One-Pot Pasta · Italian-Era Legacy
Imbakbaka (Mbakbaka)
Photo: Malk sash / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Spaghetti is snapped by hand into two-inch pieces before it ever hits the pot — no pasta cutter required.
Chunks of hand-broken spaghetti simmer in a rich tomato-and-meat broth with onions, warming spices and chickpeas until the pasta turns thick and stew-like, similar to an Italian minestrone. In eastern Libya the dish is also known as macarona jariya.
Why it's made this way: Imbakbaka is a direct culinary fingerprint of Italy's 1911–1943 colonial rule over Libya, and Benghazi's version of this Italian-Libyan classic remains a household comfort food across the city.
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Part of World of Street Food — 3248 dishes from 118 countries.
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