Jump to content

Rummaniyeh

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rummaniyyeh
Alternative namesRummaniyya,[1] Rummaneyye[2]
Region or stateArab world
Main ingredientsPomegranate juice
  •   Media: Rummaniyyeh

Rummaniyeh (Arabic: رمّانية) is an Arab dish made from lentils and pomegranate juice. Its origins date back to at least the 10th century.[3][4]

Etymology

[edit]
Look up رمانية in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Rummān (رمّان) means pomegranate in Arabic. The word rummaniyeh (also spelled rummaniyya) translates to "pomegranatey".[5][1]

History

[edit]
Rumania, from page 77 of Tacuinum sanitatis, written in 1533

During the Abbasid caliphate, many fruits and vegetables were used to sour stews and soups. Dishes soured with rumman (pomegranate) were called rummaniyyat or sometimes narbajat.[4]

Rummaniya appeared alongside sumāqiyya in several European cookbooks between the 13th and 15th centuries, where its name was romanized as romania.[6] They both appeared in the Tacuinum Sanitatis, a translation of a medicinal textbook of 11th-century Abbasid physician Ibn Butlan, as they were believed to have medicinal properties.[7]

Rummaniyyeh also appeared in Ottoman Turkish translations of Arabic cookbooks, such as Kitâb-ı Me’kûlât [tr] and works by Ottoman author Mahmud ibn Məhəmməd Şirvani [tr].[8][9]

Rummaniyeh was a popular dish among Palestinians in the coastal area in cities like Jaffa, Ramla, and Lod. The 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight popularized the dish in refugee communities in the Gaza Strip.[10][5][11] During the Gaza war, pomegranate juice was replaced with sumac after the pomegranate trees in the strip were destroyed.[12][13][14]

Modern day

[edit]

Rummaniyeh is a staple dish in Palestinian cuisine, where it is made as a stew of lentils, tahini, eggplants, pomegranate juice and pomegranate molasses, which is topped with parsley and pomegranate seeds and is eaten is as or with bread.[5][12][1][10] In the Gaza strip, it is cooked in large communal pots and distributed to family members and neighbors.[15] The Gazan version also adds red tahini (made with roasted sesame seeds) and dill seeds.[16][17]

Some Aleppan variations of kibbeh are made into a rummaniyeh with pomegrante juice.[18][19]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Tamimi, Sami; Wigley, Tara (26 March 2020). Falastin: A Cookbook. Ebury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4735-5775-8. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  2. ^ "Rummaneyye | Traditional Vegetable Dish From Gaza Strip | TasteAtlas". Taste Atlas. Retrieved 2 November 2025.
  3. ^ Newman, Daniel (2021-09-26). "Pomegranate stew (rummaniyya, رمّانية)". Eat Like A Sultan. Retrieved 2025-10-05.
  4. ^ a b Nasrallah, Nawal (2013). Delights from the Garden of Eden: A Cookbook and History of the Iraqi Cuisine. Equinox Pub. pp. 229, 343, 371. ISBN 978-1-84553-457-8. Retrieved 1 October 2025.
  5. ^ a b c Kalla, Joudie (2 February 2017). "A Palestinian recipe for pomegranate, lentil and aubergine stew". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  6. ^ Nasrallah, Nawal (31 December 2007). "CHAPTER 68". Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens: Ibn Sayyār al-Warrāq's Tenth-Century Baghdadi Cookbook. BRILL. pp. 28, 29, 299, 300. ISBN 978-90-474-2305-8. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
  7. ^ Mendelsohn, Loren (1 November 2013). "The Tacuinum Sanitatis: A Medieval Health Manual". Publications and Research. City University of New York. pp. 80, 86. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
  8. ^ Kut, Günay; Gülsev Koç, Hüsniye (1 Mar 2020). Kitâb-ı Me’külat: Bilinmeyen Bir Osmanlı Yemek Kitabı (PDF). İletişim Yayınları. ISBN 978-975-05-2864-4. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  9. ^ Altun, Nesrin. Kitāb-ı Me'kulāt (Yiyecekler Kitabı). pp. 39, 169. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  10. ^ a b Datian, Christine Vartanian (28 March 2024). "Recipe Corner: Wafa Shami's Rummaniyeh Lentil Eggplant Stew". The Armenian Mirror-Spectator. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  11. ^ "الفنانة الفلسطينية ميرنا بامية وتخمير العاصفة" [Palestinian artist Mirna Bamieh and the brewing storm]. The New Arab. 16 Sep 2025. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  12. ^ a b El-Haddad, Laila (25 March 2025). "'This Is the War Version': How Gazans Are Observing Ramadan This Year". Eater. Retrieved 15 October 2025.
  13. ^ Alaqad, Plestia (5 August 2025). "As I sit here in Australia watching Israel starve Palestinians to death, I can't help but think it could have been me". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 October 2025.
  14. ^ "NO TRACES OF LIFE". Forensic Architecture. Retrieved 15 October 2025.
  15. ^ Daqqaq, Salam (26 July 2023). "Salam Daqqaq Shares Her Recipe for Rummaniyeh". Savoir Flair. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  16. ^ El-Haddad, Laila M.; Schmitt, Maggie (2016). The Gaza kitchen: a Palestinian culinary journey (Second ed.). Charlottesville, Virginia: Just World Books. ISBN 978-1-68257-008-1. Retrieved 1 Nov 2025.
  17. ^ "Opinion | In Palestine, Food Is a Way to Survive, Resist, and Come Together | Common Dreams". Common Dreams. 12 Sep 2025. Retrieved 1 November 2025.
  18. ^ "تعرف على أنواع الكبة الحلبية" [Learn about the different types of Aleppo kibbeh]. Asharq Al-Awsat (in Arabic). 25 Nov 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  19. ^ "كبة رمانية" [Kibbeh Rummaniyeh]. Laha Magazine (in Arabic). 11 Jun 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
Stub icon

This Arab cuisine–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rummaniyeh&oldid=1322627129"