Street food is food that is prepared, sold and eaten on the street. Street food is not expensive, yet it is extremely tasty and usually hearty. A hamburger, a slice of pizza, various sandwiches, Belgian fries. Everything you can pick up and start eating right away. That’s all street food.
Guss is the Iraqi variant of the dish known as shawarma or döner kebab. The foundation is beef or lamb alternated with layers of mutton fat. Iraqis serve this delicacy in a traditional diamond-shaped bread called samoon. Guss is necessarily complemented by the spicy mango sauce amba, pickled vegetables, and fresh parsley.
Bagilla is an Iraqi street food made from slowly boiled fava beans, traditionally served with a generous layer of sour sumac spice. This specialty, with roots reaching back to ancient Mesopotamia, is created by boiling dried legumes for several hours in giant cauldrons right on the city streets. The Iraqi version stands out for its brilliant simplicity and emphasis on the pure taste of the beans and sumac.
Kubba is a fried Iraqi street food consisting of minced meat encased in a crispy bulgur dough. Historically, this dish originated in the Levant as a clever way to utilize scarce meat. In Iraq, you will find two main forms of this dish. The traditional version resembles a pointed ball, while the specialty called Kubba Mosul has the shape of a thin disc. After frying, it is usually sliced into pieces similar to a pizza.
Iskan is a legendary street food street in the heart of Kurdish Erbil. This vibrant corridor comes alive primarily after sunset; locals seek escape from the daily heat and enjoy the bustling atmosphere until dawn. Visitors will find dozens of stalls offering grilled meat, kebabs, and traditional strong tea. Nocturnal Iskan is the true gastronomic heart of the city.
Rumman Hamudh consists of juicy pomegranate seeds sprinkled with salt. For an unprepared European, the salty-sour and simultaneously sweet sensation upon tasting can completely shatter preconceived notions about consuming pomegranates.
Shalgam is an Iraqi delicacy made from turnips slowly simmered in date syrup. It is one of the most famous Iraqi street foods. It is particularly popular during the cold winter months. Stalls offering shalgam almost invariably also offer a dish called bagilla, consisting of boiled fava beans with sumac.
Döner kebab is a traditional Turkish dish made of meat prepared on a vertical rotating spit. Its history dates back to the Ottoman Empire, but the popular street version in bread was made famous by Turkish immigrants in Germany. The foundation is quality chicken or beef layered with fat so that it does not dry out during roasting and remains juicy. You can enjoy it as a dürüm roll in thin lavash, in fluffy round tombik bread, or served on a plate. However, the word kebab generally refers to any grilled meat.
Çiğ köfte is a traditional Turkish dish made from bulgur, tomato and pepper paste, and spices, now prepared exclusively in a vegan version. Originally, however, it contained raw meat. Çiğ köfte is said to have been created as a result of an ancient ban on lighting fires.
Yağ somunu is Turkish bread filled with cheese and optionally other fillings. It is typical of the regional cuisine of the city of Konya. The name means "greasy bread," referring to its preparation with a generous amount of fat spread inside the split flatbread somun. The most common local filling is the moldy cheese Konya küflü.
Tulumba is a sweet dessert made of fried choux pastry that is dipped into cold sugar syrup. Visually, it resembles small golden cylinders with ridges similar to Spanish churros. This delicacy, originally from the Ottoman Empire, is popular today in Turkey, the Balkans, and the Middle East.
