“Never dismiss the dish by saying that is just, simply food. The blessed thing is an entire civilization in itself”, the Turkish author Abdulhak Sinasi pronounced about his country’s cuisine. The same could be said unreservedly about food throughout the entire Orient. Sharing a meal together is an intrinsic element of family life, good company and hospitality. The Orient (Lat. oriens = rising sun), as the Middle East used to be called, extends from the countries of North Africa across to the Arab states in the Near East and to Iraq and Iran. The range of food and drink throughout the region is similarly diverse – from the very simple and plain to the lavishly elaborate and sophisticated.

But however varied and bountiful the food in every country is, bread plays a central role in each meal. Whether khubz, pita or pide, the unleavened bread with numerous names and a pocket that is ideal for filling is found throughout the Orient and is more than just a side dish. The host traditionally breaks the bread before the meal begins, passing it around to his guests. Bread should never be cut and it is frowned upon to serve yourself. Everyone waits until the basket comes round, and nothing is thrown away!

Besides bread, hors d’œuvres – or mezze – are also a key feature of Oriental cuisine. It is not unusual for up to twenty different small dishes and bowls of appetizers to be spread out over the table: stuffed vine leaves, puréed aubergines, different kinds of olives, dried tomatoes, marinated peppers, salads of mint, bulgur, tomatoes and parsley (tabouleh), sheep’s or goat’s cheese, falafel balls, kidney beans in lemon juice and olive oil, sauces, dips and pastes, hot and fiery red or pale yellow and slightly sweet (hummus) – in addition, of course, to small pastries filled with minced meat, spinach or other vegetables.

A further important pillar of Oriental cooking are the numerous, for our tastes, exotic spices such as cumin, fenugreek, cardamom, curcuma, fennel seeds, pimento, coriander and tamarind. No Middle Eastern dish, whether vegetable, couscous or meat, confectionery or stewed fruit, would be complete without spices. And no dish is ever only just hot or just sweet, its flavour will always be characterized by a fine balance of spices.

As the threshold between India, Asia and Europe, the Middle East was always famous for its abundance of spices. Whenever cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg or pepper arrived in the Mediterranean, later to be dispatched to northern Europe, it always came by way of the legendary Oriental and Arab spice routes. In past centuries untold fortunes were built by trading spices. It remained that way until Vasco da Gama discovered the sea route to India in May 1498.

Only a small amount of a spice is necessary to transform a piece of meat into a delicacy. Traditionally, dried spices such as pepper, nutmeg, coriander, cumin or cardamom are purchased as entire seeds and first heated gently in a dry frying pan before they are ground. By contrast, fresh spices such as ginger, onions, garlic, parsley, mint and coriander leaves are added to a dish shortly before it is eaten, at the same time providing an appetizing fragrance.