The Middle East, that is, the west of Asia, belongs to West Asia and enjoys a superior geographical position. It is located in the land of five seas and three continents, close to the Persian Gulf and the Suez Canal. The Middle East refers to some areas from the southern Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf coast, including most parts of West Asia except Afghanistan, Egypt in Africa and Transcaucasia on the Russian border. About 23 countries and regions, 65.438+0.5 million square kilometers, 490 million people.
The main rivers are Euphrates and Nile. Geographically, the Middle East connects Asia, Europe and Africa. Connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean, it has been a transportation hub between East and West since ancient times. As a land of "two oceans, three continents and five seas", its strategic position is extremely important. In order to compete for scarce fresh water resources and valuable oil resources, at the same time, due to religious and cultural differences, the situation has been turbulent all the year round since World War II.
traditional culture
The Middle East, represented by Arab cuisine, has spread to other countries, so from the perspective of the whole Middle East, the tastes of dishes are very similar. Even within a country, there will be no different dishes in different regions.
Well-known dishes include oil-soaked okra, oil-soaked green beans, oil-soaked tomatoes and European zucchini. Middle easterners like to cook food with olive oil. Because Lebanese cuisine advocates natural health, Middle Easterners not only use a lot of olive oil in their dishes, but also use fresh lemon juice and garlic as seasonings. Almost all dishes are cooked on this basis.
In the choice of cooking methods, Lebanon and even the whole Middle East like to cook with smokeless barbecue. They think that this way can not only taste the meat, but also cause excessive pollution to the environment.
Reference to the above content: Baidu Encyclopedia-Middle East