Shaʾriyya

shaʾriyya the usual term in the Arab world for vermicelli (see pasta shapes). It is pronounced shaʾriyya, as if from the word for ‘hair’. This is a logical derivation, and the Turkish world şehriye reflects this pronunciation, but since its first appearance in the 15th century, the word has regularly been spelled shaʾîriyya, as if from the word for ‘barley’.

Menus written in a learned style of Arabic sometimes call vermicelli by an antique Greek name, itriya, and itriya is the modern Hebrew generic term for pasta. In the Middle Eastern region vermicelli is most often toasted light brown and cooked in a pilaf (rizz bi-shaʾriyya).