Contents
Traditional Foods and Customs
- Countries of the Middle East – a link to a list of 11 countries. Each section describes the staple foods, meal patterns, cooking techniques, and food-related customs and traditions.
- Dietary law: Rules And Customs In World Religions
Health and Disease
- The Middle Eastern Health Inequality Paradox and the Gender Obesity Gap (2018)
- ALNohair, S. (2014) Obesity in Gulf Countries. International Journal of Health Science, 8(1), 79–83.
Social, Political, and/or Historical Context
- US Halal Food Regulations: Are you up to Speed?
- Why is Our Thanksgiving bird called a Turkey?
- Why do we eat Turkey at Thanksgiving? – The Endless Knot, youtube, October 2016
- Cultural and Religion Information Sheets for the following religions: Baha’i, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Jewish, Sikhism (*Great resource for cultural competence)
- Patterns of Food Consumption in Early Modern Iran
- The Hummus Wars Revisited: Israeli-Arab Food Politics and Gastromediation
- Cvetan D. (2020). Middle East Meets Middle America. Food Technology Magazine.
Recipes
Eggplant and Herb Pickle (Torsh-e Liteh) (Iran)
Ful Medames (Stewed Fava Beans) (Egypt)
Grape Leaves Stuffed with Pine Nuts and Spiced Rice (Egypt)
H’riss (Spiced Chicken and Wheat Porridge)
Man’oushé bil Za’atar (Flatbread with Za’atar) (Lebanon)
Middle Eastern Spinach with Spices and Yogurt
Muhammara (Red Pepper and Walnut Spread)
Pomegranate & Walnut Khoresh (Persian)

Kate Gardner Burt, PhD, RD is an assistant professor at Lehman College and a registered dietitian and culinary nutritionist. She teaches courses in community and public health nutrition and cultural food and sustainability. Dr. Burt’s research broadly aims to reduce racial and ethnic inequities in community food systems in the Bronx and NYC as a whole. She does this by exploring strategies to strengthen efforts to grow food locally and improve community cohesion and social connectedness to build a more just food system. She also aims to reduce inequities in food systems by increasing opportunities for low-income people of color to excel in dietetics and food-focused careers. She takes a mixed methods, community-based approach to research and currently works with several New York City based non-profit organizations. Dr. Burt received her BS in film and television from Boston University and her MS in exercise physiology and nutrition, RD and PhD in food and nutrition policy from Teachers College, Columbia University. Her first cookbook was published in 2015 by Sterling Publishers, a subsidiary of Barnes and Noble.
