GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — No Gazan table is complete without peppers that come in various shapes and sizes. Green and red chili peppers are often on the table, ready to be consumed with flatbread. Pickled yellow peppers or roasted bell peppers — yellow, green and red — accompany grilled meat and shawarma. Meanwhile, other chili peppers in the form of flakes, powder or a paste are used for spicing up fava beans.

The Gaza kitchen, which has become increasingly familiar in Europe and the Unites States, is a variation of Levantine cuisine. Compared with other regional cuisines, however, it uses more seafood and spices, particularly chili peppers. One of the best-known dishes prepared for holidays, sumaghiyyeh, is made with ground sumac, first soaked in water and then mixed with tahini, a sesame seed paste. Then it is cooked with pieces of slow-stewed beef, beans and seasoned with dill seeds, chili peppers and garlic. Fukharit adas, a wholesome family meal for Gazans, is a slow-cooked lentil stew flavored with crushed dill seeds, garlic, cumin and red pepper flakes. Stuffed bell peppers also form part of the traditional home cuisine in Gaza, Egypt and Turkey.

"Peppers have been part of our diet and our culinary culture in Gaza for many years," said Atef al-Assouli, a professor of social sciences and family counseling at Al Quds Open University in Gaza. "People eat them fresh, roast them, pickle them, make them into hot chili pastes or grind them, according to the type.” He said that when people go to most restaurants, peppers are often present on tables in a variety of forms. It is common to hear customers tell waiters, "Bring more peppers," Assouli said.

"People in Gaza take pride in eating chili peppers — the hotter the better for boasting,” he said.