Sabich

Sabich

Course	Breakfast and Street food (entire country), Sandwich
Place of origin	Iraq
Associated cuisine	Jewish cuisine
Created by	Jews
Main ingredients	Traditionally laffa, although pita is often used, eggplant, hard boiled eggs, salad, amba, parsley, tahini sauce, and hummus
Ingredients generally used	Potato, onion, and zhug
Media: Sabich

Sabich or sabih (Hebrew: סביח [saˈbiχ]; Judeo-Iraqi Arabic: صبيح) is a sandwich of pita or laffa bread stuffed with fried eggplants, hard boiled eggs, chopped salad, parsley, amba and tahini sauce. It is a staple of Israeli cuisine. Its ingredients are based on a traditional quick breakfast of Iraqi Jews; while in Iraq, the ingredients were served separately, the modern Sabich, where all of them are eaten together in a sandwich, was created in Israel, where it is sold in many businesses.

Etymology

Sabich as served in a pita

There are several theories on the origin of the name sabich. Many credit the name to the first name of Sabih Tzvi Halabi, a Jewish man born in Iraq and made aliyah to Israel who operated a small restaurant in Ramat Gan. He is credited for originally serving the sandwich. Another theory is that sabich is an acronym of the Hebrew words "Salat, Beitsa, Yoter Ḥatsil" סלט ביצה יותר חציל, meaning "salad, egg, more eggplant". This is probably a humorous interpretation and hence a backronym.

History

The original Sabich Buffet in its current location

The idea of the sabich sandwich was most likely created in Iraq by Jews and brought to Israel by those who emigrated in the 1940s and 1950s. On mornings when there was little time for a cooked breakfast, Iraqi Jews ate a cold meal of pre-cooked fried eggplant and hard-boiled eggs, either stuffed into a pita bread or with boiled potatoes.

In Israel, these ingredients eventually became popular as fast food. The dish is said to have been first sold in Israel in 1961 at a small stall on Uziel Street in Ramat Gan. The restaurant was operated by "Sabich" Tzvi Halabi and Yaakov Sasson. The restaurant enjoyed great success and is still in operation today, just 500 meters from its original location, on Negba street.

A version without the bread or pita is called sabich salad ("סלט סביח" - "Salat Sabich" in Hebrew).

Ingredients

Sabich, served in pita bread, traditionally contains fried eggplant slices, hard-cooked eggs, a thin tahini sauce (tahini, lemon juice, and garlic), Israeli Salad, chopped parsley, and amba. Some versions use boiled potatoes. Traditionally it is made with haminados eggs, slow-cooked in hamin until they turn brown. According to the consumer's preference it can be served topped with green or red zhug as a condiment and sprinkled with minced onion.

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See also

• Culture of Israel
• Cuisine of the Mizrahi Jews
• Israeli cuisine
• Jewish cuisine
• Middle Eastern cuisine