page_title: Iraqi cuisine
section_title: Sweets
hierarchical_section_title: Iraqi cuisine / Iraqi cuisine / Sweets
caption_attribution_description: Baklava
context_page_description: Iraqi cuisine or Mesopotamian cuisine has its origins from Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, ancient Persians, Mesopotamian Arabs, and the other ethnic groups of the region. Tablets found in ancient ruins in Iraq show recipes prepared in the temples during religious festivals – the first cookbooks in the world. Ancient Iraq, or Mesopotamia, was home to a sophisticated and highly advanced civilization, in all fields of knowledge, including the culinary arts. However, it was in the Islamic Golden Age when Baghdad was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate that the Iraqi kitchen reached its zenith. Today, the cuisine of Iraq reflects this rich inheritance as well as strong influences from the culinary traditions of neighbouring Iran, Turkey, and the Syria region area.
  Meals begin with appetizers and salads – known as Mezza. Some dishes include Kebab, Gauss, Bamieh, Quzi, Falafel, Kubbah/Kibbeh, Masgûf, and Maqluba. Stuffed vegetable dishes such as Dolma and Mahshi are also popular.
  Contemporary Iraq reflects the same natural division as ancient Mesopotamia, which consisted of Assyria in the arid northern uplands and Babylonia in the southern alluvial plain.
context_section_description: The earliest known recipe for cake comes from ancient Mesopotamia. Believed to be primarily for consumption at the palace or temple, the cake was made from fat, white cheese, dates and raisins. Another recipe dating to the reign of Hammurabi (1792 BCE - 1750 BCE) includes similar basic ingredients with the addition of grape syrup, figs and apples.
  The traditional Iraqi kleicha cookies are believed to have their roots in Mesopotamian qullupu—date filled pastries baked in a wood-fired oven called tannour. In modern times, other types of cookies (biskit) and cakes (ka'ak) are made at home, usually flavored with cardamom or rose water. Some variations include the disc-shaped khfefiyyat, half-moon shaped kleichat joz made with nuts, and date filled kleichat tamur.
  Cookbooks dating to the Abbasid Caliphate between the 10th and 13th centuries include recipes for hundreds of desserts. The tradition continues into the modern day, but the rich, syrupy desserts like baklava are usually prepared for special occasions or religious celebrations, as most daily meals are usually followed by a simple course of seasonal fruit, especially dates, figs, cantaloupes, nectarines, apricots, pomegranates, peaches, mulberries, grapes or watermelons.
  Though not as recognizable as baklava, the fried pastry called lauzeenaj, flavored with mastic and rose water, was a specialty in imperial Baghdad. Rosette-shaped fritters called zalabia are a local specialty, believed to take their name from Ziryab, a  well-known Kurdish-Iraqi musician in the Caliphate of Cordoba. Baklava and zalabia are typical offerings during the Eid al-Fitr celebrations that follow Ramadan. Halqoum (commonly known as Turkish Delights) are traditionally given as gifts during the holiday.
  Halva
  Kanafeh, a pastry made with layers of semolina, white cheese and a sugary syrup sprinkled with rose water.
  Qatayef, an Arab dessert reserved for the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, a sort of sweet crepe filled with cheese or nuts. It was traditionally prepared by street vendors as well as households in the Levant and more recently has spread to Egypt.
  Mann al-samaʼ
  Luzina is a candy similar to Turkish lukum, made from ground fruits.
caption: "White baklava", osh el bulbul (bird's nests) and other traditional sweets in Iraq
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