Maqluba
A Levantine rice dish served upside-down.
Maqluba—spelled in various ways in English, from the Arabic مَقْلُوبَة, meaning “upside-down”—is a traditional Levantine pilaf. It is common in Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Iraq. The dish layers meat, rice, and fried vegetables in a pot; when served, the pot is inverted so the contents come out upside down, which gives the dish its name.
The earliest known reference to a dish called maqluba appears in a 13th-century cookbook, *Kitāb al-Ṭabīkh* (The Book of Dishes), by Muhammad Baghdadi, written during the Abbasid Caliphate. That early version was an egg dish, not a pilaf. A later description comes from *The People of Palestine*, a 1921 book by American scholar Elihu Grant, which notes that maqluba is made with rice and eggplant cooked in a deep dish and turned out upside down when served.
Common fried vegetables in maqluba include tomatoes, potatoes, cauliflower, and eggplant, with chicken or lamb as the meat. Cauliflower and eggplant are the most typical. The ingredients are layered carefully in the pot so that when flipped, the dish resembles a layer cake. In coastal areas, fish sometimes replaces the meat. Pine nuts and chopped fresh parsley are usual garnishes, and it is often served with salad or fresh yogurt. Maqluba is frequently prepared for feasts and large gatherings.
The dish has become a point of contention in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Palestinians view attempts to label it as Israeli as cultural appropriation. Activists have used maqluba to mobilize protests at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem; in 2017, Israeli police arrested a Palestinian woman who organized a maqluba gathering there. The dish has also appeared as a pro-Palestine symbol in protests in Iran and the United Kingdom.
- Type
- Dish
- Cuisine
- Levantine
- Earliest mention
- 13th-century cookbook Kitāb al-Ṭabīkh
- Key ingredients
- Meat, rice, fried vegetables (tomatoes, potatoes, cauliflower, eggplant)
- Known for
- Served upside-down; used as a political symbol
Lore & Background
The earliest mention of a dish called maqluba is found in a 13th-century cookbook, Kitāb al-Ṭabīkh (The Book of Dishes), written by Muhammad Baghdadi during the Abbasid Caliphate. The maqluba mentioned by Baghdadi is an egg dish rather than a pilaf. The People of Palestine, a 1921 book by American scholar Elihu Grant documenting Palestinian tradition, contained a description of maqluba: 'Maḳlûbeh is a preparation of rice and eggplant cooked in a deep dish, and, when served, turned out, upside down; whence the name, which means "turned over."'
Reader's Guide
Maqluba is a traditional Levantine dish, a variety of Pilaf 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. The dish can include various fried vegetables, such as tomatoes, potatoes, cauliflower, and eggplant, accompanied by either chicken or lamb; the most common are cauliflower and eggplant. All 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, sometimes served with salad and fresh yogurt, and is often prepared for feasts and large gatherings. 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. It has been used by Palestinian activists to mobilize people to join protests at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem; in 2017, Israeli police arrested a Palestinian woman who had organized a maqluba eating gathering at Al-Aqsa. Maqluba has also 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.
Did You Know?
- The earliest mention of maqluba is in a 13th-century cookbook by Muhammad Baghdadi, but that version was an egg dish, not a pilaf.
- The name maqluba means 'upside-down' in Arabic, referring to the way the pot is flipped when served.
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