Ramadan, which will begin in the United States on April 12 this year, is the Islamic holy month of fasting from sunrise to sunset. Before dawn, there is a meal called sahur, which typically consists of foods that will sustain one throughout the day. After sundown is a meal called iftar, often a feast with a full-course meal of soup, salads, appetizers, main course and, of course, sweets. While this is the norm, some observers eat lightly for iftar and enjoy a larger meal at sahur.

In some communities, Ramadan meals have become lavish feasts, though more modest meals are also customary. The specific foods and dishes consumed at both meals vary based on locality, culinary preferences and seasonality, as Ramadan can fall in any season of the year because it is charted on the lunar calendar to which Islam adheres, which is not in sync with the Gregorian solar calendar. Still, there are many common culinary threads. Whether cooking for elaborate feasts or for more intimate gatherings, any of these recipes will please your guests.

In many cultures, once the sun has set, breaking the fast begins with a few sips of water and some dates or fresh fruit. Soup is often served at iftar: a humble bowl of lentil soup might be a starter while a more hearty soup like kibbeh bi’kizabrath (cilantro-tomato soup with Syrian meatballs) could be the whole meal.

Throughout the Middle East, there will usually be an array of mezze covering the table. Salads and appetizers can include eggplant preparations — in that region, they say a girl is ready for marriage when she can make a different eggplant dish for each day of the year) — perhaps roasted and garnished with walnuts, flavored with lemon and garlic or pan-fried and marinated in a honey sauce. The bread salad, fattoush, is a popular dish as are stuffed grape leaves, samosas and tahini-rich hummus, which may get scooped up with fresh pita or mana’esh.

In many cultures, the main meal often includes hearty rice dishes like muceddere, studded with lentils and chickpeas, fragrant with cumin. There is usually at least one grilled or roasted meat dishes like roasted lamb shoulder on a bed of jeweled rice or grilled chicken kebabs. Savory stews like sumaqqiyeh (oxtail stew), ingriyi (sweet and sour lamb) as well as tagines are also quite popular.

Fruit will often follow a big meal, freshly pared and cut to be eaten as-is or in preparations such as a sweet melon with rosewater granita or a more savory watermelon and feta salad. Desserts are likely to include sweets such as crispy, nutty baklava, milky gullac or knafeh nabulseyeh — layers of shredded filo (kataifi) and a white sweet cheese drizzled with orange blossom water.

And so it goes for the entire month of Ramadan: Fast, feast, repeat. Ramadan culminates in the three-day feast of Eid al-Fitr, after which the fasting and the feasting finally come to an end. Until next year.

Julie Giuffrida is Test Kitchen coordinator for the Los Angeles Times.

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