Saudi Cuisine

Saudi cooking is a cuisine of rice and meat, and its character came from the peninsula's position on the old spice routes to India and East Africa. That is why cardamom, cinnamon and clove turn up everywhere.

Kabsa

Kabsa is the national dish: basmati rice cooked in lamb or chicken broth with tomato, dried lime and kabsa spice. It's served on one large platter, and that communal serving is itself part of the hospitality.

Loomi — the dried lime

Loomi is lime boiled and sun-dried until it blackens, and it gives a deep sourness completely unlike fresh lemon. It has to be pierced with a fork before it goes in, or it gives nothing at all.

Jareesh and marqooq

Jareesh is cracked wheat cooked in milk until creamy; marqooq is thin dough torn and cooked in a vegetable and meat broth. Both are Najdi winter dishes and unusually filling.

Coffee and dates

Saudi coffee — lightly roasted beans with cardamom and saffron — served with dates opens any hospitality, and it has serving etiquette as precise as mansaf in Jordan.