These Saudi restaurants offer a taste of Persia on a plate

The undated photo shows a kabab plate by Alshaya, a famous Persian restaurant in Saudi arabia. (Photo courtesy: Alshaya)
Short Url
Updated 21 March 2023

These Saudi restaurants offer a taste of Persia on a plate

  • Restaurants in the Kingdom offer flavor-packed Persian dishes, including the national dish of Iran
  • Launched in 1999, the Persian restaurant Alshaya has expanded to nine locations around the Kingdom

RIYADH: Persian cuisine is popular around the world for its healthy, hearty and luxurious dishes.

The aromatic and flavorful cuisine includes perfectly cooked fluffy rice, grilled or stewed meat such as chicken, lamb, goat or fish, and vegetables that are enhanced by a variety of nuts, fruits, herbs and rich spices like cardamom, saffron, cinnamon, cloves, sultanas, berries and dried rose petals, among others.

Bordered by Iraq, Turkiye, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Oman and Turkemenistan, Iran comprises diverse ethnicities, with neighboring countries having a huge influence on its food.

Popular Persian dishes include ghormeh sabzi, chelo kabab, dizi, kabab koobideh, khoresht gheymeh, zereshk polo, tahdig, faloodeh and tulumba, among others.




The undated photo shows chelo kabab, a popular dish by Isfahani, a Persian restaurant in Saudi Arabia. (Photo courtesy: Isfahani)

Renowned Saudi food blogger Hisham Baeshen is known for his cooking videos on Instagram. With about 4 million followers, Baeshen makes dishes from around the world, including Saudi Arabia.

Baeshen said that he has cooked Persian food, with his favorite being the national dish of Iran — ghormeh sabzi, a stew prepared with meat and kidney beans with a side dish of zereshk polo, a mixture of white and saffron flavored basmati rice topped with barberries.

“I consider sabzi as the king of Persian foods. With a side order of zereshk rice, which I consider one of the staple dishes in Persian food,” Baeshen told Arab News.

Drawing similarities between Saudi and Persian cuisine, the blogger said: “I would absolutely recommend Saudis cook Persian food at home, because all the materials that you need for the Persian kitchen are available in the Saudi kitchen and the techniques used in cooking Persian food are not very different than the Saudi cuisine.

“Many people have tried Persian recipes and loved them. Honestly — very beautiful and delicious.”

Here are some restaurants in the Kingdom offering a taste of Persia on a plate.

Founded in 1990 in Bahrain, Isfahani has expanded its presence to eight locations across Bahrain and in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, with branches in Dhahran and Alkhobar.

Ahmed Alqaseer, vice president of Isfahani group, said that Isfahani started when his uncle, Elias, gave his father, Jalil Alqaseer, the business.

Ahmed’s father took it upon himself to learn more about Persian culture from top Persian chefs by visiting Iran and Lebanon.

“The most important thing for us is to explore and share is the quality of the food. We keep on tracking, developing and adding more dishes,” Ahmed said.

With many great options to choose from, chelo kabab remains by far the the most popular choice among diners.

“Chelo kabab is the dish that gets the most recommendations and gets sold out the quickest in Isfahani locations and food delivery applications like Talabat,” Alqaseer said.

Isfahani’s target for 2023 is to expand to new locations and focus on its design, ambience and food.

“I want the customers to have a great restaurant experience and taste, as if they are in another world. We keep on developing the food and getting new recipes all while maintaining the quality of the food. The new restaurant will have customers will feel like they are in a very modern Persian restaurant,” Alqaseer added.

Mohammed Abduljabar is the owner of Zahra Zad, one of the only Persian restaurants in Al-Qatif.




The undated photo shows Saffron tea served at Zahra Zad, a Persian restaurant in Al-Qatif, Saudi Arabia. (Photo courtesy: Zahra Zad) 

“We decided to open a Persian restaurant because we saw that there weren’t any in the city of Qatif. The people of the city love Persian food and we wanted to give them something to indulge in,” said Abduljabar.

The soft opening of the restaurant, which is adorned with paintings highlighting Persian culture, architectural style and clothing, took place in February this year.

“We try to capture the true essence and atmosphere of a traditional Persian restaurant through these paintings and decorations. We have all sorts of paintings that symbolize Persian society and dress. Additionally, we added Persian music to add to the ambience.

“I think before starting any project, it is very important for us to study the culture thoroughly so that project truly succeeds,” Abduljabar said.

He added that the most popular dishes are mixed Persian grills — a mixture of beef and chicken kabab — and kashk bademjan, a Persian eggplant dip.

To satisfy one’s sweet tooth, Zahra Zad offers saffron cake and bastani sonati, a rich pistachio ice cream with saffron and rose water.

Taking accessibility and inclusivity into consideration, Abduljabar has kept its ground floor exclusive to people who are unable to climb stairs.

To make the restaurant attractive for customers of all ages, Zahra Zad also contains a shisha cafe.

Alshaya is another Persian restaurant with branches in Riyadh and the Eastern Province. Started in 1999, Alshaya has expanded to nine locations around the Kingdom. The restaurant offers traditional Persian dishes such as kabab, sultani steak and morgh chicken kabab, among others.
 


Energy supply is not a political issue, Hungarian FM Peter Szijjarto tells Arab News

Updated 09 June 2023

Energy supply is not a political issue, Hungarian FM Peter Szijjarto tells Arab News

  • Budapest’s top diplomat claims “failed” EU sanctions are “much more harmful to European countries than to Russia itself”
  • Minister hails “respect-based” Saudi-Hungary ties during visit to Riyadh for anti-terrorism conference 

RIYADH: Peter Szijjarto, Hungary’s minister of foreign affairs and trade, has criticized EU sanctions targeting Russia over the war in Ukraine, claiming they have damaged European economies while failing to end the conflict.

Speaking to Arab News on the sidelines of the Ministerial Meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, held in Riyadh on Thursday, Szijjarto hit out at European critics who accuse Budapest of failing to boycott Russian energy.

“Energy supply is a physical issue, not a political issue,” he said. “It’s impossible to heat or cool down the houses and the flats with ideologies or with political statements.”

Citing Hungary’s geographical proximity to Russia and the current pipelines available to European nations, Szijjarto said his country had little option but to continue sourcing oil and gas from Russia to meet its demands.

“If you look at the infrastructure map of central Europe, when it comes to energy, you will see that because of the physical nature of the infrastructure, Russia is inevitable for us and is extremely important for us, from the perspective of a safe supply of energy,” he said.

“If we cut the Russian resources, then the remaining infrastructure does not have enough capacity to supply us with enough gas and oil.

“So my question, always, to these European colleagues, who are super hypocritical and are (leveling) allegations (against) us, (is) whether they would replace the Russian deliveries with gas and oil, even putting into consideration the lack of infrastructure. If there is no pipeline, how on earth will they deliver gas or oil to us?”

The war in Ukraine has put immense strain on Eastern European nations, which opened their doors to millions of Ukrainian refugees after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February last year.

Another impact of the conflict and the Western sanctions that followed was a sharp rise in the price of energy, food and other commodities — inflationary pressures that have been keenly felt across Europe.

“These sanctions make no sense,” Szijjarto said. “They are much more harmful to the European countries than to Russia itself. They have been introduced with the goal of pushing Russia to its knees, economically speaking, thus making Russia unable to continue the war.

“That was a year ago. What happens now? We are now discussing the 11th package of sanctions, while the first 10 packages have failed, totally failed.

“Russia, definitely they are facing some economic challenges, but I’m pretty sure that we Europeans are faced with more serious economic challenges than them. And, on the other hand, we are not closer to peace either.”

Szijjarto welcomed Saudi offers of mediation between Russia and Ukraine, saying the conflict could be ended only through diplomatic means. He also lauded the Kingdom’s efforts to stabilize world energy prices.

“For us, the most important goal regarding the war in Ukraine is to create peace as soon as possible. It’s very obvious that this war does not have a solution on the battleground. This war only has a solution at the negotiating table,” he said.

“Diplomacy must take over, because if diplomacy cannot take over, then the war will last longer. The longer the war lasts, the more people will die. And we don’t want that. We want peace as soon as possible.

“Therefore, we absolutely appreciate the mediating efforts and the stabilizing role played, for example, by Saudi Arabia, because stability, forecastability in this regard, are reliable partners … (and) have a highly increased significance.

“We hope that mediation efforts put forward, for example, by the Saudi authorities, will be successful in the future and we ask you to continue to do so. The more mediation efforts there are, the more peace plans are being brought forward, the bigger the chance that peace will come.”

The ministerial meeting, for which Szijjarto was in Riyadh, attracted the top diplomats of several countries, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Daesh, as ISIS is also known, seized vast swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014 before the coalition was able to finally dislodge its fighters from their final holdouts in 2019.

The group’s members and sympathizers were also responsible for several mass casualty attacks in Europe and elsewhere, prompting governments to overhaul their security policies and revamp screening protocols for migrants and refugees.

But analysts are now concerned the world’s focus on the war in Ukraine risks diverting attention away from the ongoing threat posed by Islamic extremism.

“Hungary is pretty concerned about the growing threat of terror, because this threat usually causes additional flows, (such as) massive migration to Europe. Such flows constitute a pretty serious risk (to) security as well,” Szijjarto said.

“Since we in Europe are now faced with the challenge posed by the war in Ukraine, another type of security challenge would be unmanageable for us. Therefore, it is of crucial importance for us Europeans that the threat of terror is decreased. And without defeating ISIS, without pushing back ISIS, it’s impossible to (reduce) the threat of terror.”

Szijjarto said he appreciated the Kingdom’s efforts to keep the issue of terrorism at the top of the international agenda and cautioned against complacency.

“We appreciate the role of Saudi Arabia a lot when it comes to the fight against terror, when it comes to the fight against ISIS. And we are really thankful to the Saudi Arabian authorities for organizing the meeting of the anti-ISIS coalition, because we do believe that the efforts of this coalition should now be reinforced on many occasions.

“Whenever ISIS is getting stronger, the flows of migration are getting stronger. And whenever there are more people involved in the flows of migration, the more terrorists are having the chance to come to Europe. An increased threat of terror here usually ends up in an increased threat of terror in Europe.”

In January 2020, Szijjarto said Hungarian companies were well positioned to play a role in Vision 2030 — the Kingdom’s economic diversification and social reform agenda — particularly in the areas of agriculture, housing and electronics.

Asked about progress in the Saudi-Hungary relationship since then, the minister said the decks had been cleared for an expansion of trade and investment.

“The technologies that Hungarian companies and universities and research institutions have basically worked on are very useful from the perspective of the development of the Saudi economy as well,” he said.

“You have made huge efforts here in Saudi Arabia to upgrade infrastructure, but for future development, Hungarian companies are at our disposal as well.

“Saudi Arabia and Hungary enjoy trust-based, respect-based political cooperation without any kind of open issues. Therefore, it’s up to the companies to find a way to each other.

“So, what the two governments can do is pave the way to ensure the necessary legal and financial circumstances and insurances, which we have done. So it’s now up to the companies to take the most possible profit out of this good political cooperation.”

Also high on the international agenda is the crisis in Sudan, where the military and a paramilitary group have been locked in combat since April 15. The conflict has displaced more than 1 million people and triggered a humanitarian emergency.

Saudi Arabia and its US allies have taken the lead in mediation efforts, hosting representatives from both parties for ceasefire talks in the Kingdom’s coastal city of Jeddah.

Szijjarto said a solution had to be found quickly to avoid a fresh wave of migration to Europe, adding that the EU had a role to play in supporting Sudan’s neighbors, which are now home to hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

“We understand that the countries in the neighborhood are now faced with a tremendous challenge posed by the huge number of refugees,” Szijjarto said.

“Therefore, we urge the EU to transfer an increased volume of financial support and assistance to these countries in the neighborhood in order to be able to take care of the refugees, not to lose stability, not to bear too much burden, financially speaking, and not to come to a situation in which the neighboring countries become kind of transit countries. And then the flow of refugees will transform into a flow of migrants. And (after that), it would be a totally irregular set of developments.”

Under the circumstances, he said, “we are interested in stability as soon as possible, we are interested in the people who had to flee to be able to return as soon as possible and for the whole neighborhood to become more stable.”


 


‘Daesh remains dangerous terror actor,’ says French FM Catherine Colonna

Updated 09 June 2023

‘Daesh remains dangerous terror actor,’ says French FM Catherine Colonna

  • Minister for Europe and foreign affairs relays concerns over threat at Riyadh meeting
  • Paris says Daesh is still a threat in many parts of Africa, Afghanistan, and even Syria

PARIS: On the eve of the Ministerial Meeting of the Global Coalition Against Daesh in Riyadh, Catherine Colonna, the French minister for Europe and foreign affairs, said the coalition’s work remains vitally important because the terrorist group “has not abandoned its agenda.”

All members of the coalition participated in the meeting, organized by Saudi Arabia and the US. Established in 2014, when Daesh was at the peak of its power, the coalition has since achieved the bulk of its objectives, having liberated all territories held by the group, first in Iraq in 2017 and then in Syria in 2019.

However, French authorities believe the coalition remains relevant, as the threat has merely changed in nature. The French government has said Daesh “remains a dangerous terrorist actor” in many parts of the world, including Africa, Afghanistan, and even Syria.

Burnt cars are seen in Auno village in Nigeria's restive Borno state after an attack by suspected Daesh terrorists on February 9, 2020. The gunmen also killed, burned and looted before kidnapping women and children. (AFP)

The group “is not currently in a strong enough position to carry out new attacks on our territory” as it did in 2015 and 2016, French authorities said in a recent statement, referring to a spate of mass casualty events.

However, it seeks to take advantage of continued instability, particularly in Syria, but also in certain African countries and Afghanistan, “to rebuild its bases and regain the ability to recruit and project new threats.”

“We are dealing with an group that has not at all abandoned its global agenda,” it added.

The Riyadh meeting was viewed as an opportunity to conduct a security evaluation that will allow coalition military personnel to present their perception of the threat.

French Foreign and European Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna at the meeting in Riyadh on Thursday. (AFP)

Furthermore, the French government believes the focus on the war in Ukraine “should not overshadow the fight against terrorism,” otherwise “we would lose the gains we have made over the past ten years, investing human lives and billions of euros and dollars, which would be totally irresponsible.”

Colonna used the Riyadh meeting to press home her government’s stance, notably emphasizing how the Levant region, the birthplace of Daesh, must remain a priority for the coalition.

She also used the occasion to convey how the threat has evolved and how the response must evolve accordingly.

In this photo taken on February 9, 2019, French soldiers stand prepare to join the "final battle" against Daesh forces from the last scrap of territory it holds in eastern Syria. (AFP)

“It is evident that we are dealing with a group that has voluntarily returned to clandestinity rather than being forced into it” and that it maintains its intention “to reposition itself in a strategy of harassment,” the French government said.

“The stakes are different today, and they consist of preventing the territories that were under the influence of Daesh from falling back under its sway, which requires us to make a massive stabilization effort.”

In this regard, Colonna was keen to emphasize the magnitude and consistency of the French commitment to stabilization, as, since 2017, the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs alone has mobilized 302 million euros, including 170 million euros for Iraq.

This picture taken on February 8, 2023, shows the reconstruction of the Nabi Yunes mosque in Mosul, Iraq, which was destroyed by Daesh terrorists in 2014. (AFP)

egarding logistics, the meeting focused on three geographical themes — the Levant, specifically the Syrian-Iraqi zone that lies at the heart of the international coalition’s traditional activities, Africa, with a significant focus on the Sahel-Saharan region, and finally, Central Asia, where Afghanistan is a key concern.

Ministerial interventions and several stabilization announcements also took place, along with a presentation of the coalition’s diverse activities through its various working groups on combating Daesh’s narrative.

The meeting provided an opportunity for Colonna to hold bilateral talks with her counterparts, including Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Morocco’s Nasser Bourita, Lebanon’s Abdallah Bou Habib, and several African ministers.

After Riyadh, Catherine Colonna traveled to Doha, marking a milestone in the framework of the strategic dialogue between France and Qatar, which covers all areas of the bilateral relationship.

In this regard, Paris emphasizes that “the relationship with Qatar has been extremely strong and on the rise for several years.”

 

Related


Saudi foreign minister meets French, Lebanese counterparts

Updated 09 June 2023

Saudi foreign minister meets French, Lebanese counterparts

RIYADH: Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan met his French counterpart Catherine Colonna on Thursday, on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting of the Global Coalition against Daesh in Riyadh.

They reviewed the strong relations between the Kingdom and France, and ways to enhance ties in various fields, the Kingdom’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The two ministers also discussed the latest developments in the international arena and addressed prominent topics at the ministerial meeting.

Prince Faisal also met today with Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Abdallah Bouhabib, on the sidelines of the meeting.

Prince Faisal expressed the Saudi leadership’s gratitude and appreciation for all the efforts made by the security services in Lebanon for their quick response in freeing the Saudi citizen who had been kidnapped.

During the meeting, the two sides reviewed bilateral relations and ways to develop them in several fields and discussed regional and international developments key issues raised in the ministerial meeting.

 

 

Related


Saudi, Somali defense ministers discuss ties 

Updated 08 June 2023

Saudi, Somali defense ministers discuss ties 

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Defense Prince Khalid bin Salman met with his Somalian counterpart Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur, the Saudi Press Agency reported Thursday.

The meeting discussed bilateral ties and ways to enhance cooperation and coordination in the military and defense fields.

Senior Saudi and Somali officials attended the meeting.


Saudi Arabia highlights its tech achievements at Global Technology Forum in Paris

Updated 08 June 2023

Saudi Arabia highlights its tech achievements at Global Technology Forum in Paris

  • The forum, hosted by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, had the theme ‘Shaping our future at the tech frontier’

RIYADH: During the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Global Technology Forum in Paris on Tuesday, Saudi experts talked about the Kingdom’s achievements in the tech sector.

Saudi Arabia was represented at the event, which had the theme “Shaping our future at the tech frontier,” by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. Its aim was to exchange experiences and ideas relating to developments in the technology sector, policies for the digital economy policies, and innovation, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Daniah Orkoubi, the deputy minister for technology foresight and digital economy, highlighted Saudi Arabia’s efforts to create an advanced digital infrastructure that can rival the best in the world, in line with the goals of the nation’s Vision 2030 development and diversification plan.

She also discussed the Kingdom’s pioneering work to empower women, which has helped to increase female participation in the labor force to 33.6 percent.

Orkoubi also highlighted the Kingdom’s continuing efforts to help bridge the global digital divide, including the provision of satellite and non-terrestrial networks.