History Iraqi cuisine has many roots one of which is in tent cookery. Nomadic tribes could use only transportable foods such as bread and dates, or ambulatory stock like sheep and camels in their recipes - which tended to be rough sketches rather than strict formulae. It is considered by Iraqis to be the greatest cuisine of the earth, which has been perfected and changed for the better since the time of the Babylonians, Sumerians and Assyrians. Iraqi cuisine has been influenced by those ancient civilizations who also had influence from Greek and and Persian cuisines. Then with the coming of Islam and Arabs who gradually replaced the previous people, the food was enhansed to combine both sets of tastes. Baghdad became the centre of the Islamic world, and muslims from all over the world (Africa, India, China, Indonsesia etc...) also came which gave Iraq another twist to its food. Iraqis who had gone as Arabs had traveled, trading absorbed Mediteranean flavours, and with the Ottoman rule of Iraq, Turkish cuisine had influence.