When you say Middle Eastern food, the first thing that comes into minds are kebabs and of course the popular shawarma, but it’s more than that, so, here’s how to enjoy your Middle East / Arabic food trip.

Persians start their meal with a good appetizers such as Aash (soup), Sabzi (a salad which is a mixture of traditional goat cheese and herbs), and the Mazeh (appetizer). And because mazeh is an integral part of a Persian meal, there’s a list you could choose from, but one shouldn’t missed the favorite and most common Persian appetizers, the Dolmeh (stuffed grape leaves), Kashko Bademjan (eggplant blended with whey), and the Torshi (pickled vegetables). One should also try other appetizers like: the Mast (homemade yogurt) which preludes to any Persian meal, and it has different types like Mast o Khiar (mast with cucumber) and Mast o Musin (mast with shallots); Kofteh Kebabs (meatballs made with vegetables, rice and beans); and Mirza Ghasemi (mashed eggplants).

The most popular Persian main course is the Kebab which is served on top of Chelo (light, fluffy and aromatic saffron rice of Iran) topped with melted butter. There are different types of kebabs are Barg (skewered beef), Joojeh (chicken), and Koobideh (ground beef), the popular kebab combination is called Soltani (mixture of Barg and Koobideh).

Other Persian main course are: Fersenjun (sweet and sour chicken mixed with ground walnuts with sauce); Baghali Polo (which is lamb shanks with lima beans) ; Ghorme Salzi (mixed beef, herbs and red beans) ; Loobia Polo (beef with green beans); Zereshk Polo (chicken breast with currants and rice); Khoresht Fesenjone (which is chicken in a thick fragrant pomegranate sauce); Gheimeh Budemjome (a cut beef and eggplant saute) ; Ghormeh Sabzi (tasty beef stew); Dopiaza (marinated lamb with leeks); Bang Chengen (grilled skewered filet mignon); Khoresht Bademjun (braised eggplant with lamb shank, tomatoes and dried lime); and Bademjan (mixed beef and eggplant in tomato sauce).

One would be surprised with the Persian beverages and desserts, it would really be something different from the usual frappe or cakes, Persian restaurants offers Chai (a special Persian spiced tea); Doogh (a lassi-like, salty yogurt concoction); Baklawa (honey dipped pastry); Zoolbiah (ring shaped sweet pastry served with a honey dip); Akbar Mashti ( delicious, textrous honey flavored ice cream) ; Faloodeh (iced dessert made with tiny noodles); and Makhloot (a combination of Persian honey ice cream and faloodeh.

Afhgans popular appetizers are Bulani Potatoes which is mixed with leeks and onions in a flour tortilla and Ashak which is boiled ground beef and onions in a thin bread. The popular Afghan main entrée are Hashaak (large shells with ground beef curry, green onions and yogurt); Sabzy Chalow ( rice meal with beef and spinach); and a noodle meal called Haash (noodles and ground beef with beans in yogurt). For the dessert, the Afghanistan’s pride is the Jelabi, which is a honey flavored wheat pastry.

The most popular Turkish starters are the Patlican Tava (fried eggplant with yogurt) and Patlican Ezme which is a eggplant puree. While for the main course the most served are Firinda Ferik (roasted hen with bulgur wheat and anatolian spices), Boreks which is a stuffed filo dough pies and the Imam Bayildi (baked stuffed eggplant).

For a good Lebanese meal, one should begin with its popular appetizers such as Baba Ghannouj which is a smoked eggplant and Tabouleh which is a traditional Lebanese salad made of bulgur wheat, olive oil, lemon, and several herbs. For the main course, there are Shish Tawook, a boiled chicken breast on skewer and Kibby, cracked wheat mixed with ground lamb and pine nuts. The meal can be concluded with a common Middle Eastern dessert called Yohalal (walnut cookie or cake).