Storıes from Saudi: It's a family affair

Um Talal, a 44 year old housewife (6 children), started aggressively by saying, “our culture is unlike other cultures…light food and snacks is not within our cuisine…and if we dare cook light food, our husbands will just walk away.” Cooking is a must at her home…fast food is not allowed, neither canned nor frozen food.

Heavy meals are required on a daily basis…and the big night is Thursday night where all the family gathers end up eating till dawn. Rice of all kinds, Macaroni, Sleek, Maggie, fried fish, Jreesh, Gorsan, Mandi… are constantly done.
Basically margarine is used in cooking heavy meals and Abu Zahra oil or Afia or Mazola is used for frying…all this to satisfy her husband’s needs; Marai butter or any other brand is used in sweets and pastries…which makes it lighter in taste…

As we realize, there is no brand loyalty for butter or oil…according to her, whichever is available (from the mentioned) she just gets…but for her, the available should be of a certain brand or at least heard of it…price is never a problem… Loyalty is shown for margarine…as they are convinced by the culture that heavy food is tastier with margarine (plus fear from husband)…and margarine should be as priority on the shopping list.

Her point of view, “I use margarine with main dishes just to please my husband at least within major meals…then sweets and pastries pass easily without dispute.”
Butter is also used sometimes with jam or cheese as sandwiches to the children.

Um Talal nurtures her cuisine knowledge through TV programs such as, Green Apple, Manal Al-Alam Kitchen…and sometimes through dieticians... She longs for leading an organized nutritious life style…which she finds impossible in the Saudi culture where rice and margarine are the title of any meal.

Shopping is done randomly without a list…Margarine and other major issues are always at the back of her mind. Accompanied by her husband to Danube Hypermarket, they pass around all shelves and pick up what is necessary for the whole week…where as the main shopping (even randomly) is done once a month from different whole sale market.


A food lover family of heavy meals…