Several of our lovely followers have requested a food blog post. We have heard your request and are happy to present our first food-related entry! Tonight, we had the opportunity to go to dinner at a Yemeni restaurant called Bab Al Yemen with two young women who work at Dar Al-Hekma, Kholoud and Arwa. Both of them were born and raised in Saudi, but Kholoud is Yemeni and Arwa is Egyptian (check Eve's upcoming post for more commentary on this).
In general, Yemeni cuisine is quite different from Middle Eastern cuisine (we will bring you an authentic Middle Eastern food blog post soon). The dishes are more sauce-based. We started the meal with a simple soup broth, to which we added lime juice.
Then, we had an appetizer, which I believe was called shafout, which is Yemeni bread with yogurt and fresh herbs like dill and mint (it looks like fish, but it's bread).
For the main course, we shared several dishes - I tried to remember/look-up the names, but unfortunately I can't figure it out. And the entire menu was in Arabic so that didn't help either. From left to right, the dishes were ground beef with potatoes and vegetables, chicken in a tomato broth, and white fish in a tomato and onion broth. The chicken dish was still boiling when it got to our table!
Also, the bread was HUGE and quite delicious. It tasted somewhat like Indian naan bread.
We also tried raisin juice (white and red), which is a traditional Yemeni drink. At first, we thought the waiter translated it wrong and it was actually grape juice, but it really did taste like raisins so I think he was right all along!
For dessert, we had a sweet bread pastry coated with honey on top (you can see it in the background) and some delicious tea that reminded me of chai tea.
It was a great meal and we had a wonderful time with our local hosts. We were shocked to discover that Kholoud and Arwa were attending a wedding later that night. The invitation had said that the bride and groom would walk down the aisle around 1am (this is not a typo), so they would be fine as long as they arrived before that time. We also heard that the wedding party would only be for ladies, and the men would have their own separate celebration. All in all, both the dinner and the conversation were quite intriguing!
In general, Yemeni cuisine is quite different from Middle Eastern cuisine (we will bring you an authentic Middle Eastern food blog post soon). The dishes are more sauce-based. We started the meal with a simple soup broth, to which we added lime juice.
Then, we had an appetizer, which I believe was called shafout, which is Yemeni bread with yogurt and fresh herbs like dill and mint (it looks like fish, but it's bread).
For the main course, we shared several dishes - I tried to remember/look-up the names, but unfortunately I can't figure it out. And the entire menu was in Arabic so that didn't help either. From left to right, the dishes were ground beef with potatoes and vegetables, chicken in a tomato broth, and white fish in a tomato and onion broth. The chicken dish was still boiling when it got to our table!
Also, the bread was HUGE and quite delicious. It tasted somewhat like Indian naan bread.
We also tried raisin juice (white and red), which is a traditional Yemeni drink. At first, we thought the waiter translated it wrong and it was actually grape juice, but it really did taste like raisins so I think he was right all along!
For dessert, we had a sweet bread pastry coated with honey on top (you can see it in the background) and some delicious tea that reminded me of chai tea.
It was a great meal and we had a wonderful time with our local hosts. We were shocked to discover that Kholoud and Arwa were attending a wedding later that night. The invitation had said that the bride and groom would walk down the aisle around 1am (this is not a typo), so they would be fine as long as they arrived before that time. We also heard that the wedding party would only be for ladies, and the men would have their own separate celebration. All in all, both the dinner and the conversation were quite intriguing!
Thanks for the food post!! You gals are doing an amazing job with this blog. Thinking of you lots!
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