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I would like to share with you two websites that shed a lot of light on our heritage. The links can be found in the golden column to the right. They are the results of dedicated efforts by academics throughout the world. Kindly visit the about us and credits sections of the sites to learn more about their contributions and about other projects.
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Sit in, take out, or catering, you can always count on Layla's for great vegetarian dishes and Middle Eastern specialties. ©2004 Layla's Falafel |
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The region of the Middle East
whose population share our
heritage is known as the Levant. The Levant geographically covers southern Turkey,
Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Israel. It can be
described as a narrow coastal plain averaging 8 miles in width and
parallel to a series of mountains extending from southern turkey to
southern Palestine and reaching heights of 12,000 feet in Lebanon.
The landscape, from the narrow coast
to the mountains is dominated by villages, large and small, that rely on
agriculture and raising live stock for their livelihood. The coast is
where you can find the majority of the cities and towns that were build
around ancient seaports.
The Vegetarian dishes dominate the
village tables while stews dominate the tables in the cities and towns.
Still, even stews come in two version, meat and vegetarian, providing
many cooking options.
The
population loves to enjoy their
food and prefer a large variety at the table; it is what is called the
meza and is the preferred way of presenting the food at gatherings of
families or friends. The meza is a selection of dishes such as
salads, dips, meat on skewers, falafel, garnishments such as pickles,
variety of cheeses and fruits, enjoyed slowly and with lots of conversation.
Selections from Layla's menu can
recreate most meza combinations available in the Middle east.