The Culinary Kingdom

I know what you're thinking. Is it a Middle Eastern tradition to have the non-Arabs of the meal don absolutely minimal clothing while exposing their nether-regions to the home court team? Unfortunately, the answer is a resounding 'no,' and alas I'm actually wearing shorts in this picture.  However, this provides me a window of opportunity to describe an extremely important daily part of Arab culture: eating.

During my time back in the states, I got two distinctly different questions always asked of me: "do you feel safe?" and "how's the food?" I can happily inform everyone that I do in fact feel safe, even if every time I walk into a restaurant, each distinct pair of pupils finds their way to my face and then refuses to turn away unless I reciprocate with an evil and imperialistic glare. As far as the cuisine goes, the food certainly varies, but the variety, the flavor, and most importantly, the company, always makes dining a fun experience.

First, the setting. Every traditional Arab restaurant (which means essentially everywhere in Saudi) will have areas where you can choose to eat on the floor. Large rugs are placed on tiled floor and all customers remove their shoes before sitting down cross-legged or on your side. There are small pillows to rest your elbows on if you decide to recline Roman-style. Below you can see our crew seated both ways at a Syrian restaurant in Safaniya:

However, if formal dining isn't an option, we resort to much more simplistic means of displaying and arranging our grub, such as setting cardboard and plastic on the floor and eating in a circle. Like here below:

Manners: As I said, everyone is seated or laying down (or maybe on one knee?), but make sure you don't point the bottom of your feet directly or annoyingly at someone else, because to direct the bottom of your foot at another is a big insult in the Arab world. Remember when that guy threw his shoe at Bush? Same thing. So don't give everyone at the table a glimpse of your warts or calloused arches. Anywho, it's customary to begin every meal by saying "bismallah," which I think means 'Thank God' or something close to that and it's essentially the Muslim version of 'grace.' Also, most Arabic meals involve eating with your hands (I know I've discussed it before, but whatever, get over it). This isn't the case in less traditional places like Bahrain, Egypt, Lebanon, or even in Oman and Algeria, where there's both strong traditional presences and more modern philosophies. However, if eating with your hands is the way to go, you always eat with your right hand, as the left is meant for ummm, well let's just say more...'hygienic' uses. Everyone generally digs in at the same time, grabs food from each other, and even grabs food for each other, passing around pieces of chicken or peppers or lemon. At the conclusion of the meal, it's customary to say 'alhum-duleelah' which also means 'thanks be to God.' It's an indication that you are completely finished.

Cuisine: the most common authentically 'Saudi' food is undoubtedly kebsa. Kebsa is their greasy rice that is kind of marinated/flavored with chicken oils. It's actually pretty delicious and is always served smoking hot. Saudis will eat either meat (laham) or chicken (di-jej) with kebsa. Most places only have average kebsa, but occasionally you can find delicious meat to go with the kebsa and even enjoy eating it for multiple days in a row, as some Saudis could probably eat it everyday for eternity.

Kebsa

However, should you venture outside of the traditional Saudi diet, there are plenty of other gastronomic sensations in the region that will leave your palate satisfied. This includes Syrian food, whose mixed barbecue has become my favorite food. It includes kebobs of beef, lamb, and chicken and delicious sauces that ease the swallowing procedure. There are spicy sauces akin to salsa or even the classical mediterranean side of hummus.

The delicious mixed barbecue of Syria

Breakfast is generally not a large meal in the Arab world, however I've come across some impressive and tasty morning concoctions. Most breakfasts (and lunches and dinners) will involve khubz, which is a light and pancake sized flatbread. Some of my favorite sides to go with the khubz are kebda (liver) and sharshooka (eggs). I was quite hesitant to dabble in cow liver, but kebda with sauce actually goes decently with bread. There is also ful (pronounced like full) which is a pasty bean dip, but is far different than a mexican-styled dip. Not spicy at all, but still full of flavor. Here's a layout of the various breakfast items:

Kebda (bottom left), ful (middle) and sharshooka (top left)

Another favorite treat that can go with breakfast is a banana-mashed pudding called 'mar-soop' which is actually a Yemeni delicacy. It is quite sugary, but also is a perfect ending to any Arab breakfast.

Mmmmm, marsoop

And finally, I would be doing a disservice to Saudi if I didn't mention a bit about seafood. As I believe I mentioned in earlier posts, the Qatif area has been the site of some of the few protests in Saudi since the onset of the Arab Spring. While there is still ongoing unrest in one of the cities close to Qatif, there is something even more powerful than their spirit: their fish. Fishing is a huge part of the economy in Qatif, as there are hundreds of fishing boats every day that take off and get fairly sizable catches. There are streetside vendors all over selling the day's catch. We eventually stopped and snatched up a healthy sized fish (I apologize for completely forgetting the name), and afterwards took it to a restaurant and had them cook it for us. It ended up being half the price of just buying the whole thing at the restaurant. But here's the before and after shots.

The catch

The amazing conclusion

In other news, I've managed to finally 'break out' as an engineer, so I've been bestowed with more far-reaching responsibilities and even further financial compensation. In this hitch (which has lasted longer than Kardashian's marriage), I've learned a little more Arabic and a lot more about Islam considering I've witnessed their two big holidays, the Eid's. I've also had guys tell me they think the Jews caused 9/11, that my family should arrange a marriage for me, that they've witnessed public executions, and that one poor Malaysian engineer was almost forcibly raped by one of our clients. The oilfield can apparently be a pretty crazy place. Luckily I'm getting out for a couple weeks of much needed r&r (Thanksgiving in the mitten, here I come!).

Until next time...