The cuisine of Bahrain consists of dishes such as

biryani Biryani () is a mixed rice dish originating among the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent. It is made with Indian spices, rice, and usually some type of meat ( chicken, beef, goat, lamb, prawn, fish) or in some cases without any meat, ...

, '' harees'', '' khabeesa'', ''

machboos ), ''makbūs/machbūs'' ( ar, مكبوس/مچبوس) , country = Saudi Arabia , region = Arabian Peninsula , creator = , course = Meal , served = , main_ingredient = Rice (usually long-grain, ...

'', ''

mahyawa Mahyawa or mehyawa ( fa, مهیاوه) is an Iranian cuisine tangy sauce made out of fermented fish. History Mahyawa originates in the southern coastal regions of Iran, but has become a popular food item in the Persian Gulf countries, brought by ...

'', '' maglooba'', '' quzi'' and '' zalabia''.

Arabic coffee Arabic coffee is a version of the brewed coffee of ''Coffea arabica'' beans. Most Arab countries throughout the Middle East have developed distinct methods for brewing and preparing coffee. Cardamom is an often-added spice, but it can alternative ...

(''qahwah'') is the national beverage.

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and a ...

is a small

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

state near the western shores of the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...

. Much of the cuisine of Bahrain is a mixture of Arabic, Persian, Indian, Balochi, African, Far East and European food due to the influence of the various communities present, as Bahrain was an important seaport and trading junction since ancient times.

Dishes

Some of the common dishes prepared in Bahraini households are: * ''Masli'' ( ar, المصلي) – rice cooked with chicken, meat, fish or

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are ref ...

with the ingredients cooked directly into the pot * ''Biryani'' ( ar, برياني) – a very common dish, consisting of heavily seasoned rice cooked with chicken or lamb, originally from the Indian sub-continent * ''Fi Ga'atah'' ( ar, في قاعته ) or ' (Arabic: تحت العيش) – white rice cooked with tomatoes, potatoes and eggplant in the bottom of the pan * ''Harees'', ( ar, هريس) – Wheat cooked with meat then mashed, usually topped with

cinnamon sugar Cinnamon sugar is a mixture of ground cinnamon and granulated sugar used as a spice to flavor foods such as Belgian waffles, Snickerdoodle cookies, tortillas, coffee cake, French toast, and churros. It is also used to flavor apples, cereals, and ...

* ''Jireesh'' (''Yireesh'') ( ar, جريش) – a mash of cooked spelt with chicken or lamb,

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

es and some

spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices a ...

s * ''Machboos'' ( ar, مجبوس) – a dish made with

mutton Lamb, hogget, and mutton, generically sheep meat, are the meat of domestic sheep, ''Ovis aries''. A sheep in its first year is a lamb and its meat is also lamb. The meat from sheep in their second year is hogget. Older sheep meat is mutton. Gen ...

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...

fish Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...

served over fragrant rice that has been cooked in a well-spiced chicken/mutton broth * ''Mahyawa'' ( ar, مهياوة) – a tangy

fish sauce Fish sauce is a liquid condiment made from fish or krill that have been coated in salt and fermented for up to two years. It is used as a staple seasoning in East Asian cuisine and Southeast Asian cuisine, particularly Myanmar, Cambodia, Lao ...

* ''Mumawwash'', ( ar, مموش) – rice cooked with green

lentils The lentil (''Lens culinaris'' or ''Lens esculenta'') is an edible legume. It is an annual plant known for its lens-shaped seeds. It is about tall, and the seeds grow in pods, usually with two seeds in each. As a food crop, the largest produ ...

and can be topped with dry shrimp * ''Muhammar'' ( ar, محمر) – rice dish made from local rice with dates or sugar and one of the most distinctive rice dishes in Bahrain, always served with fried fish, especially the net fish of Bahrain * ''Quzi'' (''Ghoozi'') ( ar, قوزي أو غوزي) – Bahraini dish consisting of a roasted lamb stuffed with rice, meat,

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

and other ingredients * ''Falafel'' (Arabic: فلافل ) – a dish consisting of fried chickpeas served as fried balls in sandwiches with vegetables; not originally from Bahrain but it is popular. * ''Al-Mudalal'' (Arabic: المدلل) – rice cooked with herbs and mixed with small pieces of chicken, and then a special kind of butter, which is specially prepared for this dish, is added

Desserts

* ''Ghuraiba'' ( ar, الغريبة) – brittle cookies made from flour, butter, powdered sugar and

cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera '' Elettaria'' and '' Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia. They ar ...

, usually served with Arabic coffee * ''Qirs altaabi'' - dish made of flour, eggs and ground cardamom to make a paste that is heated on a hot surface. * ''Khabeesa'' ( ar, الخبيص) – Sweet dish made of flour and oil. * ''Gaimat'', ( ar, قيمات) or ''luqaimat'' – Sweet fried yeast dumplings soaked in saffron syrup (sugar, lemon and saffron) or honey or date molasses * ''Khanfaroosh'', ( ar, خنفروش) – popular fried dessert prepared using molasses or milk, usually served at breakfast with tea or coffee * '' Zalabia'' ( ar, زلابية) – fried dough soaked in syrup (

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or do ...

lemon The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China. The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culin ...

and

saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma (botany), stigma and stigma (botany)#style, styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly ...

) with a distinctive swirly shape

Typical Bahraini beverages

Qahwah is the national beverage while

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...

is drunk for hospitality. Other popular beverages include ''

laban Laban is a French language, French surname. It may refer to: Places * Laban-e Olya, a village in Iran * Laban-e Sofla, a village in Iran * Laban, Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States * 8539 Laban, main-belt asteroid People ...

'' (a kind of salty

buttermilk Buttermilk is a fermented dairy drink. Traditionally, it was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cultured cream. As most modern butter in western countries is not made with cultured cream but uncultured sweet cream, most m ...

), yoghurt drinks, sharbat (sweet drinks) like the rose sharbat or rose with milk, and

soft drink A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a drink A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common t ...

s. Bahrain produces only a small amount of its food requirements due to limited land space and imports much of its food.

References

Middle Eastern cuisine Arab cuisine {{Bahrain-stub

Dishes

Desserts

Typical Bahraini beverages

See also

References