In recent years, breakfast has become a luxury for Iraqis. Economic sanctions imposed by the UN in 1991 devastated the country’s daily food supply. The much-maligned oil-for-food program established in 1995 seemed to create more controversy than relief. The program ended in 2003, the same year Iraq was invaded by a US-led coalition. In 2006, traditional Iraqi breakfasts remain a rarely mentioned casualty of war.
Under Saddam Hussein’s regime, breakfast had already been in jeopardy. During the last five years of his kidney, it was reported that 400,000 Iraqi children under the age of five died of malnutrition and disease. Beyond killing breakfast eaters, the regime was literally killing breakfast. Substantiated stories tell us that Saddam Hussein ordered the felling of millions of date palms in an effort to eradicate snipers during the Iran-Iraq War. As you will see, dates are a very important part of the Iraqi breakfast experience.
In this report, we focus on the Iraqi breakfast as it was before foreign military intervention, as it continues to be when the ingredients are available, and as we hope to make a comeback in the very near future.
Until 1918, Iraq was known as Mesopotamia, which translates to “land between rivers.” The Tigris and Euphrates rivers dissect the country and the Iraqi population is closely concentrated around an agricultural belt along these rivers. Although Iraq receives relatively little rainfall, the soil around the rivers is suitable for growing many important breakfast crops, including wheat, figs, dates, citrus, melons, beans, onions, and various herbs. The arid regions of Iraq are better suited to growing just one important grain, especially during times of drought.
About 10% of Iraq is suitable for cattle grazing. Sheep and goats outnumber cattle, making sheep’s and goat’s milk (and cheeses) more common breakfast choices than its cow-made counterpart. Buffalo milk and cheeses are also popular even though the number of buffalo in Iraq is dwarfed by the cattle mentioned above.
Approximately 95% of the Iraqi population is Muslim. Of them, 54 percent are Shia and 41 percent are Sunni. The main difference between the Shia and Sunni sects is a conflicting belief regarding the rightful heirs of Muslim authority, a conflict that dates back to the early history of the Muslim religion. Despite the known hostility between the groups, they share similar Muslim beliefs, observe the same religious holidays and eat the same breakfasts.
Until recently, a good number of Jews called Iraq home. In fact, nearly a quarter of Baghdad’s population was Jewish during the 19th century. In 1948, the Iraqi Jewish community was estimated at 150,000. But that number has now shrunk to a few hundred. While the average Muslim in Iraq may not be a fan of the Jews, they are discreetly prone to enjoying Jewish-inspired cuisine and this is occasionally reflected at the breakfast table.
Iraqi cuisine is heavily influenced by neighboring countries Turkey and Iran. One meal writes widespread Iraqi meals as “a mix of standard Arab cuisine with Persian influences and Turkish influence to the north.”
Breakfast in Iraq is usually a light meal. Egg dishes are quite common. Breakfast cereals are not.
As in many countries, the main breakfast staple in Iraq is bread. A flatbread known as a khubz and an oval-shaped loaf of bread called a samoon are found individually or together in most meals. At breakfast, the bread is enjoyed with butter, jam, honey, cheese, Libna (yogurt with olive oil), date molasses, sesame paste, and just about everything else available that can be put on the bread or dipped into it. Bread also acts as a key component in most breakfast recipes that are considered uniquely Iraqi.
Gaymer (sometimes found as “Geimer”)
Gaymer is the word for a very creamy, thick white cream made from buffalo milk. A familiar counterpart would be the more well-known clotted cream. The most common use of this cream in Iraq is in a recipe called Gaymer Wa Dibis. In this dish, the pieces of bread are dipped in both gaymer and dibis (the Arabic word for date syrup). Like many Iraqi breakfast favorites, Gaymer Wa Dibis is often enjoyed on communal platters, with fingers the only utensils. Some Iraqis prefer honey to date syrup. Others might add candied apricot to their Gaymer Wa Dibis. There are even variations with yogurt, olives and cheeses that replace the traditional ingredients.
kahhi
A breakfast dish of Babylonian Jewish descent called Kahi is another favorite in Iraq. A relative of baklava, kahi consists of very thin folded layers of phyllo dough that is baked and then soaked in honey or a flavored sugar syrup called sheera (not to be confused with the Indian breakfast porridge of the same name). . Kahi is sometimes eaten with the gaymer cream mentioned above.
In Iraq, it is customary for the mother of a new bride to bring breakfast (usually Kahi) to her new son-in-law’s house the morning after the wedding.
Bigilla
In northern and central Iraq, beans play an important role at breakfast. A traditional bean dish of Maltese descent called bigilla is popular both as a breakfast dish and as a snack.
The main ingredient of bigilla is a special kind of broad bean called “ful ta girba”. The beans are soaked overnight and mixed with olive oil and other ingredients to form a paste or sauce. Bigilla is almost always served with bread. A common breakfast variation is to serve the bigilla on pieces of bread with a fried egg on top.
ramadan breakfast
Muslim Iraqis celebrate Ramadan throughout the ninth month of the Muslim year. During Ramadan, no food or water may be consumed from sunrise to sunset. Muslims believe that fasting strengthens them in their faith and helps them identify with the poor and hungry.
Breakfast during Ramadan is called suhoor and must be eaten before sunrise. Suhur usually consists of grains, seeds, dates, bananas, and other foods that are considered slow to digest, as your next meal can take up to 16 hours.
Other Iraqi Breakfast Favorites
Some other items you can find for breakfast in Iraq include date-stuffed pastries, omelettes and other egg dishes, candied oranges, egg-topped rice, chicken, various soups, bananas, and melons.
Bacon, sausages and ham are very rarely seen in Iraq as God forbids Muslims to eat pork.
The most popular breakfast drinks in Iraq are coffee and tea. Most Iraqis make their coffee thick and bitter and drink it black. Most of the time, the tea is sweetened and served in small glasses. Fruit juices are also popular.
The following Iraqi breakfast recipes are available on Mr Breakfast.com:
– Makhlama bil Sbenagh (Iraqi spinach omelette)
– Sheera (date syrup)
– Gaymer Wa Dibis (Buffalo cream and date syrup)
– Kahi (Breakfast Pastry)
– Bigilla (Breakfast Bean Pasta)
If you ever want to make these Iraqi dishes for a friend, you might want to tell that friend about a great Iraqi custom: It’s not okay to return a neighbor’s plate empty. From sharing breakfast on communal trays to making sure that no good deed at breakfast goes unrewarded, the tradition of breakfast in Iraq should show us that most Iraqis are decent people.
Editorial by Mr Breakfast
Sometimes the Iraqi people may not like us too much. They may see American men as gluttons and American women as whores. But you know what? When I’m in a bad mood, sometimes I see the world that way too. Many Westerners generalize the Iraqi people as the enemy. That’s what you do when you’re dragged into war. But we have to remember that in the end, we’re all just people… we all go to sleep at night and we all get up in the morning. And yet, when we wake up, the first thing our bodies crave isn’t democracy, religious solidarity, or blood…it’s a breakfast…a meal…an important way we can discover that it’s better to learn. about cultures. and possibly even respect them, before we blindly consider them strange or immoral and denounce them. May breakfast unite our nations as it does our families. Amen (same closing for Christian and Muslim prayer, although in Iraq it is often spelled “Aameen” and spoken with a continuous gargling sound after the first syllable).