Israel

Individual flaky puff-pastry or filo parcels baked with a savory filling of cheese, potato, or spinach and topped with sesame seeds — the defining hand-held street food of Israeli Sephardic cuisine.

A Jewish Shabbat stew of meat, legumes, grain, and whole eggs in shell, assembled before Friday sundown and slow-cooked overnight on residual or kept heat so it is ready without any Shabbat-day cooking.

Deep-fried balls or patties made from raw-ground soaked dried chickpeas (or fava beans in Egypt) seasoned with herbs and spices, typically stuffed into pita with tahini and fresh salad.

A silky-smooth purée of slow-cooked chickpeas emulsified with tahini, fresh lemon juice, and garlic, finished with extra-virgin olive oil and served as a communal spread across the Levant.

A finely diced raw salad of cucumber and tomato dressed with lemon juice, olive oil, and fresh flat-leaf parsley — served as a ubiquitous everyday side and mezze across the Levant.

A Yemenite-Jewish rolled, butter-or-fat-laminated dough that is baked slowly overnight until deep brown, traditionally eaten on Shabbat morning with grated tomato, hard-boiled egg and zhug.

Ashkenazi Jewish filled dumplings of thin egg-noodle dough wrapped around seasoned minced meat, traditionally served in chicken broth on feast days.

A Mizrahi-Iraqi soup of semolina-or-bulgur dumplings stuffed with spiced minced meat, simmered in a tangy broth most often colored deep red with beets or tart with tomato and lemon.

A large, thin, soft and chewy Iraqi-Jewish leavened flatbread baked on the hot wall of a tabun or on a saj, used to wrap fillings or scoop dips.

Spiced minced lamb shaped onto skewers and grilled over charcoal until charred outside and juicy within, served in flatbread or on a plate.

A Libyan-Jewish dish of vegetables (classically potato) sliced into pockets, stuffed with spiced minced meat, then floured, fried and braised in a tomato sauce.

A delicate milk pudding set with starch and scented with rose or orange-blossom water, topped with a fruit syrup and chopped pistachios.

A Levantine dish of whole warm chickpeas bathed in tahini and lemon, dressed with olive oil and spices — essentially a deconstructed, chunky hummus.

Rolled crescent or spiral pastries made from a rich cream-cheese (or sour-cream) dough wrapped around a sweet filling of chocolate, nuts, or jam.

An Israeli pita sandwich, of Iraqi-Jewish origin, stuffed with fried aubergine, hard-boiled egg, tahini, amba and salad.

A thin-pounded chicken breast coated in seasoned flour, beaten egg, and fine breadcrumbs, pan-fried in oil until golden and crispy, representing Israel's everyday national comfort food.

Shakshouka is a dish of whole eggs poached directly in a fragrant, spiced tomato‑pepper sauce, typically served as a breakfast or brunch.

Shakshuka is a dish of eggs poached in a spiced, simmered tomato‑pepper sauce, traditionally served in the same pan.

Thin shavings of vertically-spit-roasted seasoned turkey, lamb or chicken stuffed into pita bread with tahini, salad and pickles, and very often amba.

A condiment of ground hulled sesame seeds — the pure paste itself, or that paste loosened with lemon juice, garlic, and water into a pourable, silky sauce.