is a popular dish in the Levant based on spiced lean ground meat and bulgur wheat. Kibbeh is considered to be a national dish of Syria and Lebanon.
Nigella sativa is an annual flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to eastern Europe and western Asia, but naturalized over a much wider area, including parts of Europe, northern Africa and east to Myanmar. It is used as a spice in many cuisines.
Kashk, qurut, chortan, or aaruul and khuruud is a range of dairy products popular in Iranian cuisine, Caucasian cuisine, and Central Asian cuisine. Kashk is made from strained yogurt, drained buttermilk or drained sour milk by shaping it and letting it dry. It can be made in a variety of forms, like rolled into balls, sliced into strips, and formed into chunks.
Mahleb or mahlepi is an aromatic spice made from the seeds of a species of cherry, Prunus mahaleb. The cherry stones are cracked to extract the seed kernel, which is about 5 mm diameter, soft and chewy on extraction. The seed kernel is ground to a powder before use. Its flavour is similar to a combination of bitter almond and cherry, and also similar to marzipan.
Lahmacun, Lahmajun, or Lahmajo, is a Middle Eastern flatbread topped with minced meat, minced vegetables, and herbs including onions, garlic, tomatoes, red peppers, and parsley, flavored with spices such as chili pepper and paprika, then baked. Lahmacun is often wrapped around vegetables, including pickles, tomatoes, peppers, onions, lettuce, parsley, and roasted eggplant.
Armenian cuisine includes the foods and cooking techniques of the Armenian people and traditional Armenian foods and drinks. The cuisine reflects the history and geography where Armenians have lived and where Armenian empires existed. The cuisine also reflects the traditional crops and animals grown and raised in Armenian-populated or controlled areas.
Syrian cuisine is a Middle Eastern cuisine that traces back to ancient civilizations, influenced by Greek, Armenian, and Persian cultures. Syrian specialties makes use of eggplant, zucchini, garlic, meat, sesame seeds, rice, chickpeas, fava beans, lentils, steak, cabbage, cauliflower, vine leaves, pickled turnips, cucumbers, tomatoes, olive oil, lemon juice, mint, pistachios, honey and fruits.
Baklava is a layered pastry dessert made of filo pastry, filled with chopped nuts, and sweetened with syrup or honey. It was one of the most popular sweet pastries of Ottoman cuisine.
Assyrian folk/pop music, also known as Assyrian folk-pop, is the musical style of the Assyrian people derived from traditional music that includes a broad range of stylistic varieties, which would also encompass fusions of Western genres such as pop, electronic, Latin, jazz and/or classical music, with a melodic basis of Assyrian folk.
Chechil or chechili is a brined string cheese, popular in Armenia and Georgia. It has a consistency approximating that of mozzarella or sulguni and is produced in the form of dense strings, rolled up in a figure eight of thick braid-shaped ropes. Chechil is a smoked, braided, salty, string-cheese beer snack that is enjoyed by beer drinkers and enthusiasts across the globe. Chechil is made from pasteurized cow milk and is low in fat. Its taste is salty, very chewy, and with a smoky flavor to it. Its consistency is firm and smooth.
Tresse cheese, also known as jibneh mshallaleh is a form of string cheese originating in Syria. It can be eaten plain, or mixed with pastries.
