How to Enjoy the Best Local Food in Abu Dhabi – Tantalising Treats for the Food Lover

 Abu Dhabi is always an interesting place to visit, offering many attractions for travellers. When thinking of this destination, delectable food does not always come to mind, but the truth is that the Emirate offers many enticing treats for foodies. In fact, your visit would be incomplete without trying out some of the traditional local dishes. Provided below are some of the highlights of the local cuisine that will delight the discerning visitor.

 Taste harees

A great choice to commence your sampling of Abu Dhabi cuisine would be harees. This happens to be a traditional and uncomplicated dish made with meat (typically chicken), wheat and a portion of salt. To make this dish, you must cook ground wheat with some salt, with the meat added later. This combination is allowed to simmer for several hours till the dish is well cooked. By this time, the meat will have broken down completely so that it would have dissolved entirely. That said, the speciality is in the final step; the preparation is placed within a clay pot and buried in the ground with burning coals. The result will be a delicious and filling meal.

Miansari66, Harees, CC0 1.0

 Try machboos

Added to the list of not-to-be-missed dishes in Abu Dhabi would be machboos, another hearty culinary creation with meat and rice. You will find that this dish is prepared with several different types of meat such as beef, lamb, goat, chicken and even shrimp. However, the magical ingredient would be the special combination of spices that transforms it into an extraordinary speciality worth savouring. To make this dish, the meat is first cooked in water along with the spices. Next, chopped fried onions are added, closely followed by a selection of vegetables. After this combination has simmered for some time, more spices and saffron are added; finally, the rice and the other features of the dish are layered together.

 Savour salona

Your experience of Abu Dhabi cuisine would be incomplete without trying out the distinctive salona, which happens to be a hearty meat soup. However, the medley of vegetables that it contains is also part of the substance of the dish. To make this special soup, first, the meat is boiled with onions, after which freshly obtained vegetables such as bell peppers, okra, courgettes and eggplant are added. The final step would be to stir in tomato paste along with a special blend of local spices. On your holiday in Abu Dhabi, best restaurants where you could sample such local dishes include those at properties like Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara; amongst the Middle Eastern favourites on the menu is lamb salona that you should try.

 Experience madrooba

Undoubtedly, a highlight of the local cuisine would be the amazing seafood that is available in Abu Dhabi. You may enjoy seafood grilled, simmered, fried, boiled, poached and so on according to your preferences. One of the outstanding seafood dishes would be madrooba, a traditional dish which is made from salt-cured fish. To prepare this dish, first, the fish is rinsed thoroughly to remove the excess salt; it is then cooked in water with a blend of spices, while flour is gradually added so that the broth is thickened into a savoury yet delicate sauce.

 Enjoy luqaimat

To round off your meal with a sweet dessert, an excellent choice would be luqaimat. Basically, this dish consists of small balls of fried dough slathered with date syrup. You will find that this dessert is an exquisite creation made with special ingredients like saffron and rose water. Even the date syrup will be a delightful concoction. Sometimes, the luqaimat is also rolled in sesame seeds, which adds an interesting texture to it. You will find that luqaimat is delicate and very light, making it a great choice to conclude a meal of local specialities.