Essay On Arab Food Culture

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The Arab nation states all share parallel cultures thus when considering Arab hospitality, we can say that the ‘communities of the Middle East share a common set of cultural idioms’ (Zubaida, 2000). Nevertheless, each Arab state is still different from one another, thus Arabs from each state have their own identity and cultural practices to follow. The Arab World has always been a huge part of the food environment, even before nationalism subsisted. In the Arab world, food can be used to tell the history of the Arabs, thus shows how significant its role is in the Middle East. In this essay I will explore the ways in which Middle Eastern culinary culture has evolved over centuries and the factors revolving around Arab food culture.

The nomads of Anatolia, who came from the origins of Central Asia, heavily influenced Turkish cuisine. The nomadic tribal movement caused formation of alliances, increasing competition between the groups. Thus, in the means of cooperation the tribes unified and ultimately had populated most of Eastern Turkey by the 11th century. Before Islam, the Turkish ended up settling in this region. By the 15th century, the Ottoman Empire had a large influence on the Arab food culture. Regions that were dominated by the Ottomans, such as Greece and Bulgaria, begun to eat Arab dishes such as eggplant, stuffed grape leaves and cabbage. Baklava was considered to be food for the rich, coated with expensive sugar; this special dish was made during the Ottoman and Balkan rulings.

Before the early 1960s, when the Arab oil economy was established, the Emirati culture in particular considered two main factors; the Bedouins living in the desert as well as ‘sea-oriented culture that revolved around pearling and sea trading’....

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...without human interference), blood, the meat of pigs, and animals dedicated to other than God. If one is forced (to eat these), without being malicious or deliberate, he incurs no sin. God is Forgiver, Most Merciful.’ (2:173) Thus emphasising that only halal meat should be consumed. This shows how religion has effectively shaped the culture, or even the culture has adapted by the means of the religion. Although, Algeria is a French colonised country, it is significant in wine-exporting, meaning that alcohol is very common in this Muslim country. Today, the wine market still exists and is dependent on European markets. The Qur’an The Holy Month of Ramadan is a special time of the year where Muslims all around the world are obligated to fast everyday for roughly 25 days. In this holy month, food and drink is absent until the period of time between sunrise and sunset.

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