Libyan cuisine explained

The cuisine of Libya is a mix of Berber, Arab and Mediterranean cuisines with Ottoman and Italian influence.^[1] One of the most popular Libyan dishes is bazin, an unleavened bread prepared with barley, water and salt.^[2] Bazin is prepared by boiling barley flour in water and then beating it to create a dough using a magraf, which is a unique stick designed for this purpose.^[3]

In Tripoli, Libya's capital, the cuisine is particularly influenced by Italian cuisine.^[4] Pasta is common, and many seafood dishes are available.^[4] Southern Libyan cuisine is more traditionally Arab and Berber. Common fruits and vegetables include figs, dates, oranges, apricots and olives.^[4]

Pork consumption is forbidden to Muslims in Libya, in accordance with Sharia, the Islamic law. The consumption of alcoholic drinks is also forbidden to Libyan Muslims.

Common foods and dishes

Bazin is a common Libyan food made with barley flour and a little plain flour, which is boiled in salted water to make a hard dough, and then formed into a rounded, smooth dome placed in the middle of the dish. The sauce around the dough is made by frying chopped onions with lamb meat, turmeric, salt, cayenne pepper, black pepper, fenugreek, sweet paprika, and tomato paste. Potatoes can also be added. Finally, boiled eggs are arranged around the dome. The dish is then served with lemon and fresh or pickled chili peppers, known as amsyar. Batata mubattana (filled potato) is another popular dish that consists of fried potato pieces filled with spiced minced meat and covered with egg and breadcrumbs.

Additional common foods and dishes include:

• Asida is a dish made of a cooked wheat flour lump of dough, sometimes with added butter, honey or rub.
• Bazin
• Rishta.
• Breads, including flatbreads
• Bureek, turnovers
• Couscous, a North African dish of semolina
• Filfel chuma or maseer, spicy pickled peppers, lemon, hot peppers and crushed garlic.
• Ghreyba, butter cookies^[5]
• Harissa is hot chili sauce commonly eaten in Eastern Maghreb. Main ingredients include chili peppers, such as the typical and local Baklouti pepper imported from Al-Andalus, or bird's eye chili and serrano peppers, and spices such as garlic paste, coriander, red chili powder, caraway and olive oil.^[6]
• Hassaa, type of gravy
• Magrood, date-filled cookies
• Mhalbiya, type of rice pudding
• Mutton, meat of an adult sheep
• Rub is a thick dark brown, very sweet syrup extracted from dates or carob that is widely used in Libya, usually with asida.
• Shakshouka is prepared using aged mutton or lamb jerky as the meat base of the meal, and is considered a traditional breakfast dish.
• Shorba, lamb and vegetable soup with mint and tomato paste
• Imbakbaka or Mbakbaka, a type of stew with pasta and meat^[7]
• Usban, a traditional Libyan food made of guts stuffed with organs and herbs.
• Kifta,
• gheded [Ancient Libyan Method of Dry Aging Meat and Organs using Fats,Olive Oil ] contained in Jar
• Rishta cescas
• Rishta Bourma
• Usban Zeer
• Boourdeem, Meat cooked underground using primitive methods

Desserts and beverages

• Makroudh
• Ghoriba
• Maakroud
• Drua - (Libyan salep made from millet)
• Mafruka
• Kunafa
• Zumeeta
• Libyan tea, the Libyan tea is a thick beverage served in a small glass, often accompanied by peanuts.^[4] Regular American/British coffee is available in Libya, and is known as "Nescafé" (a misnomer). Soft drinks and bottled water are also consumed.^[4] The Maghrebi mint tea is also a popular drink.

All alcoholic drinks have been banned in Libya since 1969,^[4] in accordance with Sharia, the religious laws of Islam. However, illegally imported alcohol is available on the black market, alongside a homemade spirit called Bokha. Bokha is often consumed with soft drinks as mixers.^[8]

See also

• Culture of Libya
• Arab culture
• Arab cuisine
• Berber cuisine
• Berber culture
• List of African cuisines

Notes and References

1. Book: Falola, Toyin . Teen Life in Africa . 2004 . Greenwood Publishing Group . 978-0-313-32194-8 . 142 . en.
2. Book: Rozario, P. . Libya . Gareth Stevens Pub. . Countries of the world . 2004 . 978-0-8368-3111-5 . registration . 40.
3. Book: Davidson . A. . Jaine . T. . Davidson . J. . Saberi . H. . The Oxford Companion to Food . OUP Oxford . Oxford Companions . 2006 . 978-0-19-101825-1 . 1356.
4. http://foodspring.com/content/libya/ "Libya."
5. http://www.libyana.org/food/ "Libyan Food."
6. Book: Maloufshomt , Greg . Artichoke to Za'atar: Modern Middle Eastern Food . U of California P . 2008 . 70 . 978-0-520-25413-8.
7. Web site: Libyan Imbakbaka . 16 January 2021 .
8. Web site: Olivesi . Marine . Libyans risk poisoning for a sip of illegal hooch in their dry nation . Public Radio International . 30 January 2020.