DUBAI: The Middle Eastern dish harees, popular in the Gulf region, has been added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list alongside other practices and dishes from the Arab world.
The name harees comes from the Arabic word harasa, which means to mash or to squash. Just as the name suggests, in the preparation of harees wheat is ground with goat meat or mutton, and then cooked over low heat until it gets creamy.
The list also includes six other cultural traditions from the Arab world, including the Palestinian version of the dabke – the Levant folklore dance, Iraq’s traditional craft skills and arts of building called Al-Mudhif and Lebanon’s man’ouche, the flatbread topped with thyme, cheese or ground meat.
From Syria, UNESCO added the glassblowing technique that artisans use for the craft of creating glass objects from pieces of waste glass using a handmade brick oven.
The list also includes Sudan’s Al-Molid procession, which is a parade that celebrates the Prophet’s birthday. It takes place in the third month of the Islamic lunar calendar.
The last thing on the list is the arts, skills and practices associated with engraving on gold, silver and copper, which is popular in Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Mauritania, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisian and Yemen.
