Saudi cuisine showcased at food festival

Visitors to the 10-day Saudi Feast Food Festival have been getting a taste for authentic and diverse flavors from around the Kingdom.

Organized by the Culinary Arts Commission and being staged at King Saud University in Riyadh, the event celebrates the country’s culinary heritage.

Open from 4 p.m. to 12 a.m. until Dec. 2, the festival features 13 zones including culinary art heritage, theater, the Gourmand Awards, Greece, business, and a children’s interactive farm.

The Greek zone highlights the country’s traditional dishes and food culture, while the culinary arts heritage area has been divided into five sections representing different regions of Saudi Arabia and showcasing their history, identity, and food through exhibitions, live cooking shows, artisanal displays, and cultural performances.

The tasting experience begins with the Tabuk region where popular dishes often use ingredients unique to its topography.

Some of the Saudi chefs taking part in the event are rising culinary stars. Habiba Abdullah’s popular Tabuk-inspired offerings are free of hydrogenated oils and Maggi cubes, a lifestyle choice she made after her son was diagnosed with diabetes.

She said: “I have been using olive oil in my cooking, and I made a promise to myself to try and alter the lifestyle of other families to avoid diabetes and other illnesses resulting from unhealthy lifestyle choices.”

Abdullah has worked as an assistant chef at the Ritz-Carlton and is a certified international trainer and consultant in cooking. She teaches Saudi culinary students at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University.

Asir, another featured region, is famous for its honey and coffee. Chef Noura Al-Asiri, from Asir, has been offering visitors the chance to sample arekah, a traditional regional dish made from dough which is grilled on a sheet pan before being plated for ghee and honey to be poured in the middle, and then decorated with dates.

Meanwhile, the smell of fried kingfish topped with regional spices has been drawing festivalgoers to the Eastern Province zone.

Argentine chef Chakall said: “I traveled to over 130 countries, and Saudi Arabia became one of my favorites; the diverse food from its regions, and the people are honest, friendly, and kind.

“I tasted food from different regions in Saudi Arabia, and I was blown away with what I saw, I had no idea what the food and the people were like before coming here.”

Chakall’s TV show in China and Germany is watched by millions of people, and he runs five restaurants in Portugal. And at the Saudi festival, he took part in a Gourmand Award zone discussion about his culinary journey.

The award is an international competition for food culture content, honoring the best cookbooks. In Riyadh, the zone offers local food enthusiasts an opportunity to meet leading industry figures.