They are the same as were used in the time of Christ, and referred to in the lunch basket of the lad in Mark 8: 19. This bread is dipped in the liquid in which meat and vegetables have been cooked instead of being buttered. It is a sign of friendship to dip in another's plate. This is referred to in Mark 14: 20. Their use of honey corresponds to our use of sugar. Wild honey was very plentiful in their countries and was used, therefore, in cooking as well as on prepared foods.
Chick peas, or nohond, a product of Greece and Turkey, and fava, pakla, or horse beans, are two of the leguminous plants of high food value.
In Eastern cookery not a single dish is dependent on the extravagant use of expensive and various ingredients which, when counted up, make food very expensive; but is dependent, and very much so, on the flavor of each different article used in the making. Oriental food is not highly spiced or flavored, but is a very fat diet. Butter is not eaten on bread, the fat in the food preparations being sufficient.
The breakfast of these Easterners consists of black coffee and bread for the adults and goat's milk and bread for the children. In some families cracked wheat is used as a cereal, boiled with milk, and is called Bouglour.
The noon meal may be matzoun or curdled milk, with a "dressing" of pilaf. Matzoun, or yoghourt, is the famous beverage or soup of the Orient. It is as valuable in their diet as buttermilk in ours. It is made in the following way, and is usually to be found in every family:
Take two quarts of milk and one tablespoon old matzoun.
