Arabic Food for Beginners: Gulf vs Levantine Cooking Explained

“Arabic food” means very different things depending on who you ask. To someone who has lived in Dubai or Riyadh it means big platters of smoky rice and meat. To someone who has eaten in Beirut it means a table covered in small plates of dips, salads and grilled meat. Both are right. The Arab world stretches from Morocco to Oman, and its food changes from region to region. This guide focuses on the two styles most people meet first: the cooking of the Gulf and the cooking of the Levant.

Gulf cooking: rice, meat and hospitality

The Gulf countries (Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman) and Yemen share a cuisine built on rice, meat, dates and spice. Meals are often served on large platters that everyone eats from together.

• Rice dishes are the centre of the table: smoky mandi from Yemen, Saudi kabsa, Bahraini and Kuwaiti machboos, and creamy Hijazi saleeg.
• Slow-cooked dishes like harees, wheat and meat cooked to a smooth porridge, are especially loved in Ramadan.
• Sweets are often based on dates and saffron: luqaimat with date syrup, and maamoul at Eid.
• Coffee and dates welcome every guest: lightly roasted, cardamom-scented Arabic coffee and, in modern cafeterias, karak chai.

The signature flavours are dried limes (loomi), cardamom, saffron, cinnamon and a warm blend called baharat. Chilli is used sparingly; heat comes from a tomato-chilli salsa on the side.

Levantine cooking: mezze, herbs and grills

The Levant (Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan) has a lighter, fresher style built on olive oil, lemon, garlic, herbs and tahini.

• Mezze are small plates shared at the start of a meal: hummus, mutabbal, muhammara, labneh, tabbouleh and fattoush.
• Street food includes falafel, chicken shawarma and manakish.
• Grills like shish tawook and kafta are served with bread, salads and garlic sauce.
• Family dishes include maqluba, the upside-down rice, and mujaddara, lentils and rice with crispy onions.

Key flavours: lemon, olive oil, garlic, tahini, sumac, za’atar, pomegranate molasses, parsley and mint.

Egypt and North Africa

Egyptian food deserves its own guide, but two classics appear here: foul medames, the national breakfast of fava beans, and umm ali, the warm pastry pudding. Shakshuka comes from North Africa and is now loved everywhere.

Pantry essentials

You can cook most of these dishes with a short list of special ingredients, sold in Middle Eastern shops worldwide and increasingly in ordinary supermarkets:

• Tahini (sesame paste) for hummus, sauces and dips.
• Sumac, a tart red spice, for salads and onions.
• Za’atar, a thyme, sumac and sesame blend, for bread and labneh.
• Pomegranate molasses for dressings and stews.
• Dried limes and baharat for Gulf rice dishes.
• Bulgur and dried chickpeas, both cheap and versatile.

Each recipe on this site lists substitutes where an ingredient is hard to find.

Where to start

If you’re new to Arabic cooking, start with hummus and chicken shawarma for a Levantine evening, or kabsa for a one-pot Gulf dinner. Add fattoush and finish with dates and Arabic coffee.

A note for South Asian cooks

Much of Arabic food will feel like home. Harees is the ancestor of haleem; mujaddara is close to khichdi; mandi uses the same charcoal smoke trick as dhungar; and karak chai came from our own doodh patti. The main difference is that Arabic food is generally milder, relying on lemon, herbs and warm spices rather than chilli and garam masala. For a deeper look at the Gulf rice dishes, read mandi vs kabsa vs machboos.