Iraqi

Iraq's table is the oldest in the world — cuneiform tablets from Babylon (1750 BCE) record recipes that resemble modern Iraqi cooking. Masgouf is the national dish: a whole carp from the Tigris is butterflied, marinated in tamarind and turmeric, propped vertically over an open fire, cooked slowly so the skin chars and the flesh stays moist — a ritual that's continued for millennia along the riverbanks. Quzi is the feast dish: a whole lamb or large lamb-shoulder cooked over saffron rice with raisins, almonds, and aromatic spices, served on a single platter for a wedding or eid. Iraqi dolma uses more vegetables than its Turkish/Greek cousins — vine leaves, peppers, onions, zucchini, all stuffed into one pot and steamed. Kubba is the Iraqi-Jewish dumpling soup (which the Jewish diaspora carried to Israel), made in beet broth or okra. Tashreeb is poured stew over torn flatbread — the working-class lunch. The cuisine has Persian, Ottoman, and Indian influences layered on top of the Sumerian-Akkadian foundation.