Main ingredients in the Syrian Cuisine

The Syrians rely on the seasonal produce for their cooking, and it can be divided into 3 types: winter, summer, and parties or celebrations food.

Winter cooking consist of hearty food and lots of stews served with cooked rice, bread or Burgul wheat.

Summer cooking has plenty of fresh vegetables, grilled meat (BBQ), greens & salads (most popular veg is Aubergine)  

As for parties weddings and big occasions, there is a must list of dishes every Syrian household try to cook & proudly serve, consists of traditional dishes, some are complicated and take a long time to make but the end result is wonderful..
Olives & olive oil are important ingredients in the Syrian diet.

Syrians eat a great deal of yogurt, they believe its good for the stomach.

Garlic used a lot and it is the main source of seasoning for the Syrian cuisine, its used in big quantity and they believe that garlic is good for health in general & for the digestive system in particular.    

Olive oil, garlic & lemon juice are three ingredients used together in so many dishes and as dressing for many different salads.

Syrian food is not spicy or hot but well seasoned in general, lots of fresh herbs (parsley, mint, spring onion) particularly in summer dishes & green salads.

Flat bread & cooked Bulgur wheat are used to accompany stews & dips.

The most common spices used are cumin, coriander, black pepper, mixed spices & Sumaq….

What is Sumaq?, a spice used in Middle Eastern cooking especially in the Syrian cuisine:

It’s the skin of rounded seeds the size of a lentil, the seeds are sun dried and skinned, the maroon coloured skin is collected and grinded to make Sumaq, it has a citric lemony taste and used  in some traditional Syrian dishes, can be sprinkled over green or other type of salad to enhance the taste or used with BBQ.
Its available in any Syrian market, sold as a dried spice in a small box or jar (not many people know that Sumaq can be toxic if consumed in high amount).