Fertile Crescent cuisine refers to the shared cooking traditions of the Levant, Mesopotamia, and the surrounding Middle Eastern region, where wheat, barley, and legumes such as chickpeas, lentils, and fava beans were first domesticated. These staples still underpin the region's breads, porridges, pilafs, soups, and dips.
The cuisine draws on Mediterranean-climate produce (olives, dates, pomegranates, eggplant, leafy greens) and spices such as cumin, coriander, and cinnamon, with lamb, goat, and poultry as the primary meats in dishes like kebabs, shawarma, and stuffed vegetables (dolma). Slow-simmered stews (khoresht in Persian cooking, yakhni in the Levant) and live-fire grilling (shish kebab, mansaf) are signature techniques, alongside dairy staples like yogurt, cheese, and labneh (strained yogurt). Its ingredients and techniques have shaped Mediterranean, Central Asian, and North African cooking more broadly.