Emirati cuisine

Falafel balls Emirati cuisine is a blend of many Middle Eastern and Asian cuisines. The modern diet of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is cosmopolitan, featuring dishes from around the world. A lot of people confuse Levantine food as being Emirati/Khaleej, but shawarma, hummous, tabbouleh, and mixed grill, whilst having similar characteristics, are fairly recent additions and do not do justice to the "soul food" that makes up the Emirati menu. Due to harsh desert conditions, the traditional food of the United Arab Emirates uses a lot of meat, grain, and dairy. Vegetables are easy to grow in some areas, and are strongly featured in the diet. Traditional dishes include Ma'louba, Margooga, Harees, Machbous, Frsee'ah, Fireed, Jisheid, and Mishwy. Meats traditionally used were chicken or small fowl, such as Houbara bustards, and goats. As camels are highly prized for their milk and transporting ability, the eating of camel meat is normally reserved for special occasions. The dishes are usually like stews, as everything is often cooked in a single pot. Saffron, cardamom, turmeric, and thyme are the core flavors used in Emirati cookery. The introduction of rice to the diet came when the traders moved to the region. Leaves from indigenous trees, such as the Ghaff, were also used to stuff small birds, releasing their flavor during the cooking process. Breakfast in the UAE usually features breads like raqaq, khameer, and chebab, served with cheese, date syrup, or eggs. These were made over a curved hot plate, resembling a stone, which would have been used by the Bedouins. Balaleat is another dish, but its advent again with the traders, who introduced pasta.

Sweet options include luqeymat, a deep fried ball of pancake batter that is rolled in sesame seeds and then drizzled with date syrup. Other desserts include khabeesa, which is flour bread crumbs blended with sugar, cardamom, and saffron or bethitha, a semolina blended with crushed dates, cardamom, and clarified butter. At the close of the meal, it is usual to be served with a red tea infused with mint, which aids the digestion. Other traditions to the meal include a welcome with dates and gahwah (Arabic coffee), which are offered on arrival and are kept available through the guests visit.

[edit] Food Breads

SOME BREADS EATEN BY BEDOUINS IN THE DESERT

RAQAQ SHOBAB

Khobuz Raqaq

This is one of the most traditional breads known in UAE. It is also a popular winter-time bread, eaten fresh and warm from the griddle with oil poured over, then folded into pieces and eaten with fresh honey.

Shobab is traditional bedouin bread. Each piece is shaped into a flat circle and fried on both sides in a pan (or baked in a traditional oven called "tabi").

A crispy wafer-thin bread that is very similar to a crepe

It is served with meals.

SOME DRINKS and FOOD

KHAVA (ARABIC COFFEE) DATES

FIGS

Kahva actually means a drink from plants, and thus could refer to wine, for example. It is a little bitter and has the taste of cardamom and saffron in it. It is served from a copper kettle into tiny clay teacups.

AL HAREES

Al harees is one of the most savoured dishes in the UAE and it involves a lengthy preparation. Harees, that rib-sticking, regional stalwart of meat and wheat, sometimes as thick as concrete, is a quintessential part of the Emirati culinary.

Al harees, which is made mainly from meat and wheat, is quite prominent one during special occasions such as Ramadan, Eid and weddings.

AL KHABEESA

picture made by our sister Arlette

This is a famous desert . Is made from flour which is heated on a stovetop and as its colour turns brown, rose water, sugar, ghee and cardamom are added.
The mixture is then left on medium heat until ready.

AL KHANFAROOSH

This is prepared from a mixture of flour, egg, sugar, yeast, cardamom, saffron and rose water.

Very tasty !
LOQAIMAT

Luqaimat or lgaymat may just be the emaraati gateway dish.

Dumplings (little crispy balls) made of butter , milk, sugar, flour, saffron, cardamom, that is deep fried in oil and then served with sugar syrup . My favorite sweet , is it served in Ramadan also , but mostly as a mainly desert .

There are as many varied and wonderful recipes for loqaimat as there are for pancakes.

BATHEETH

This is a date sweet , an Arab favorite and the national traditional UAE sweet.

Is it served regulary with Gahwa ( the Arabic coffee).

GAHWA KHALEEJIAH

Gulf coffee is served at most corners

of the Heritage Village,offices,shops,houses ans is the

most popular type of coffee among uae nationals.One of the first things done every morning in Arab homes after early morning prayers, is to make coffee which is then kept in a flask (dalla gahwa) until the family is ready to drink it.

Traditionally, fresh green coffee beans are roasted in a frying pan (ta'waa) over a direct fire. They are then pounded by hand in a mortar until they reached a medium sized grain, and then boiled rapidly for 3-5 minutes. In the meantime, saffron, cloves, cardamom and rosewater are placed in a large flask, the hot coffee is poured over this and then left to steep for 30-40 minutes.

Traditional Emirati tea

An example of lamb kebab sticks sold by a street vendor Seafood has been the mainstay of the Emarati diet for centuries. The United Arab Emirates cuisine is a reflection of a great Arabian heritage and vast exposure to civilizations over time. Muslims are prohibited from eating pork, so it is not included in Arab menus. Meat, fish, and rice are the staple foods of the Emirati cuisine. Lamb and mutton are the more favored meats, then goat and beef. Popular beverages are coffee and tea, which can be supplemented with cardamom, saffron, or mint to give it a distinct flavor.[1] Hotels frequently have pork substitutes such as beef sausages and veal rashers on their breakfast menus. If pork is available, it is clearly labelled as such. Alcohol is generally only served in hotel restaurants and bars (but not in Sharjah). All nightclubs and golf clubs are permitted to sell alcohol. Specific supermarkets may sell alcohol and pork, but are sold in separate sections.[2] Dishes forming part of the Emirati cuisine include:[3]

Kabsa Yeast bread Falafel Shawarma Kebab Sheep Al-Majboos

Harees Al-Madrooba Al-Saloona (curry) Fish Camel meat Al-Khabeesah Al-Khanfaroosh

Camel milk Masgouf

Raqaq (flat) Al Jabab bread