Fatteh ( meaning ''crushed'' or ''crumbs'', also romanized as ''fette'', ''fetté'', ''fatta'' or ''fattah'')Patai, 1998, p. 98. is a dish eaten in the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

consisting of pieces of fresh, toasted, grilled, or fried

flatbread A flatbread is bread made usually with flour; water, milk, yogurt, or other liquid; and salt, and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are Unleavened bread, unleavened, although some are leavened, such as pita bread. A Se ...

covered with other ingredients that vary according to region. It is also some times referred to as shâmiyât ( "Damascene")Wright, 2003, p. 117. in the

area.

Geographical distribution

Fatteh is an ancient dish found in the

Mashriq The Mashriq (; ), also known as the Arab Mashriq (), sometimes spelled Mashreq or Mashrek, is a term used by Arabs to refer to the eastern part of the Arab world, as opposed to the Maghreb (western) region, and located in West Asia and easter ...

region of the

Arab world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

as well as

Regional variations

Fattah at Felfela Restaurant - Cairo Egypt October 2009

Fetté dishes include a wide variety of regional and local variations, some of which also have their own distinct names. * Egypt:

ians prepare a dish called "fatta" as a feast meal. It is prepared on special occasions, such as to celebrate a woman's first pregnancy or for

Eid al-Fitr Eid al-Fitr () is the first of the two main Islamic holidays, festivals in Islam, the other being Eid al-Adha. It falls on the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims worldwide becaus ...

and

Eid al-Adha Eid al-Adha () is the second of the two main festivals in Islam alongside Eid al-Fitr. It falls on the 10th of Dhu al-Hijja, the twelfth and final month of the Islamic calendar. Celebrations and observances are generally carried forward to the ...

. It is made with a garlic and vinegar flavored meat soup and crispy flatbread served in a bowl with rice and a sauce consisting of garlic tomato sauce. * Hummus Fatteh with lamb Meat and Spiced Chickpeas

Hummus Fatteh with lamb Meat and Spiced Chickpeas

Syria: The Levantine "fetté", eaten in breakfasts as well as in the evenings, always starts with a stack of khubz bread, topped by

strained yogurt Strained yogurt, Greek or Greek-style yogurt, yogurt cheese, sack yogurt, kerned yogurt or labneh is yogurt that has been strained to remove most of its whey, resulting in a thicker consistency than normal unstrained yogurt, while still preser ...

, steamed

chickpeas The chickpea or chick pea (''Cicer arietinum'') is an annual legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae, cultivated for its edible seeds. Its different types are variously known as gram," Bengal gram, garbanzo, garbanzo bean, or Egypt ...

and

olive oil Olive oil is a vegetable oil obtained by pressing whole olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea'', a traditional Tree fruit, tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin) and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking for frying foods, as a cond ...

that are crushed and mixed together. In the next step, a teaspoon of

cumin Cumin (, ; ; ''Cuminum cyminum'') is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native to the Irano-Turanian Region. Its seeds – each one contained within a fruit, which is dried – are used in the cuisines of many cultures in both whole ...

is almost always poured into the mixture. After that, virtually anything can be added to the bowl. Some fettés are made of

eggplant Eggplant (American English, US, Canadian English, CA, Australian English, AU, Philippine English, PH), aubergine (British English, UK, Hiberno English, IE, New Zealand English, NZ), brinjal (Indian English, IN, Singapore English, SG, Malays ...

s and

julienned Julienne, , or French cut, is a culinary knife cut in which the food item is cut into long thin strips, similar to matchsticks. Common items to be julienned are carrots for , celery for , potatoes for julienne fries, or cucumbers for . Trimm ...

carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in colour, though heirloom variants including purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild ...

s topped with grilled

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

and

pine nuts Pine nuts, also called piñón (), pinoli (), or pignoli, are the edible seeds of pines (family Pinaceae, genus ''Pinus''). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, only 29 species provide edible nuts, while 20 are traded locall ...

while some contain lamb

shanks Shanks may refer to: People with the surname * Alison Shanks (born 1982), New Zealand professional racing cyclist * Bill Shanks, American sports broadcaster and writer * Bruce Shanks (1908–1980), American editorial cartoonist * Charles G. ...

, different spices and

yogurt Yogurt (; , from , ; also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial Fermentation (food), fermentation of milk. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to ...

. The ''

fattoush Fattoush (; also fattush, fatush, fattoosh, and fattouche) is a Levantine salad made from toasted or fried pieces of khubz (Arabic flat bread) combined with mixed greens and other vegetables, such as radishes, cucumber and tomatoes.Wright, 2003p ...

'' is a

salad A salad is a dish consisting of mixed ingredients, frequently vegetables. They are typically served chilled or at room temperature, though some can be served warm. Condiments called '' salad dressings'', which exist in a variety of flavors, a ...

made with toasted pieces of

pita bread Pita ( or ; ) or pitta (British English), also known as Arabic bread (, ), as Lebanese bread and as kmaj (from the Persian ''kumaj''), is a family of yeast- leavened round flatbreads baked from wheat flour, common in the Mediterranean, Levant ...

that technically also falls into the family of "shâmiyât"..There is Fatteh with oil, Fatteh with ghee, Fatteh with yogurt, and other types of Fatteh that are famous in different regions of Syria. Fatteh with oil is a type of Fatteh known in Syria. It is prepared by cutting toasted or dried bread and placing it in a deep glass bowl. Add previously boiled chickpeas (it must be hot) with a little salt. Stir the mixture a little and add the special Fatteh mixture (made up of khatta, lemon, and oil) and garnish with pine nuts. There are many types of Fatteh in Syria, including: Fatteh with maqadam, Fatteh with Arabic ghee, Fatteh with yogurt, and Fatteh with bananas. Damascus is famous for its many types of Syrian Fatteh, which are rich in ingredients and delicious taste. * Palestine: "Fetté gazzewié" from Gaza is served as plain rice cooked in meat or chicken broth and then flavored with mild spices, particularly cinnamon. The rice is then laid over a thin markook bread which is in turn smothered in

clarified butter Clarified butter is butter from which all milk solids have been removed. The result is a clear, yellow butter that can be heated to higher temperatures before burning. Typically, it is produced by melting butter and allowing the components to ...

and topped with various meats.The Foods of Gaza
Laila el-Haddad. ''This Week in Palestine''. June 2006.

Musakhan Musakhan (), also known as muhammar (), is a Palestinian cuisine, Palestinian dish composed of Roast chicken, roasted chicken baked with onions, sumac, allspice, saffron, and fried pine nuts served over taboon bread. Originating in the Tulkarm ...

is also a fetté dish.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Cuisine of Lebanon Arab cuisine Lebanese cuisine Syrian cuisine Egyptian cuisine Jordanian cuisine Palestinian cuisine Ancient dishes

Geographical distribution

Regional variations

See also

References

Bibliography