COPPERWhat is the national dish of Iraq?
Iraq has no official national dish, but masgouf is the one most often cited. It is a freshwater carp split down the back and opened flat, brushed with olive oil, tamarind, turmeric and salt, then roasted for hours standing upright beside a fire of fruit-wood embers. It is served with flatbread, lemon, sliced onion, tomatoes and pickles.
Is masgouf officially Iraq's national dish?
No decree makes it official, but masgouf is the dish most often described as Iraq's national dish, and it is widely considered the country's most famous one. It is also the dish Iraqi officials traditionally serve first to foreign delegations.
Lists of national dishes also name dolma, Iraqi kebab and quzi. Masgouf stands apart because it belongs to one landscape: the Tigris and Euphrates, and the fish taken from them. Iraqi food changes from region to region: fish is a staple in the south, the centre of the country is known for its rice dishes and sweets, and the north adds pomegranate to its dolma.
How masgouf is cooked
Everything about masgouf comes from the way the fish is opened and the way the heat reaches it. In our masgouf recipe, a 2.5 kg carp is split along the back from head to tail, leaving the belly skin uncut, and opened into one flat disc. It is never filleted.
Only the flesh side is brushed with olive oil, tamarind paste, turmeric and rock salt. There is no cumin or paprika crust: the seasoning is kept simple so the taste of the river fish comes through. The fish is pinned open on stakes and stood upright at the edge of a bed of apricot or other fruit-wood embers, flesh facing the fire, never above it. It roasts by radiant heat without being turned, for one to two hours in our recipe and up to three in Baghdad's riverside restaurants.
When the flesh pulls from the bone, the fish is laid skin-side down on the embers for 5 to 10 minutes to crisp. At home, without a fire pit, the closest method is 40 to 50 minutes under a hot broiler, flesh up, then a few minutes skin-down on a very hot grill.
What is served with masgouf?
Masgouf comes to the table on a board or tray, with the toppings and sides that every Iraqi grill house keeps ready:
- Sliced tomatoes and onion, scattered over the hot fish.
- Flatbread from the clay oven, used to pick up the flesh.
- Lemon wedges, squeezed over at the table.
- Pickles on the side.
Where masgouf comes from
Masgouf is a Mesopotamian dish, tied to the freshwater carp that were plentiful in the Tigris and Euphrates. It is closely associated with Baghdad, where it is grilled in open-air restaurants near the riverbanks. Because it takes hours, it is a dish for weekends, family reunions and formal meals rather than a quick dinner. The name is thought to come from opening the fish up like a book before it goes to the fire.
Outside Iraq it is found mainly in Damascus, where many Iraqis settled after the 2003 invasion.
Other dishes to know from Iraq
Iraqi dolma is not just stuffed grape leaves. Zucchini, eggplants, onion shells and leaves are filled two thirds full with rice and minced lamb, packed upright over lamb ribs and cooked for 1 hour 30 in a sour broth of tamarind and pomegranate molasses. The pot is then flipped onto a tray in one piece. Iraqis usually serve dolma without yogurt. In Mosul the pot mixes courgettes, tomatoes, onions, peppers, eggplant and grape leaves. Assyrians of Iraq call it either dolma or *yaprekh*, the Syriac word for stuffed grape leaves.
Kubba is a shell of fine bulgur kneaded with raw minced beef until elastic, filled with lamb, onion, baharat, pine nuts and raisins, shaped into a pointed oval and fried at 170 °C for 5 to 6 minutes. The two tips crisp first. Kubba has many other forms in Iraq, baked, poached, shaped into balls or flat patties, but this torpedo shape is the best known. Lebanon builds its national dish on the same pairing of bulgur and meat: see the national dish of Lebanon. Across the border, Iran serves its kebabs with rice in chelow kabab.
Most of these dishes are served with rice, usually *timman anbar*, an aromatic long-grain rice grown in the Middle Euphrates region, and lamb is the favourite meat. For religious holidays, families bake kleicha, a cookie sometimes called the national cookie of Iraq.
All three recipes, with ingredients and step-by-step methods, are on our page about the food of Iraq. For the neighbouring kitchens, see our guide to Middle Eastern food.
The recipes
Dolma
KubbaQuestions people ask
What fish is used for masgouf?
Freshwater carp, traditionally from the Tigris or Euphrates. The whole fish is split down the back and opened flat, never filleted.
Is masgouf grilled over the fire?
No. The opened fish is stood upright beside the embers, flesh facing the fire, and roasts slowly by radiant heat. It only touches the embers at the end, skin-side down, to crisp.
What is served with masgouf?
Sliced tomatoes and onion, flatbread, lemon wedges and pickles.
What other dishes are called Iraq's national dish?
Dolma, Iraqi kebab and quzi are also named in lists of national dishes. Masgouf is the one cited most often.
Can you make masgouf at home?
Not exactly, since the vertical fire pit is the point. The closest home method is to broil the opened fish flesh-up for 40 to 50 minutes, then crisp the skin on a very hot grill.
Keep reading
- Traditional food of Iraq: 13 dishes to know
- What is the national dish of Bahrain?
- What is the national dish of Iran?
- What is the national dish of Israel?
- What is the national dish of Jordan?
- What is the national dish of Kuwait?