Cuisine of Saudi Arabia
Encyclopedia
Chicken (food)
Chicken is the most common type of poultry in the world, and is prepared as food in a wide variety of ways, varying by region and culture.- History :...
, falafel
Falafel
Falafel is a deep-fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas and/or fava beans. Falafel is usually served in a pita, which acts as a pocket, or wrapped in a flatbread known as lafa. The falafel balls are topped with salads, pickled vegetables, hot sauce, and drizzled with tahini-based sauces...
(deep-fried chickpea
Chickpea
The chickpea is a legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae...
balls), shawarma
Shawarma
Shawarma is a Levantine Arab sandwich-like wrap of shaved lamb, goat, chicken, turkey, beef, or mixed meats. The meat is placed on a spit, and may be grilled for as long as a day. It is eaten with pita bread, tabbouleh, fattoush, taboon bread, tomato and cucumber. Toppings include tahini, hummus,...
(spit-cooked sliced lamb), mutabbaq and Ful medames
Ful Medames
Fūl medammis , or simply fūl, is an Egyptian dish of cooked and mashed fava beans served with olive oil, chopped parsley, onion, garlic, and lemon juice. A staple meal in Egypt, it is popular in the cuisines of the Levant, Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Saudi Arabia.-History:The roots of fūl...
. Arabic unleavened bread, or khobz
Khubz
Khubz, khoubz or khobz , an Arabic word for bread, but usually used by non-Arabic speakers to refer to a flatbread that forms a staple of the local diet in Arabic-speaking countries from the Arabian Peninsula to Morocco....
(خبز), is eaten with almost all meals, and is often used as an edible utensil to scoop foods. Kabsa
Kabsa
Kabsa is a family of rice dishes that are served mostly in Saudi Arabia — where it is commonly regarded as a national dish — and the other Arab states of the Persian Gulf. Kabsa, though, is believed to be indigenous to Yemen...
, rice with chicken and lamb, is very popular and is considered iconic. Traditional coffeehouse
Coffeehouse
A coffeehouse or coffee shop is an establishment which primarily serves prepared coffee or other hot beverages. It shares some of the characteristics of a bar, and some of the characteristics of a restaurant, but it is different from a cafeteria. As the name suggests, coffeehouses focus on...
s used to be ubiquitous, but are now being displaced by food-hall style cafes. Arabic tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
is also a famous custom, which is used in both casual and formal meetings between friends, family and strangers. The tea is black (without milk) and has herbal flavoring that comes in many variations.
The same types of foods have been consumed by the Saudi Arabian people for thousands of years. Basic ingredients include wheat, rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
, chicken, fava beans, yogurt and dates. Saudi Arabia produces approximately 600 million pounds of dates annually. Per capita, Saudis consume the largest number of chickens in the world, at an average of 88.2 pounds of chicken per person annually. Lamb is served traditionally to guests and during holidays.
Sheep, goat and camel milk are also staples of Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
s. Yogurt is consumed whole, made into a kefir
Kefir
Kefir is a fermented milk drink that originated with shepherds of the North Caucasus region, who discovered that fresh milk carried in leather pouches would occasionally ferment into an effervescent beverage...
-type of drink called laban and used to prepare sauces.
Islamic dietary laws
Islamic dietary lawsIslamic dietary laws
Islamic dietary laws provide direction on what is to be considered clean and unclean regarding diet and related issues.-Overview:Islamic jurisprudence specifies which foods are ' and which are '...
forbid the eating of pork
Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
and the drinking of alcohol
Alcoholic beverage
An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...
, and this law is enforced throughout Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
. According to halal
Halal
Halal is a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The term is used to designate food seen as permissible according to Islamic law...
Islamic law, animals must be butchered in a particular way and blessed before they can be eaten. In 2008, Saudi Arabia was the world's fifth largest importer of both sheep meat and goat
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
meat.
Food shopping and markets
Both western style grocery stores and typical Arabic marketplaces are plentiful in Saudi Arabia. For those that prefer wide aisles, stainless steel carts and a single location for shopping, the Kingdom aptly caters with popular chain stores like Tamimi, Panda (and its mega version, Hyper Panda), Othaim, Carrefour, Danube, and Halwani.The expat population in Saudi Arabia may feel at ease in the company of so many English labels, but often many of the goods are imported and are proportionately expensive.
As an alternative, Saudi Arabian vegetable markets source some of the freshest produce for negotiable prices. Each of the big city neighborhoods tend to have their own markets. Frequenting particular stalls and developing relationships with vendors can often help to reduce prices or inspire "specials".
Fast food
AmericanUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
fast food, pizza and sit-down restaurant chains are popular in Saudi Arabia, and include restaurant chains such as Burger King
Burger King
Burger King, often abbreviated as BK, is a global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The company began in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida-based restaurant chain...
, McDonalds, Hardee's
Hardee's
Hardee's is a restaurant chain, located mostly in the Southeast and Midwestern regions of the United States. It has evolved through several corporate ownerships since its establishment in 1960. It is currently owned and operated by CKE Restaurants. Along with its sibling restaurant chain, Carl's...
, KFC
KFC
KFC, founded and also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, is a chain of fast food restaurants based in Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States. KFC has been a brand and operating segment, termed a concept of Yum! Brands since 1997 when that company was spun off from PepsiCo as Tricon Global...
, Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut is an American restaurant chain and international franchise that offers different styles of pizza along with side dishes including pasta, buffalo wings, breadsticks, and garlic bread....
, Domino's Pizza
Domino's Pizza
Domino's Pizza, Inc. is an international pizza delivery corporation headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America. Founded in 1960, Domino's is the second-largest pizza chain in the United States and has over 9,000 corporate and franchised stores in 60 countries and all 50 U.S....
, Papa John's, Starbucks
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...
, and Chili's
Chili's
Chili's Grill & Bar is a restaurant chain founded by Larry Lavine. The chain has more than 1400 casual dining restaurants, mostly located in the United States and Canada...
.