the middle east, the crossroad between europe, asia and africa has been a hub of food and recipe exchange for centuries - a variety of factors, including but not limited to migration, led to a mix of flavors and cuisines.

the persian empire (ca. 550-330 bce) laid the foundation for middle eastern food, by introducing rice, poultry and fruits into the area's diets - during this era, arabian warriors brought figs, dates and nuts to the conquered lands. 

during turkey's ottoman empire, paper-thin phyllo dough pastries and sweet, strong coffee were brought to the middle east, along with yogurt from russia, dumplings from mongolia, spices, such as turmeric, cumin, and garlic, from india, cloves, peppercorns, and allspice from the spice islands, okra from africa, and tomatoes from the new world, via the moors of spain.

a key ingredient in this cuisine is tahini, a paste made with hulled sesame seeds - it is used to make popular appetizers like baba ghanoush and hummus (a blended dip of chickpeas, tahini, olive oil and garlic) that are eaten with falafel, keftes or kofta and vegetables.