middle eastern food vs mediterranean

Middle Eastern Cuisine. “We’re not trying to fool anyone — we have Persian food, but we have Mediterranean dishes as well.”. makes a similar move, say, for Arab food, for example.” In other words, to appeal to a wider audience in a non-threatening way, immigrant restaurant owners — specifically those stemming from conflicted regions of the world — want to leave those national conflicts at the door. “These aren’t really old-fashioned or authentic categories.”, Instead, Hudson says that they stem from American restaurant culture in the late 1940s and early 1950s, when Americans began to familiarize themselves with the food traditions of different immigrant groups. Lebanese Mediterranean Food. is brilliant.”, “sometimes I worry [MEL is] a psy-op meant just for me.”, This site is protected by reCAPTCHA. “That’s when you saw these very broad categories, like Italian food, Chinese food or fancy French food,” she says. 3. I keep reading about foods like bugler, lentils, hummus, olive oil, … She’s right, of course. You may unsubscribe at any time. While it’s more difficult to generalize, commonly used ingredients include honey, sesame seeds, dates, chickpeas, rice, olives, olive oil, and sumac. “You see the same thing in just saying Persian rather than Iranian, so Americans don’t associate the very anti-Islamic republic Iranians of, a portmanteau combining Tehran, the capital of Iran, and Los Angeles], with the Ayatollah. Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food has become very popular in recent years. “That’s the beginning of when the restaurant business attempts to market, brand and sell things — it’s at that point that you work within a template created by those earlier notes of immigrant food to create something that’s sort of recognizable and familiar, and therefore, sustainable for the American palate.”, So what, then, is the difference between “Middle Eastern” food and “Mediterranean” food? The staple of almost all Mediterranean food and Greek specifically is the use of the olive and wheat. Regardless of where it's originally from, hummus is a delicious dip and spread that's enjoyed by all cultures, not just Greek and Middle Eastern. Get your geography right, people. This marketing approach of consciously removing the association between certain Middle Eastern cuisines with the “conflicted regions of the world” is also serving immigrants fleeing from those areas. If you’ve ever eaten Mediterranean food, you’re probably working under the assumption that you’ve also, to some degree, tasted Persian food, Lebanese food or even Israeli food. Neomonde Mediterranean Raleigh: Best Middle Eastern Food - See 1,119 traveler reviews, 99 candid photos, and great deals for Raleigh, NC, at Tripadvisor. “Persian sounds more cultural, it sounds more ancient, it sounds more regional, it sounds less political and less conflictual,” she says. Middle eastern and Mediterranean traditional dish dolma, stuffed vine leaves, from above. The differences are that some Greek dishes are not present in those countries of the Middle East and a lot of those Greek dishes that are present in Middle Eastern foods of the Mediterranean Middle Eastern countries have diffrent … When talking about some of her favorite dishes, one can see the similarities and subtle differences between Middle Eastern and Turkish cuisine. In fact, most Middle Eastern countries are not even by the sea, hence why most of my relatives don’t even know how to swim. You can now find in just about every western supermarket and many mainstream restaurants. Contemporary Mediterranean and Ottoman Inspired Cuisine Vegetarian and vegan food producers with Middle Eastern and Mediterranean influence. “Smart and insightful reported features about modern masculinity.”, “@WeAreMel is phenomenal ... the best outlet covering digital culture today.”, “I just laughed out loud for a solid five minutes.”, “The rare men’s magazine that has taken upon itself to investigate masculinity, not enforce it. By that measure, when you told your friend how good the kebabs were, you likely said something like, “Man, Middle Eastern food is the best!” Maybe you were confused; maybe you didn’t know any better; or maybe you legitimately believed that all the places where the yogurt with those delicious spices and chopped cucumbers flows like wine are all, in fact, the same. That’s also when savvy immigrant restaurant owners placate your fears by telling you that that stewed lamb shank over a bed of rice with dill — a classic Iranian dish — is safely a part of your Mediterranean diet. “Persian sounds more cultural, it sounds more ancient, it sounds more regional, it sounds less political and less conflictual,” she says. Most of the managers and restaurant owners of the many “Persian” restaurants in Tehrangeles that I spoke with told me of their preference to disassociate from the current Iranian regime. To that end, Hudson tells me that the same move is being made when you say “Mediterranean,” to try and be inclusive and non-threatening toward people who might be freaked out by the politics and conflicts of certain areas of the world, primarily the Middle East. What I’m trying to get at is that you’d be far from alone in this ignorance, as many of the terms are deliberately used interchangeably by those selling it. Frankly, I get it. Oftentimes I see a restaurant serving hummus, falafel, etc. OLIVE, WHEAT and LEMONS. “Just in the use of the term Persian rather than Iranian, for example: the branding move and the marketing move is to disassociate from the pervasive image of political conflict and turmoil and to associate your brand with something that’s non-political, thereby making it safer, more accessible and reaching a wider audience,” explains Hudson. Turkish cooking was also influenced by Ottoman cuisines (a mash-up of the Central Asian, Middle Eastern, and Balkan tables), while Lebanese food also boasts a French connection. “. Part of the Middle East's identity is the product of the expansion and contraction of its sociocultural borders… Visit our website to search for a wholesale or retail store near your area. It sounds better.” He adds, emphatically, that the current Iranian regime is “not my country anymore.”, Further complicating things, however, is the fact that Shamshiri’s website notes they’re in fact serving “fine Persian cuisine,” while, claiming that they take “an all-around Mediterranean approach.” “If you check our menu, we have Mediterranean options too,” the same manager tells me. But there’s also the issue of immigrants, specifically immigrant restaurant owners, feeling pressured to avoid certain aspects of their heritage to better appeal to American tastes. Middle Eastern Food - How To Cook Great on The Road - Bahrain - Kingdom of Bahrain The Middle East, conflicted or and misunderstood, to many of us. The Middle East is the region where Asia, Africa, and Europe meet. food, you’re probably working under the assumption that you’ve also, to some degree, tasted Persian food, Lebanese food or even Israeli food. The Middle Eastern diet falls under the category of a Mediterranean diet, which incorporates the foods and cuisines of the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Not all Middle Eastern food just the mediterranean Countries of the Middle East begining with Egypt and all the Levant countries(Lebonon, Syria, Palestine, etc). In several restaurant listing, some restaurants are divided between these two categories: Mediterranean and Middle Eastern. It sounds better.” He adds, emphatically, that the current Iranian regime is “not my country anymore.”, Further complicating things, however, is the fact that Shamshiri’s website notes they’re in fact serving “fine Persian cuisine,” while also claiming that they take “an all-around Mediterranean approach.” “If you check our menu, we have Mediterranean options too,” the same manager tells me. I would probably say Greek and Italian are the major cultures associated with the countries of the Mediterranean. “It’s part of the marketing and branding experience, but it also happens because the people — it’s particularly the case with the Iranian community in Southern California — want, by and large (and obviously there are exceptions), nothing to do with the Iranian regime,” says Hudson. Be inspired by fragrant Persian recipes, cook a Turkish barbecue or make a Middle Eastern meze menu of kofte, falafel and pitta breads. IMO: The homemade meals my arabic teachers prepared for us > than any meal you will get at a middle eastern restaurant (by a landslide). Although the area's precise boundaries are difficult to define, characteristics of a transition zone combine with special local elements to produce a distinctive regional identity. 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