[[Chaldean cuisine | Chaldean cuisine]] is similar to other Middle Eastern cuisines. It is rich in [[grain]], [[meat]], [[potato]], [[cheese]], [[bread]] and [[tomato]]. Typically [[rice]] is served with every meal, with a stew poured over it. [[Tea]] is a popular drink, and there are several dishes of desserts, snacks, and beverages. [[Alcohol]]ic drinks such as [[wine]] and [[wheat beer]] are organically produced and drunk.
== Genetics ==
{{Further|Genetic history of the Near East}}
Late 20th century DNA analysis conducted by [[Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza|Cavalli-Sforza]], Paolo Menozzi and Alberto Piazza, "shows that Chaldeans have a distinct genetic profile that distinguishes their population from any other population."<ref name="assyrianfoundation.org">[http://www.assyrianfoundation.org/genetics.htm Dr. Joel J. Elias, Emeritus, University of California, The Genetics of Modern Assyrians and their Relationship to Other People of the Middle East]</ref> Genetic analysis of the Chaldeans of Persia demonstrated that they were "closed" with little "intermixture" with the Muslim Persian population and that an individual Chaldean's genetic makeup is relatively close to that of the Chaldean population as a whole.<ref>M.T. Akbari, Sunder S. Papiha, D.F. Roberts, and Daryoush D. Farhud, "Genetic Differentiation among Iranian Christian Communities," ''American Journal of Human Genetics'' 38 (1986): 84–98</ref><ref>[[Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza]], Paolo Menozzi, Alberto Piazza, [[The History and Geography of Human Genes]], p. 243 [http://books.google.com/books?id=FrwNcwKaUKoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=ISBN0691087504&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0#PPA243,M1]</ref> "The genetic data are compatible with historical data that religion played a major role in maintaining the Assyrian population's separate identity during the Christian era".<ref name="assyrianfoundation.org" />
In a 2006 study of the Y chromosome DNA of six regional Armenian populations, including, for comparison, Chaldeans and Syrians, researchers found that, "the Semitic populations (Chaldeans) are very distinct from each other according to both [comparative] axes. This difference supported also by other methods of comparison points out the weak genetic affinity between the two populations with different historical destinies." <ref name="Iran and the Caucasus">[http://www.rau.am/downloads/publ.kafedr/episkoposyan_medbiolog/Yepiskoposian_I&C_06.pdf Yepiskoposian et al., Iran and the Caucasus, Volume 10, Number 2, 2006, pp. 191-208(18), "Genetic Testing of Language Replacement Hypothesis in Southwest Asia"]</ref>
A 2008 study on the genetics of "old ethnic groups in Mesopotamia," including 340 subjects from seven ethnic communities ("Chaldean, Jewish, Zoroastrian, Armenian, Turkmen, the Arab peoples in Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait") found that Chaldeans were homogeneous with respect to all other ethnic groups sampled in the study, regardless of religious affiliation.<ref name="pubmed.gov">[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18505046 Banoei et al., Human Biology. February 2008, v. 80, no, I, pp. 73-81., "Variation of DAT1 VNTR alleles and genotypes among old ethnic groups in Mesopotamia to the Oxus region"]"The relationship probability was lowest between Assyrians and other communities. [[Endogamy]] was found to be high for this population through determination of the heterogeneity coefficient (+0,6867), Our study supports earlier findings indicating the relatively closed nature of the Assyrian community as a whole, which as a result of their religious and cultural traditions, have had little intermixture with other populations."</ref>
In a 2011 study focusing on the genetics of Marsh Arabs of Iraq, researchers identified Y chromosome haplotypes shared by Marsh Arabs, Iraqis, and Chaldeans, "supporting a common local background." <ref name="BMC Evolutionary Biology">[http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2148-11-288.pdf Al-Zahery et al., BMC Evolutionary Biology 2011, 11:288, "In search of the genetic footprints of Sumerians: a survey of Y-chromosome and mtDNA variation in the Marsh Arabs of Iraq"]"In the less frequent J1-M267* clade, only marginally affected by events of expansion, Marsh Arabs shared haplotypes with other Iraqi and Assyrian samples, supporting a common local background."</ref>
== See also ==
