Store

Syrian Diaspora Foodways

Diaspora

⚠ TWO DIASPORAS, A CENTURY APART, AND THEY ARE NOT THE SAME THING. THE FIRST: from the 1870s to the 1920s, emigration from Ottoman Syria — which then included what is now Lebanon — to the AMERICAS, and above all to BRAZIL, where the community is very large and where kibbeh became QUIBE and the sfiha became ESFIHA, both now ordinary Brazilian snack-bar food; to ARGENTINA, where the empanada árabe is the same dish; to Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico — where the taco árabe at Puebla descends from shawarma — Chile, and to the United States. ⚠ THESE PEOPLE LEFT A PROVINCE, NOT A COUNTRY, and were commonly recorded as Turkish, Syrian or "turco" regardless of origin, which is why Arab-Latin American food cannot simply be called Syrian. THE SECOND: since 2011, one of the largest displacements of the century — to TURKEY, LEBANON, JORDAN, Iraq and Egypt, and to GERMANY above all in Europe, plus Sweden, the Netherlands and Canada. Aleppine confectioners and restaurateurs re-established in Gaziantep, Istanbul, Berlin and Beirut, and Syrian food became visible in German and Turkish high streets within a decade.

Atlas — where and when

Communities and languages

  • Syrians abroad community documented

Languages: North Levantine Arabic, Western Armenian

What is recorded

  • Two distinct emigrations are recorded. From the 1870s to the 1920s, emigration from Ottoman Syria to the Americas, with Brazil receiving a very large community where kibbeh became quibe and sfiha became esfiha, both now ordinary Brazilian food; the empanada árabe in Argentina and the taco árabe of Puebla descend from the same movement. Those emigrants left an Ottoman province rather than a country and were commonly recorded as Turkish or Syrian regardless of origin, so Arab-Latin American food cannot be described simply as Syrian. Since 2011 a second displacement has reached Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and Europe, with Germany receiving the largest European share. documented
  • Emigration from Ottoman Syria to the Americas: kibbeh becomes quibe in Brazil, sfiha becomes esfiha and the empanada árabe, and shawarma becomes the taco árabe of Puebla. documented

Related foodways

This foodway relates to

  • migrated to Argentine Cuisine documented

    The empanada árabe is the same dish as the sfiha.

  • migrated to Brazilian Cuisine documented

    ⚠ Kibbeh became quibe and sfiha became esfiha — now ordinary Brazilian snack-bar food. Those emigrants left an Ottoman PROVINCE, not a country, which is why Arab-Latin American food cannot simply be called Syrian.

  • migrated to German Foodways documented

    Germany received the largest European share of the post-2011 displacement.

  • migrated to Mexican Cuisine documented

    The taco árabe of Puebla descends from shawarma brought by Levantine migrants.

Recipes

No recipes are filed under this cuisine yet.