Tharid ( ar, ثريد, also known as ''trid'', ''taghrib'', ''tashreeb'' or ''thareed'') is a bread soup from

Arab cuisine Arab cuisine ( ar, المطبخ العربي) is the cuisine of the Arabs, defined as the various regional cuisines spanning the Arab world, from the Maghreb to the Fertile Crescent and the Arabian Peninsula. These cuisines are centuries old an ...

found in many Arab countries. Like other bread soups, it a simple meal of broth and bread in this instance crumbled

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

moistened with broth or stew. Historically, the flatbread used was probably stale and unleavened. As an Arab

national dish A national dish is a culinary dish that is strongly associated with a particular country. A dish can be considered a national dish for a variety of reasons: * It is a staple food, made from a selection of locally available foodstuffs that can be ...

it is considered strongly evocative of Arab identity during the lifetime of the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monot ...

. According to a widespread legend, this unremarkable and humble dish was the prophet's favorite food. It is especially consumed in the holy month of Ramadan.

Origin

The dish belongs to Arabian cultures. The dish is notable in that it was mentioned in a number of

hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...

attributed to the Islamic prophet

, in which he said that tharid was the best among all dishes, and that it was superior to other dishes in the way that Aishah was superior to other women.

Spread

Tharid is not only widespread in the Arabian Peninsula, but also in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...

, where it is known as ''trid''; Turkey, where it is known as ''tirit''; and even in

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

, where it is known as ''terit''. Multiple variations of the recipe were brought to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

by the

Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct o ...

. The Moroccan rfissa is created by layering cooked meat between paper-thin layers of pastry dough ( warqa). In Syria, a similar dish named fatteh is made by a mix of roasted and minced

with

yogurt Yogurt (; , from tr, yoğurt, also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as ''yogurt cultures''. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bact ...

and cooked meat. In

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, tharid is known via

Malay cuisine Malay cuisine is the traditional food of the ethnic Malays of Southeast Asia, residing in modern-day Malaysia, Indonesia (parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan), Singapore, Brunei, Southern Thailand and the Philippines (mostly southern) as well a ...

, due to

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...

influences on Malay culinary culture.

Consumption

Dipping the bread into the broth, and eating it with the meat is the simplest method of eating tharid. Another variation involves stacking the bread and the meat in several layers.

Gallery

File:LambTharid1.jpg, Lamb tharid, dry. File:LambTharid2.jpg, Lamb tharid soup.

References

Notes