The French word hor d’oeuvres seems to fit the variety of Middle Eastern foods that are presented prior to a main meal or served on round platters or trays at parties, Sabbath meals and festive occasions.

These individual 2-3 bite hor d'oeurves are made with semolina dough, phyllo dough or prepared doughs. Some are vegetarian, others are meat flavored with succulent tamarind. Some are fried, others are baked. These foods are prepared in large quantities and frozen for use as needed.

As Middle Eastern immigrants became acclimated to the climate and their surroundings in America, many of their daughters did not have the patience to learn to prepare more difficult recipes like Kibbe Nebelsiah and lahamagene, the most popular and the most difficult to prepare. Those that took the time to learn the subtleties of Syrian cooking, particularly of Kibbe, became the shining stars. In our app, we have provided videos to demonstrate many of the steps to preparing these delicious and wonderful foods.