Food
What to eat, where to find it, what it costs.
235 Food
Mutabbal
Aubergine charred over flame, peeled, then mashed with tahini, garlic and lemon. The two names split on tahini: mutabbal has it, baba ganoush need not.
Variable — ask the price of a mezze plate when you sit down · Damascus
Manakish
Dough dimpled with the fingertips, then spread with za’atar, cheese or minced meat. Aleppo starts its morning at the bakery door, standing up and hot.
Variable — za'atar and cheese are priced apart, ask at the counter · Aleppo
Ma’amoul
A semolina and butter cookie pressed in a carved wooden mould and filled with date, walnut or pistachio. Fixed on the tables of Eid and of Easter alike.
Variable — ask the price per box or per kilo at the counter · Damascus
Labneh
Yoghurt hung in a cloth until the whey drains, then salted. The fixed point of a Damascus breakfast: spread on a plate with olive oil, za’atar and bread.
Variable — ask the price per plate or per kilo when you order · Damascus
Knafeh
Shredded pastry or semolina dough around desalted cheese, drenched in syrup while hot and topped with crushed pistachio. Cold, it is a different dish.
Variable — a plate and a weighed portion are priced apart, ask at the counter · Aleppo
Kibbeh nayyeh
Raw kibbeh: lamb pounded the same day with fine bulgur and spice, spread flat and pooled with olive oil. Aleppo’s dish for guests, and never a day old.
Variable — ask the price of a plate when you sit down · Aleppo
Qatayef
A batter cooked on one side only, then folded into a half moon. Ramadan’s sweet: the walnut ones are fried and hot, the cream ones stay open and cold.
Variable — ask the price per piece or per kilo at the counter · Damascus
Ka’ak
A sesame-crusted bread ring sold from carts and poles on the street. Leavened with chickpeas, eaten with za’atar, and best in the morning or late afternoon.
Variable — street pricing, ask as you buy · Damascus
Hummus
Chickpeas, tahini, lemon and garlic. In Damascus hummus is not an evening dip but a morning plate, and the hummus and ful shops are built around that hour.
Variable — ask the price of a plate when you order · Damascus
Ful medames
Damascus starts its morning in this pot: fava beans simmered overnight, then lemon, olive oil, garlic and cumin on top, with hummus and hot bread beside.
Variable — ask the price of a bowl when you order · Damascus
Jallab
A dark syrup of date and raisin molasses, let down with iced water, with pine nuts and raisins floating on top. This is the drink of Ramadan, glass by glass.
Variable — a glass and a bottle are priced apart, ask at the counter · Damascus
Yabrak
Vine leaves rolled to the thickness of a finger. With meat it is a hot main course; without, it is cold and heavy with olive oil. Two plates, two names.
Variable — ask whether it is the cold mezze or the hot plate, then the price · Damascus
