Libyan cuisine facts for kids
Libyan cuisine is the food of Libya. It mixes Arab and Mediterranean styles, with some Italian influence. One very popular Libyan dish is bazin. It is a type of unleavened bread, meaning it is made without yeast. Bazin uses barley, water, and salt.
To make bazin, barley flour is boiled in water. Then, it is beaten with a special stick called a magraf to form a dough. In Tripoli, Libya's capital city, Italian food has a big influence. You will find a lot of pasta and many seafood dishes there. Food in southern Libya is more traditionally Arab and has Berber influences. Common fruits and vegetables include figs, dates, oranges, apricots, and olives. People in Libya do not eat pork. This is because of their religious laws, called Sharia, which are part of Islam.
Popular Libyan Dishes
Bazin is a main food in Libya. It is made from barley flour and a little plain flour. This mix is boiled in salted water to create a firm dough. The dough is then shaped into a smooth, rounded dome in the middle of a dish. The sauce around the dough is made by frying chopped onions with lamb meat, turmeric, salt, cayenne pepper, black pepper, fenugreek, sweet paprika, and tomato paste. Sometimes, potatoes are added too. Finally, boiled eggs are placed around the dough dome. The dish is served with lemon and fresh or pickled chili peppers, known as amsyar.
Batata mubattana is another favorite dish. It has fried potato pieces filled with spiced minced meat. These are then covered with egg and breadcrumbs.
Here are some other common Libyan foods:
- Asida: A dish made from cooked wheat flour dough. It is often served with butter, honey, or rub.
- Breads: Many types of bread are eaten, including flatbreads.
- Hummus: A dip made from mashed chickpeas.
- Bureek: These are turnovers, which are pastries filled with different ingredients.
- Couscous: A North African dish made from small steamed balls of semolina.
- Ruz Bil-Khalta: A Libyan dish with rice, meat, nuts, and sometimes liver and raisins.
- Filfel chuma or maseer: A hot sauce made from sweet and hot peppers and crushed garlic.
- Ghreyba: These are butter cookies.
- Harissa: A hot chili sauce popular in North Africa. It contains chili peppers like bird's eye chili and serrano peppers. Spices like garlic paste, coriander, red chili powder, caraway, and olive oil are also used.
- Hassaa: A type of gravy.
- Magrood: Cookies filled with dates.
- Mhalbiya: A type of rice pudding.
- Mutton: This is meat from an adult sheep.
- Rub: A thick, dark brown, sweet syrup. It is made from dates or carob and is often eaten with asida.
- Shakshouka: A traditional breakfast dish. It is made with aged mutton or lamb jerky as the meat base.
- Shorba: A soup made with lamb, vegetables, mint, and tomato paste.
- Imbakbaka or Mbakbaka: A stew with pasta and meat. It is similar to Italy's minestrone.
- Tajine: Spiced lamb served with a tomato and paprika sauce.
- Usban: A traditional Libyan sausage.
Sweet Treats and Drinks
Libya has many delicious desserts and drinks.
- Makroudh
- Ghoriba
- Maakroun
- Drua: This is a Libyan version of salep, made from millet.
- Mafruka
- Kunafa
- Cold cake or Tiramisu
- Mhalbiya
- Zumeeta
Libyan tea is a strong drink served in small glasses, often with peanuts. Regular coffee is also available and is sometimes called "Nescafé". Soft drinks and bottled water are popular too. Maghrebi mint tea is another favorite drink. Alcoholic drinks have not been allowed in Libya since 1969, due to religious laws.
