Maqluba
Dish served throughout the Levant
title: "Maqluba" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["arab-cuisine", "jordanian-cuisine", "palestinian-cuisine", "iraqi-cuisine", "levantine-cuisine", "lebanese-cuisine", "mediterranean-cuisine", "israeli-cuisine", "syrian-cuisine", "emirati-cuisine", "rice-dishes", "shabbat-food", "christmas-food", "easter-food"] description: "Dish served throughout the Levant" topic_path: "geography/israel" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maqluba" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Dish served throughout the Levant ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox prepared food"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Maqluba |
| image | File:Makluba.JPG |
| alternate_name | Maaluba, maqlouba, maqlooba, maqloubeh, makluba, maklouba, makloubeh, magluba, maglouba |
| country | Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Israel, Iraq |
| region | Levant, Mesopotamia |
| associated_cuisine | Levantine (Jordanian, Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian), Iraqi |
| course | Meal |
| served | Hot |
| main_ingredient | Meat, rice, and vegetables (tomato, cauliflower, potato, eggplant) |
| :: |
::callout[type=note] the Levantine dish ::
| name = Maqluba | image = File:Makluba.JPG | caption = | alternate_name = Maaluba, maqlouba, maqlooba, maqloubeh, makluba, maklouba, makloubeh, magluba, maglouba | country = Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Israel, Iraq | region = Levant, Mesopotamia | associated_cuisine = Levantine (Jordanian, Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian), Iraqi | creator = | course = Meal | served = Hot | main_ingredient = Meat, rice, and vegetables (tomato, cauliflower, potato, eggplant) | variations = | calories = | other =
Maqluba (also attested by a variety of other spellings in English; ) is a traditional Levantine dish, a variety of Pilaf that is popular across Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Iraq. It consists of meat, rice, and fried vegetables placed in a pot which is flipped upside down when served, hence the name.
The earliest mention of the dish is found in a 13th-century cookbook, Kitāb al-Ṭabīkh (The Book of Dishes), written by Muhammad Baghdadi during the Abbasid Caliphate.
Ingredients
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Maqluba1.jpg" caption="Maqluba showing layers"] ::
Maqluba can include various vegetables, such as fried tomatoes, potatoes, cauliflower, and eggplant, accompanied by either chicken or lamb. The most common are cauliflower and eggplant. All the ingredients are carefully placed in the pot in layers, so that when the pot is inverted for serving, the dish looks like a layer cake. Coastal cities often use fish in place of the meat.
Maqluba is typically garnished with pine nuts and chopped fresh parsley. It is sometimes served with salad and fresh yogurt, and is often prepared for feasts and large gatherings.
Politics
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/پخت_مقلوبه_و_برگرداندن_قابلمه_آن_توسط_زنان_کرمانی_با_پیام_سرنگونی_و_متلاشی_شدن_اسرائیل،_گلزار_شهدای_کرمان،۲۹_اردیبهشت_۱۴۰۰(05).jpg" caption="''Maqluba'' about to be flipped at a pro-Palestine protest in Iran, 2021."] ::
The dish has been a matter of controversy in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, with Palestinians describing attempts to label the dish as Israeli as amounting to cultural appropriation. The dish has been used by Palestinian activists to mobilize people to join protests at Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem; in 2017, Israeli police arrested a Palestinian woman who had organized a maqluba eating gathering at Al-Aqsa.
Maqluba has been used as a pro-Palestine symbol in protests in countries like Iran and the United Kingdom.
Since the unsuccessful coup attempt in Turkey in 2016, which involved the Gülen movement, the dish has been seen as a "Gulenist delicacy" and eating or preparing it has been considered by some as evidence of membership of the movement.
References
References
- (September 24, 2012). "Shrewd Food: A New Way of Shopping, Cooking and Eating". Hachette Books Ireland.
- Shaheen. (29 January 2020). "Maqluba--The Paella of Palestine".
- Behnke, Alison. (2005). "Cooking the Middle Eastern way". Lerner Publications Co.
- Bidoun. "Cooking with Maha Alusi".
- (2009). "Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life". Gale.
- Ottolenghi, Yotam. (2015). "Jerusalem on a Plate". University of California Press.
- Elizabeth Carty. (24 September 2012). "Shrewd Food: A New Way of Shopping, Cooking and Eating". Hachette Books Ireland.
- Swift, Robert. (2016-03-07). "Maqluba - Eating Upside Down".
- (18 April 2021). "Ramadan recipe: maqluba – upside-down lamb, aubergine and rice". The National.
- "Cooks.com - Recipe - Maqluba (Cauliflower with rice)".
- (5 January 2017). "A Middle Eastern Layer Cake for Dinner". The New York Times.
- (6 December 2015). "Eucalyptus offers food from the Bible". [[Jerusalem Post]].
- (27 October 2025). "اختراع ''الأبد''... حسن نصر الله مثالاً". [[Raseef22]].
- (3 Aug 2019). ""المقلوبة" الفلسطينية.. أكلة تاريخية عابرة للحدود". Al-Jazeera.
- (2013-07-21). "Maqlooba (Maqluba), Palestinian Upside Down Rice Recipe".
- (1 December 2020). "On the Settler Colonial Elimination of Palestine Get access Arrow". Cornell University Press.
- Alhelou, Yousef. (4 November 2018). "Israel's appropriation of Palestinian food". The Arab Weekly.
- (11 January 2018). "Palestinian national dish fuels Al-Aqsa protests". Almonitor.
- (18 May 2024). "Al-arab In UK {{!}} Palestinian Maqluba Served at London University...".
- Gauthier-Villars, David. (2018-04-17). "U.S. Pastor Held in Turkey Denies Links to Terrorists". Wall Street Journal.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::