Levantine/Eastern Mediterranean cuisine growing in popularity

Turlock, CA – Interest in Eastern Mediterranean ingredients such as chickpeas, peppers, eggplant, mint, lemon and yogurt, is on the rise, according to a white paper by herb producer SupHerb Farms and research firm Technomic.

Many of these ingredients are commonly found in North America and used in “mezze,” which are small plates served at the beginning of multicourse meals, the paper suggests. 

The paper predicts consumer interest in and trial of Levantine cuisine will grow in the future, reporting that 35 per cent of consumer surveyed would like more restaurants to offer Levantine dishes, 27 per cent have tried it and liked and 44 per cent haven’t tried it but would like to.

However, just under a quarter of people polled understood the differences between the various countries’ fare within the Levant region. Those countries are Turkey, Cyprus, Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Isreal.

The paper may be found here.