Shishbarak

Shishbarak (Arabic: ششبرك‎‎, also known as Tatarbari in Iraq, can be transliterated as shushbarak) is a pasta or jiaozi dish made in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine that has been described as a kind of local variation on ravioli. After being stuffed with ground beef and spices, thin wheat dough parcels are cooked in yogurt and served hot in this sauce.

Though a part of Arab cuisine for centuries, the dish originated in pre-Islamic Persia where it was known by the name joshpara - josh meaning "to boil" and para being more obscure, though it could mean "bit". The Arabic name shishbarak is thought to derive directly from this name which was in use prior to the 10th century, after which it was supplanted by the modern Persian name gosh e-barreh, meaning "lamb's ear". Variations of the earlier name in other languages include the Azerbaijani düshbara, Uzbeki chuchvara, and Uighur chöchürä. Finno-Ugric peoples in western Siberia exposed to the dish by Iranian merchants in the Middle Ages gave it the name pelnan meaning "ear bread". It was adopted from them by Russians in the 17th century, with its pronunciation altered to pel'meni and chicken broth used as a substitute for the yogurt broth.

A recipe for shushbarak appears in the 15th century Arabic cookbook from Damascus, Kitab al-tibakha.