Lebanese vs Syrian food & cuisine

Textures matter – smooth dips are paired with crunchy breads or fresh salads. Stews are often served with fluffy rice or cracked wheat pilafs. Seasoning is very pronounced, especially with deep and warm spice blends.

Rice pairs with meat, poultry, or lentils,  fills vegetables and grape leaves, and anchors stews. Vermicelli rice pilafs are everyday staples. All other grains, although they may have had some importance historically, play a minor role today.

Lebanon is part of the Fertile Crescent, a region where lentils and chickpeas likely originated, so they are very important both historically and in current cuisine as staple, affordable sources of nutrition. Lentils, chickpeas, and beans are widely consumed in the form of mujaddarah (lentil and rice pilaf), hummus (chickpea dip), and balila (boiled chickpeas).

Cracked wheat bulgur, partially boiled and then dried again, adds a unique texture and nutty flavor to pilafs, salads, soups, stews, and kibbeh (spiced meat and bulgur dish). Bulgur has a very ancient origin, dating back around 4,000 years to the Mediterranean region, and is closely associated with Levantine cuisine.

Another popular wheat variation is freekeh, a durum wheat grain that is harvested still green, roasted, and rubbed to have a distinctive nutty taste and chewy texture. It features soups, pilafs, sides, kibbeh, or salad.

Rice is important, but a complementary staple, served as a light, fluffy texture side with a nutty flavor, or combined with beans, vegetables, or ground meat. The ongoing conflict has severely impacted agriculture and food security, resulting in lower rice availability.

No Lebanese table is complete without pickles. Everything from turnips to wild cucumbers can find a way into brine. Pickles add a tangy kick to wraps and pair well with flatbreads or falafel.

Fruits are often consumed in their fresh form, towards the end of the meal. Other than that, smoothies and juices are prevalent. Dried figs, apricots, dates, and raisins are often paired with nuts for a snack.

Pickles – turnips, cucumbers, cauliflower, and especially makdous (oil-preserved stuffed eggplants) – are staples of mezze, giving salty, sour, garlicky contrasts to meat and grain dishes.

Fruits add another distinctive layer: cherries, apricots, quince, and pomegranate are folded into meat dishes and kebabs. Pomegranate molasses is essential for dressings and marinades. Qamar al-din, an apricot leather drink, is a Ramadan tradition, and dried figs, dates, raisins, and apricots enrich pilafs and stews. Murabba, whole fruits preserved in syrup, is offered with coffee as a gesture of hospitality.

Grilled meats are widespread, kebabs and shawarma lead the way. Syrians also love their ground and minced meat dishes. Kibbeh is the national dish – a mix of meat and bulgur blended into a paste with spices and pine nuts. It can be fried, grilled, or even eaten raw. Aleppo in particular has mastered it, with more than 17 varieties, including the city’s famous kibbeh halabiyeh.

In Beirut and the coastal towns, the tradition is to grill or fry the daily catch – fishes like red mullet, sea bream, or sardines – simply dressed with olive oil, lemon, and herbs. You’ll also see seafood mezze: fried calamari, shrimp sautéed in garlic and lemon, or octopus salads. A classic is sayadieh, a fragrant fish-and-rice dish cooked with caramelized onions and warm spices, finished with pine nuts, samke harra, a whole baked fish covered with a sauce of tahini, lemon juice, garlic, chili or hot pepper, and fish kibbeh.

Milk is rare in its raw form, but cultured milk products are trendy. Laban, a yogurt made from fermented milk from cows, sheep, goats, or a combination, is a staple, often accompanied by strained yogurt labneh. Ayran, a refreshing yogurt drink diluted with water, is also a popular beverage.

Kishk, jameed, or yogurt stone, is a traditional Eastern Mediterranean method for preserving milk. Milk or yogurt is mixed with bulgur, then naturally fermented and dried. It can later give a tangy kick when grated on salad, blended into soups, or used as a seasoning.

Cheese is also a part of dairy products. Most Lebanese cheeses feature sheep or goat milk, either exclusively or in combination with cow’s milk, and are brined, which means they’re soaked in salty water after the cheese is formed. Halloumi and akkawi are examples of local brined cheeses. Shanklish is another type of fermented cheese rolled in a mixture of spices, such as Aleppo pepper or thyme.

Clarified butter (samneh) and rendered lamb fat (awarma) were important animal fats for cooking and preservation, especially in mountain villages. Today, however, olive oil is the backbone fat in Lebanese kitchens, with vegetable oils also common.

Syrians have also developed clever ways to preserve milk. One of the best examples is jameed (also called kashk), where yogurt is fermented, strained, salted, and dried into hard, salty ‘stones.’ Traditionally made from sheep’s milk, it can later be rehydrated and used in stews and sauces.

Cheese isn’t as central, but there are still beloved local varieties. Jibbneh mashallale, a string cheese stored in brine, is one example.

Lebanese desserts blend fragrance, texture, and tradition. One of the first things you notice is the aroma of rose water, orange blossom water, and sometimes mastic. Another feature is the balance between nuts, pastry, and syrup. Almonds, pistachios, and walnuts are layered between thin sheets of phyllo or folded into semolina-based sweets. Instead of heavy frostings or creams, the desserts are finished with a sugar syrup known as ater.

Lebanese sweets are also often made in small, shareable portions, good for pairing with coffee or tea. Many of these desserts are tied to religious and seasonal celebrations.

Nuts are hugely popular — pistachios, walnuts, almonds, and especially pine nuts. In fact, pine nuts were once so prized that Levantine pine forests were cultivated just for them. Harvesting is slow and labor-intensive, which explains their high price today. In Syrian cooking, they’re more than decoration: pine nuts are sprinkled over rice dishes, kibbeh, and stews.

Syrian desserts are sweet, rich, and layered. They usually feature nuts, pastry, syrup, and cheese.  A hallmark of Syrian sweets is the tradition of pastry and syrup. Thin dough, phyllo, or semolina is filled with pistachios, walnuts, or almonds, baked, and then soaked in sugar syrup.

Milk and semolina puddings are another important branch of Syrian sweets. Fruits are also dessert ingredients, both fresh and preserved. Whole fruits preserved in syrup are a sign of hospitality, served with coffee for guests. Dried figs, dates, and apricots find their way into confections and drinks.