Western Sahara

Western sahara (arabic: الصحراء الغربية‎ aṣ-ṣaḥrā' al-gharbiyyah; berber languages: taneẓroft tutrimt; spanish: sáhara occidental) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the maghreb region of north and west africa. about 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed sahrawi arab democratic republic (sadr), while the re...

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Featured Dishes from Western Sahara

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Asida

Asida (arabic: عصيدة, romanized: ‘aṣīdah) is a dish with origins from the maghreb. it is a lump of dough, obtained by stirring wheat flour into boiling water, sometimes with added butter or honey. similar in texture to fufu, it is eaten in mainly in north african countries. it is considered one of the most popular desserts and traditional dishes in many arab countries. asida is particularly popular in libya, algeria, tunisia, ethiopia, eritrea, and the rest of the middle east. as most traditional foods of these countries, it is usually eaten by hand, without the use of utensils. often served during religious holidays such as mawlid and eid, it is also served during other traditional ceremonies, for example accompanying the birth of child, such as the ‘aqīqah, the cutting of the hair of a newborn seven days after birth.a simple, yet rich dish, often eaten without other complementary dishes, it is traditionally served at breakfast and is also given to women in labor.

Breakfast

Azzemit

Barley flour porridge with sugar, dahn (purified butter or fat), olive oil

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Batbout

Pita ( or us: ) or pitta (british english), is a family of yeast-leavened round flatbreads baked from wheat flour, common in the mediterranean, middle east, and neighboring areas. it includes the widely known version with an interior pocket, also known as arabic bread (arabic: خبز عربي; khubz ʿarabī), in england, greek bread is used for pocket versions such as the greek pita, are used for barbecues to a souvlaki wrap. the western name pita may sometimes be used to refer to various other types of flatbreads that have different names in their local languages, such as numerous styles of arab khubz (bread).

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Camel

A camel (from: latin: camelus and greek: κάμηλος (kamēlos) from semitic: gāmāl.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus camelus that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provide food (milk and meat) and textiles (fiber and felt from hair). camels are working animals especially suited to their desert habitat and are a vital means of transport for passengers and cargo. there are three surviving species of camel. the one-humped dromedary makes up 94% of the world's camel population, and the two-humped bactrian camel makes up 6%. the wild bactrian camel is a separate species and is now critically endangered. the word camel is also used informally in a wider sense, where the more correct term is "camelid", to include all seven species of the family camelidae: the true camels (the above three species), along with the "new world" camelids: the llama, the alpaca, the guanaco, and the vicuña, which belong to the separate tribe lamini camelids originated in north america during the eocene, with the ancestor of modern camels, paracamelus, migrating across the bering land bridge into asia during the late miocene, around 6 million years ago.

Drink

Camel milk

Camel milk has supported nomad and pastoral cultures since the domestication of camels millennia ago. herders may for periods survive solely on the milk when taking the camels on long distances to graze in desert and arid environments. the camel dairy farming industry has grown in australia and the united states, as an environmentally friendly alternative to cow dairy farming using a species well-adapted to arid regions. camel milk has different nutritional characteristics from cow milk, but the proportions of nutrients can be highly variable based on a number of factors, including type and age of camel, climate, what it eats, and milking method. it can be used to make products such as yogurt and ice cream, but is not so easily turned into butter or cheese.

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Couscous

Couscous (arabic: كُسْكُس kuskus; berber languages: ⵙⴽⵙⵓ, romanized: seksu) – sometimes called kusksi or kseksu – is a maghrebi dish of small steamed granules of rolled durum wheat semolina that is often served with a stew spooned on top. pearl millet, sorghum, bulgur, and other cereals are sometimes cooked in a similar way in other regions, and the resulting dishes are also sometimes called couscous.: 18 couscous is a staple food throughout the maghrebi cuisines of algeria, tunisia, mauritania, morocco, and libya.: 250  it was integrated into french and european cuisine at the beginning of the twentieth century, through the french colonial empire and the pieds-noirs of algeria. in 2020, couscous was added to unesco's intangible cultural heritage list.

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Dahn

Purified butter or fat from camels, goats

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Dates

Fruit from the date palm. a common snack, dessert.

Main

Echwa

Meat is stuffed inside offal then cooked in the sand

Dessert, Sweet

Fekkas

Biscotti, traditionally made with almonds, raisins (fekkas msseoues)

Main

Fish

Serve with rice

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Ftour laalayat

Liver with camel meat

Breakfast

Galiat bouchayba

Roasted barley grains, serve with dahn (purified butter or fat)

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Goat

Goat meat or goat's meat is the meat of the domestic goat (capra aegagrus hircus). the common name for goat meat is simply "goat", though meat from adult goats is referred to as chevon, while that from young goats can be called capretto (it.), cabrito (sp. and por.) or kid. in south asian and caribbean cuisine, mutton commonly means goat meat. in south asia, where mutton curry is popular, "mutton" is used for both goat and lamb meat. the culinary name "chevon", a blend of chèvre 'goat' and mouton 'sheep', was coined in 1922 and selected by a trade association; it was adopted by the united states department of agriculture in 1928.: 19  according to market research, consumers in the united states prefer "chevon" to "goat" "cabrito", a word of spanish and portuguese origin, refers specifically to the meat of a young, milk-fed goat. it is also known as chivo.

Drink

Goat milk

Goat milk is the milk of domestic goats. goats produce about 2% of the world's total annual milk supply. some goats are bred specifically for milk. goat milk naturally has small, well-emulsified fat globules, which means the cream will stay in suspension for a longer period of time than cow's milk; therefore, it does not need to be homogenized. eventually, the cream will rise to the top over a period of a few days. if the milk is to be used to make cheese, homogenization is not recommended, as this changes the structure of the milk, affecting the culture's ability to coagulate the milk and the final quality and yield of cheese.dairy goats in their prime (generally around the third or fourth lactation cycle) average—2.7 to 3.6 kg (6 to 8 lb)—of milk production daily—roughly 2.8 to 3.8 l (3 to 4 u.s. qt)—during a ten-month lactation, producing more just after freshening and gradually dropping in production toward the end of their lactation. the milk generally averages 3.5% butterfat.

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Harira

Harira (arabic: الحريرة al-ḥarīra, tachelhit: ⴰⵣⴽⴽⵉⴼ azkkif or ⴰⵙⴽⴽⵉⴼ askkif) is a traditional north african soup prepared in morocco and algeria. algerian harira differs from moroccan harira in that algerian harira does not contain lentils. it is popular as a starter but is also eaten on its own as a light snack. there are many variations and it is mostly served during ramadan, although it can be made throughout the year.it is also part of the maghrebi cuisine, where lemon juice and egg is added to brighten the flavors of the soup. like muslims, who traditionally have the filling soup for iftar meals, jews break their fast with it during yom kippur.

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Khoubz laftir

Flatbread made only from barley flour and water, serve with stews, meat

Breakfast

Labsiss

Barley flour cooked over a fire and mixed with a water, dahn (clarified butter or fat), salt, eggs

Main

Lamb

Lamb, hogget, and mutton, generically sheep meat, are the meat of domestic sheep, ovis aries. a sheep in its first year is a lamb and its meat is also lamb. the meat from sheep in their second year is hogget. older sheep meat is mutton. generally, "hogget" and "sheep meat" are not used by consumers outside norway, new zealand, south africa and australia. hogget has become more common in england, particularly in the north (lancashire and yorkshire) often in association with rare breed and organic farming. in south asian and caribbean cuisine, "mutton" often means goat meat. at various times and places, "mutton" or "goat mutton" has occasionally been used to mean goat meat.lamb is the most expensive of the three types and in recent decades sheep meat is increasingly only retailed as "lamb", sometimes stretching the accepted distinctions given above. the stronger-tasting mutton is now hard to find in many areas, despite the efforts of the mutton renaissance campaign in the uk. in australia, the term prime lamb is often used to refer to lambs raised for meat. other languages, for example french, spanish, italian and arabic, make similar or even more detailed distinctions among sheep meats by age and sometimes by sex and diet—for example, lechazo in spanish refers to meat from milk-fed (unweaned) lambs.

Drink

Lamriss

Barley flour beverage

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Magli

Sweetened barley porridge mixed with wadak (purified camel fat), dahn (purified butter), olive oil

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Marou

Rice is the seed of the grass species oryza sativa (asian rice) or less commonly oryza glaberrima (african rice). the name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera zizania and porteresia, both wild and domesticated, although the term may also be used for primitive or uncultivated varieties of oryza. as a cereal grain, domesticated rice is the most widely consumed staple food for over half of the world's human population, especially in asia and africa. it is the agricultural commodity with the third-highest worldwide production, after sugarcane and maize. since sizable portions of sugarcane and maize crops are used for purposes other than human consumption, rice is the most important food crop with regard to human nutrition and caloric intake, providing more than one-fifth of the calories consumed worldwide by humans. there are many varieties of rice and culinary preferences tend to vary regionally. the traditional method for cultivating rice is flooding the fields while, or after, setting the young seedlings. this simple method requires sound irrigation planning but reduces the growth of less robust weed and pest plants that have no submerged growth state, and deters vermin. while flooding is not mandatory for the cultivation of rice, all other methods of irrigation require higher effort in weed and pest control during growth periods and a different approach for fertilizing the soil. rice, a monocot, is normally grown as an annual plant, although in tropical areas it can survive as a perennial and can produce a ratoon crop for up to 30 years. rice cultivation is well-suited to countries and regions with low labor costs and high rainfall, as it is labor-intensive to cultivate and requires ample water. however, rice can be grown practically anywhere, even on a steep hill or mountain area with the use of water-controlling terrace systems. although its parent species are native to asia and certain parts of africa, centuries of trade and exportation have made it commonplace in many cultures worldwide. production and consumption of rice is estimated to have been responsible for 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2010.

Main

Marou and lham

Rice with meat such as camel

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Merguez

Merguez (, from kabyle: amergaz, lit. 'like man' am argaz) is a red, spicy mutton- or beef-based fresh sausage in maghrebi cuisine. since the late 20th century, it has been popular in france and great britain due to the large algerian populations.merguez is a sausage made with uncooked lamb, beef, or a mixture stuffed into a lamb-intestine casing. it is heavily spiced with cumin and chili pepper or harissa, which give it its characteristic piquancy and red color, as well as other spices such as sumac, fennel and garlic. merguez is usually eaten grilled. while not in traditional maghrebi couscous, it is often used in couscous royal in france. it is also eaten in sandwiches and with french fries.

Drink

Milk

Milk is a nutrient-rich liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. it is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. immune factors and immune-modulating components in milk contribute to milk immunity. early-lactation milk, which is called colostrum, contains antibodies that strengthen the immune system, and thus reduces the risk of many diseases. milk contains many nutrients, including protein and lactose.the us cdc recommends that children over the age of 12 months should have two servings of dairy milk products a day.as an agricultural product, dairy milk is collected from farm animals. in 2011, dairy farms produced around 730 million tonnes (800 million short tons) of milk from 260 million dairy cows. india is the world's largest producer of milk and the leading exporter of skimmed milk powder, but it exports few other milk products. because there is an ever-increasing demand for dairy products within india, it could eventually become a net importer of dairy products. new zealand, germany and the netherlands are the largest exporters of milk products.more than six billion people worldwide consume milk and milk products, and between 750 and 900 million people live in dairy-farming households.

Main

Mreifisa

Stewed meat with pieces of laftir flatbread, made with camel, lamb, goat

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Peanuts

The peanut (arachis hypogaea) also known as the groundnut, goober (us), pindar (us) or monkey nut (uk), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. it is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, being important to both small and large commercial producers. it is classified as both a grain legume and, due to its high oil content, an oil crop. world annual production of shelled peanuts was 44 million tonnes in 2016, led by china with 38% of the world total. atypically among legume crop plants, peanut pods develop underground (geocarpy) rather than above ground. with this characteristic in mind, the botanist carl linnaeus gave peanuts the specific epithet hypogaea, which means "under the earth". the peanut belongs to the botanical family fabaceae (or leguminosae), commonly known as the legume, bean, or pea family. like most other legumes, peanuts harbor symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria in root nodules. the capacity to fix nitrogen means peanuts require less nitrogen-containing fertilizer and improve soil fertility, making them valuable in crop rotations. peanuts are similar in taste and nutritional profile to tree nuts such as walnuts and almonds, and, as a culinary nut, are often served in similar ways in western cuisines. the botanical definition of a nut is "a fruit whose ovary wall becomes hard at maturity". using this criterion, the peanut is not a nut. however, peanuts are usually categorized as nuts for culinary purposes and in common english more generally.

Dessert, Sweet

Qurabiya

Qurabiya (also ghraybe, ghorayeba, ghoriba (arabic: غريبة), ghribia, ghraïba, or ghriyyaba and numerous other spellings and pronunciations) is a shortbread-type biscuit, usually made with ground almonds. versions are found in most countries of the arab world, with various different forms and recipes.in the maghreb and egypt, it is often served with libyan tea, arabic coffee or maghrebi mint tea. ghoriba has been around in the greater syria area, iraq and other arab countries since ancient times. they are similar to polvorones from andalusia.

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Seafood

Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. shellfish include various species of molluscs (e.g. bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters and mussels, and cephalopods such as octopus and squid), crustaceans (e.g. shrimp, crabs, and lobster), and echinoderms (e.g. sea cucumbers and sea urchins). historically, marine mammals such as cetaceans (whales and dolphins) as well as seals have been eaten as food, though that happens to a lesser extent in modern times. edible sea plants such as some seaweeds and microalgae are widely eaten as sea vegetables around the world, especially in asia. seafood is an important source of (animal) protein in many diets around the world, especially in coastal areas. semi-vegetarians who consume seafood as the only source of meat are said to adhere to pescetarianism. the harvesting of wild seafood is usually known as fishing or hunting, while the cultivation and farming of seafood is known as aquaculture and fish farming (in the case of fish). most of the seafood harvest is consumed by humans, but a significant proportion is used as fish food to farm other fish or rear farm animals. some seafoods (i.e. kelp) are used as food for other plants (a fertilizer). in these ways, seafoods are used to produce further food for human consumption. also, products such as fish oil and spirulina tablets are extracted from seafoods. some seafood is fed to aquarium fish, or used to feed domestic pets such as cats. a small proportion is used in medicine, or is used industrially for nonfood purposes (e.g. leather).

Drink

Tea

Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub native to china, india and other east asian countries. tea is also rarely made from the leaves of camellia taliensis. after water, it is the most widely consumed drink in the world. there are many different types of tea; some have a cooling, slightly bitter, and astringent flavour, while others have vastly different profiles that include sweet, nutty, floral, or grassy notes. tea has a stimulating effect in humans primarily due to its caffeine content.tea plants are native to east asia and probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern china and northern burma. an early credible record of tea drinking dates to the third century ad, in a medical text written by hua tuo. it was popularised as a recreational drink during the chinese tang dynasty, and tea drinking subsequently spread to other east asian countries. portuguese priests and merchants introduced it to europe during the 16th century. during the 17th century, drinking tea became fashionable among the english, who started to plant tea on a large scale in india. the term herbal tea refers to drinks not made from camellia sinensis. they are the infusions of fruit, leaves, or other plant parts, such as steeps of rosehip, chamomile, or rooibos. these may be called tisanes or herbal infusions to prevent confusion with tea made from the tea plant.

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Tichtar

Sun-dried camel meat

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Tidkit

Sun-dried meat such as camel that is cooked/reconstituted in water with fat

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Tomatoes

The tomato is the edible berry of the plant solanum lycopersicum, commonly known as the tomato plant. the species originated in western south america, mexico, and central america. the mexican nahuatl word tomatl gave rise to the spanish word tomate, from which the english word tomato derived. its domestication and use as a cultivated food may have originated with the indigenous peoples of mexico. the aztecs used tomatoes in their cooking at the time of the spanish conquest of the aztec empire, and after the spanish encountered the tomato for the first time after their contact with the aztecs, they brought the plant to europe, in a widespread transfer of plants known as the columbian exchange. from there, the tomato was introduced to other parts of the european-colonized world during the 16th century.tomatoes are a significant source of umami flavor. they are consumed in diverse ways: raw or cooked, and in many dishes, sauces, salads, and drinks. while tomatoes are fruits—botanically classified as berries—they are commonly used culinarily as a vegetable ingredient or side dish.numerous varieties of the tomato plant are widely grown in temperate climates across the world, with greenhouses allowing for the production of tomatoes throughout all seasons of the year. tomato plants typically grow to 1–3 meters (3–10 ft) in height. they are vines that have a weak stem that sprawls and typically needs support. indeterminate tomato plants are perennials in their native habitat, but are cultivated as annuals. (determinate, or bush, plants are annuals that stop growing at a certain height and produce a crop all at once.) the size of the tomato varies according to the cultivar, with a range of 1–10 cm (1⁄2–4 in) in width.

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Wadak

Purified camel fat, used to flavor dishes

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