Mahane Yehuda Staple · Semolina Dumpling Soup

Kubbeh Soup (Marak Kubbeh)

Photo: Maor X / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

The dish stayed a private Kurdish-Jewish Friday ritual for decades before a couple of small eateries near Mahane Yehuda quietly added it to their menus in the 1980s — it now anchors an entire genre Jerusalemites call 'soul food.'

Semolina dumplings stuffed with ground meat, onion, and warm spices are simmered in a tangy, lemony broth — deep red with beet and tomato in the 'adom' style, or sharply sour in the 'chamusta' style. Small family-run eateries tucked into the alleys around Mahane Yehuda market ladle it out as a full lunch alongside rice, pickles, and hummus.

Why it's made this way: Kurdish Jewish immigrants kept the recipe as a home-cooked Friday tradition for years before market-adjacent restaurants started serving it in the 1980s, turning a private family dish into one of the market's signature soups.