Axis of food

When we think of the Middle East, most of my readers have a great deal of subtlety in their sense of the cultural differences. We think of Syria (Alawite controlled) as different from Iran (mostly Persian) as different from Turkey (mostly Turkic).

But are we right?  A close look at the table with food on it suggests that the food in all of the Middle East is virtually identical. Maybe the core tribal similarities and the uniform food reflect a greater homogeneity than we see at first glance.

Maybe we are all wrong.