tabkh

Tabkh is a term used in Persian and Arabic to denote the act and craft of cooking. In Persian, طبخ is a formal or literary word for cooking, food preparation, or the culinary arts. In everyday Persian, ashpazi (آشپزی) is more common for “cooking,” while tabkh tends to appear in dictionaries, literary contexts, or traditional discussions of cuisine, including phrases such as fann al-tabkh meaning the art of cooking. In Arabic, tabkh (طبخ) likewise refers to cooking and is found in grammar, literature, and culinary writing, with the expression fann al-tabkh (فن الطبخ) meaning the art of cooking.

Historically, tabkh has been central to Middle Eastern and Persianate culinary traditions. Medieval cookbooks commonly used the term in titles and discussions of technique. The best-known example is Kitab al-Tabikh (The Book of Dishes), attributed to Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq, a 9th–10th century compendium of recipes and methods that illustrates the longstanding use of tabkh in culinary literature.

In modern usage, tabkh appears in academic or historical discussions of cuisine and in traditional cookery writings, while everyday language in Iran and the Arab world generally favors ashpazi for “cooking.” The term also persists in cultural and linguistic contexts to denote cooking as a skill, craft, or domain of knowledge within broader culinary traditions.