Emirati cuisine is an edible testament to the history of the region. Much like the society of the country today, modern dishes of the UAE draw influence from those who have come here, yet local basics were borne out of necessity and remain the cornerstones of the cuisine.
What is Emirati food?
The origins of Emirati cuisine come from the Bedouins who roamed the country. With a focus on meat from goats and lambs, as well as fish caught from the Arabian Gulf – notably kingfish and grouper – the food staples are based on what was available at the time. Even chicken is a relatively new addition, becoming more available after the oil boom of the 1950s, with indigenous birds such as the Houbara bustard more common prior to that.
One eating habit that defines the UAE is called fowala, which is a way of setting up a meal with people sitting around it
While today there is a growing use of camel meat, with camel burgers appearing in restaurants around the country, it was not an especially common meat to consume in the past. Camel would be occasionally served, in the case of high-profile events such as a VIP wedding, but typically the camel served as a main mode of transport rather than a source of food. Plus, camel’s milk was an important part of the diet.
For centuries, the UAE has been a place for traders in the region to meet and, as such, there has been an influence on Emirati food from those visiting, especially from Iran and India. Spices such as cardamom, saffron and cumin feature in myriad dishes and have been bought and sold in local ports for centuries. But how those spices are incorporated in meals is a key element that defines Emirati cooking.
Musabbeh Al Kaabi, executive chef at Jumeirah Zabeel Saray, has a clear idea about what makes Emirati cuisine distinct from others in the region. “The main difference is the use of spices and how they are infused into our dishes,” he says. “Every family has their own unique favourite spice combination, so we roast the ground spices up to their preferred mix and then blend them for added flavour.”
Along with that blend of home-mixed ground spices, Al Kaabi picks out dry lemon and ghee as ingredients that define local cooking.
Popular Emirati dishes
Popular Emirati dishes include harees (wheat and veal slow cooked and mashed with Arabic-spiced ghee); luqaimat (deep-fried dough balls dipped in date syrup); chebab (yeasted pancakes flavoured with saffron and cardamom); balaleet (vermicelli cooked in sugar, saffron and cardamom topped with an omelette); and thereed (slow-cooked stew made of chicken, lamb or goat and roasted vegetables).
To this list, Al Kaabi adds jasheed with white rice and local ghee; kingfish tahtah; and aish wa laham, which is essentially lamb cooked in a traditional way”.
His favourite, and perhaps the local dish you’re most likely to encounter, is chicken or seafood machboos, a dish with rice and spiced meat, often compared to a biryani.
“When I was growing up, I used to spend hours watching my mum cook for us, which inspired me. I learnt so many tips from her,” he says. “I’d invite friends and prepare all the dishes, mainly chicken machboos, which I had learnt from her, and decided that this was something that I wanted to pursue as a career.”
The concept of fowala
When it comes to how Emirati cuisine compares to those of other countries in the Gulf, Faisal Naser, chef and owner of Lento in Abu Dhabi, says there are more similarities than differences, but adds: “One eating habit that defines the UAE is called fowala, which is not a dish, but a way of setting up a meal with people sitting around it.
"Fowala consists of mainly fresh fruits, halwa, aseedah, which is made of flour date sugar and ghee, chebab and khameer bread. There’s a special fowala for occasions such Eid and weddings.”
The cuisine is modernising and evolving with access to more ingredients and different styles, but Naser believes preserving the traditions of the past is important. “I’d love to see all Emirati chefs working together to make a database for authentic Emirati recipes, techniques and ingredients, and become a reference for generations to come.
“More Emiratis are entering the F&B industry and developing an interest in becoming chefs, as well as social media encouraging many others to blog recipes and dig deep into this culinary world,” he adds. “We are also starting to see more Emirati-cuisine restaurants emerging, which is something we can be happy about.”
Here are five to try.
Emirati restaurants to try
Al Fanar: With branches all over the country (and one in London, too), Al Fanar not only offers an authentic taste of Emirati cuisine, but the decor also recreates the home of a merchant in the 1960s and makes for a sensory dining experience.
Al Mashowa: There are outlets of this local restaurant at City Walk and Riverland in Dubai, and they focus on the seafood element of Emirati cuisine, but with more than 70 dishes on the menu, all of the classics of local dining are also covered.
Logma: This Box Park restaurant in Dubai offers a casual, modern update of local dining, focusing on breakfast. Its standout dishes are the Logma Benedict – an Emirati take on the classic – and a traditional breakfast featuring breads, cream cheese and date syrup. There's also a branch in The Dubai Mall.
Mezlai: This Emirates Palace restaurant in Abu Dhabi takes Emirati cuisine to the higher end of the dining experience. In a setting inspired by a Bedouin tent, local dishes featuring rice, fish, lamb and goat are given the five-star treatment.
Mitts and Trays: Run by Amna Al Hashemi, the UAE's first female chef to open her own restaurant, this City Walk Dubai restaurant features Emirati twists on classic dishes, as well as breakfast dish balaleet – an omelette served over sweetened vermicelli – and meat and rice dish ouzi, served in a pastry pouch.
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Lowest Test scores
26 - New Zealand v England at Auckland, March 1955
30 - South Africa v England at Port Elizabeth, Feb 1896
30 - South Africa v England at Birmingham, June 1924
35 - South Africa v England at Cape Town, April 1899
36 - South Africa v Australia at Melbourne, Feb. 1932
36 - Australia v England at Birmingham, May 1902
36 - India v Australia at Adelaide, Dec. 2020
38 - Ireland v England at Lord's, July 2019
42 - New Zealand v Australia in Wellington, March 1946
42 - Australia v England in Sydney, Feb. 1888
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
Australia squads
ODI: Tim Paine (capt), Aaron Finch (vice-capt), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye.
T20: Aaron Finch (capt), Alex Carey (vice-capt), Ashton Agar, Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Jack Wildermuth.
Also on December 7 to 9, the third edition of the Gulf Car Festival (www.gulfcarfestival.com) will take over Dubai Festival City Mall, a new venue for the event. Last year's festival brought together about 900 cars worth more than Dh300 million from across the Emirates and wider Gulf region – and that first figure is set to swell by several hundred this time around, with between 1,000 and 1,200 cars expected. The first day is themed around American muscle; the second centres on supercars, exotics, European cars and classics; and the final day will major in JDM (Japanese domestic market) cars, tuned vehicles and trucks. Individuals and car clubs can register their vehicles, although the festival isn’t all static displays, with stunt drifting, a rev battle, car pulls and a burnout competition.
Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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New process leads to panic among jobseekers
As a UAE-based travel agent who processes tourist visas from the Philippines, Jennifer Pacia Gado is fielding a lot of calls from concerned travellers just now. And they are all asking the same question.
“My clients are mostly Filipinos, and they [all want to know] about good conduct certificates,” says the 34-year-old Filipina, who has lived in the UAE for five years.
Ms Gado contacted the Philippines Embassy to get more information on the certificate so she can share it with her clients. She says many are worried about the process and associated costs – which could be as high as Dh500 to obtain and attest a good conduct certificate from the Philippines for jobseekers already living in the UAE.
“They are worried about this because when they arrive here without the NBI [National Bureau of Investigation] clearance, it is a hassle because it takes time,” she says.
“They need to go first to the embassy to apply for the application of the NBI clearance. After that they have go to the police station [in the UAE] for the fingerprints. And then they will apply for the special power of attorney so that someone can finish the process in the Philippines. So it is a long process and more expensive if you are doing it from here.”
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Match info
Karnataka Tuskers 110-3
J Charles 35, M Pretorius 1-19, Z Khan 0-16
Deccan Gladiators 111-5 in 8.3 overs
K Pollard 45*, S Zadran 2-18
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
Result
Crystal Palace 0 Manchester City 2
Man City: Jesus (39), David Silva (41)
SUCCESSION%20SEASON%204%20EPISODE%201
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Grand slam winners since July 2003
Who has won major titles since Wimbledon 2003 when Roger Federer won his first grand slam
Roger Federer 19 (8 Wimbledon, 5 Australian Open, 5 US Open, 1 French Open)
Rafael Nadal 16 (10 French Open, 3 US Open, 2 Wimbledon, 1 Australian Open)
Novak Djokovic 12 (6 Australian Open, 3 Wimbledon, 2 US Open, 1 French Open)
Andy Murray 3 (2 Wimbledon, 1 US Open)
Stan Wawrinka 3 (1 Australian Open, 1 French Open, 1 US Open)
Andy Roddick 1 (1 US Open)
Gaston Gaudio 1 (1 French Open)
Marat Safin 1 (1 Australian Open)
Juan Martin del Potro 1 (1 US Open)
Marin Cilic 1 (1 US Open)
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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