Greek cuisine gyro, moussaka, dolmades, yuvarlakia and keftethes with the neighboring countries. To an even greater extent it is influenced by Italian cuisine and cuisines from other neighboring south European countries, and thus, especially in southern regions and the islands it includes several kinds of pasta, like hyllopites, gogkes and tziolia. Greek cuisine has a culinary tradition of some 4,000 years and is a part of the history and the culture of Greece. Its flavors change with the season and its geography. Greek cookery, historically a forerunner of Western cuisine, spread its culinary influence, via ancient Rome, throughout Europe and beyond. It
Cabbage roll omitted or substituted with crushed walnuts on fasting holy days. Traditionally cabbage rolls are simmered long in a paprika based sauce with chunks of smoked bacon. In the Levant, namely Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan, cabbage rolls are called محشي ملفوف Malfoof mahshi. Traditionally the cabbage rolls consist of meat and rice but have vegetarian variants oftentimes cooked as part of a Lenten menu. Local traditions vary between cooking the rolls in a tomato sauce or in a lemon brine. In Egyptian cuisine, cabbage rolls are called محشي كرمب, pronounced "maḥshī kromb" or "maḥshī koronb" (as Standard Arabic [m] often