Sara Alhamad, award-winning author of Cardamom and Lime: Recipes from the Arabian Gulf has an MA from SOAS and has worked for Saqi Books for many years.
Arabian food is a product of climate and geography, but also of Arabia’s unique location. Sarah described how shipbuilders, merchants, Bedouin ghee-makers, honey and coffee producers, have all influenced the cuisine of the largest Peninsula in the world – from coast to coast. The different geographical regions that either share cuisine or whose food tastes greatly vary, were identified with the assistance of a variety of maps while Sarah talked about the cuisine of the desert plateaus, palm oases, mountain ranges, coastal areas, trading places and bustling, cosmopolitan cities – both ancient and modern. The Eastern Arabian region uses grains, pulses, Indian spices and lamb for its dishes, while the Western Arabian region, to the south of Jordan, grows beans, fenugreek, barley, other grains, and uses honey.
The lecture my be viewed on our YouTube Channel.
