Sabich

Sabich or sabikh (Hebrew: סביח‎ [saˈbiχ]) is an Israeli sandwich, consisting of pita stuffed with fried eggplant and hard boiled eggs. Local consumption is said to have stemmed from a tradition among Iraqi Jews, who ate it on Shabbat morning.

Etymology

One theory is that Sabich comes from the Arabic word صباح [sˤaˈbaːħ], which means "morning", as the ingredients in the sabich are typical for an Iraqi Jewish breakfast‎.

Ingredients

Sabich, served in pita bread, traditionally contains fried eggplant, hard boiled eggs, hummus, tahini, Israeli salad, boiled potatoes (in some versions), parsley and amba. Traditionally it is made with haminados eggs, slow-cooked in Hamin until they turn brown. Sometimes it is doused with hot sauce and sprinkled with minced onion.

History

Sabich was brought to Israel by Iraqi Jews who moved in the 1940s and 1950s. On the Sabbath, when no cooking is allowed, Iraqi Jews ate a cold meal of precooked fried eggplant, boiled potatoes and hard-boiled eggs. In Israel, these ingredients were stuffed in a pita and sold as fast food. In the 1950s and 1960s, vendors began to sell the sandwich in open-air stalls. It has a rural version called Sabich salad (Salat Sabich in Hebrew)