Wajbaat Khafifa

In his Supplement aux Dictionaires Arabes, the Arabist Dozy states that he does not know the exact meaning of nashif (dry) as applied to dishes (cited by Arberry,). For Iraqis, however, the term has always been commonly used to designate a wide array of dishes that have no sauce in them to begin with, or in which the sauce is reduced in the course of cooking. They are all invariably served with bread.

In his tenth-century cookbook, al-Warraq gives an extensive number of bawarid (cold dishes) made from various kinds of meat, which were meant to be served as a preliminary course before the hot dishes. They were usually accompanied by sibagh and kawamikh (sauces, dips, and condiments) to help the digestion (see also Introduction; ‘Salsa: A Bit of History,’).