Eastern Arabian cuisine, also called Khaleeji cuisine (
Fish is popular. The cuisine of eastern Arabia is different from the cuisine of the Arabs of Hejaz, Yemen, Najd, Oman, and other parts of Arabia. Harees
is also a popular dish in the region.
Eastern Arabian cuisine today forms the traditional cuisine for countries such as Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, the southern part of Iraq, and eastern parts of Saudi Arabia and Oman, each with slight local variations.
History
Originally, the inhabitants of
Ottomans brought the Arabs in close contact with dishes of several other cultures, as well as introducing several new ingredients in their diet.[1]
As with most
Turkish empire), Arab culture came in contact with the Ottoman empire; Turkish contributions to the Arabian culture included "kebabs".[1][4]
This multicultural inclusion became possible after the advent of
figs, and lamb to the areas they traveled to or conquered including the Persian empire and the Turkish population of Balkan.[1][4] This interchange of goods and ways of life, was significant in forming the current modern Arab diet. Arabs later on transferred these newly gained cuisines on their conquests to Africa, and as far as North Africa, West Africa, and South of Spain.[1][5] In fact, certain Spanish desserts such as polvorones, tocino de cielo (custard and caramel) and yemas de San Leandro (marzipan based) are heavily influenced by the Moors.[5] Though these influences were not carried out by the original Arabs of the Arabian sub-continent, their westward expansion into Egypt, and Morocco
led to dissemination of Chinese, Indian, Arabian, and Persian cuisines and eventually their vicarious adoption by the North Africans.
Ingredients
Eastern Arabian cuisine today is the result of combination of diverse cuisines, incorporating
). Notably, many of the same spices used in eastern Arabia cuisine are also those emphasized in the Indian cuisine. This is a result of heavy trading between the two regions, and of the current state of affairs in the wealthy oil states, in which many South Asian workers are living abroad in Eastern Arabia.
Essential to any cooking in eastern Arabia is the concept of hospitality. Meals are sometimes family affairs, with shared conversation over the dinner table. Formal dinners and celebrations generally entail large quantities of food, and every occasion entails large quantities of coffee.
There are many regional differences in Arab cuisine. For instance, mujadara in Syria or Lebanon is different from mujadara in Jordan or Palestine. Some dishes such as mensaf (the national dish of Jordan) are native to certain countries and rarely if ever make an appearance in other countries.
Unlike in most Western cuisines, cinnamon is used in meat dishes as well as in sweets such as baklava. Other desserts include variations of
Fruit juices
are popular in this arid region.
Influences
In addition to Arab cuisine, the following cuisines have influenced, or have been influenced by the Eastern Arabian cuisine, either due to trade (mostly maritime from the far east), or as a result of ancient contact:
^ abcdefNaomichi Ishige - (trans.) Thomas A. Steele (September 3, 2008). "The Dietary Culture of Asia". Asia Society. Archived from the original on 19 November 2010. Retrieved December 25, 2010.
^Ministry of Information, Media Information Department (Kuwait). "Kuwait Cuisine". Archived from the original on October 31, 2010. Retrieved December 20, 2010.