I had a really fun morning last week while attending a Community Programme at Sharjah Heritage Museum. It was the second of four open mornings, each day with a different theme. The day before had been traditional medicine and volunteers from amongst the visitors had hijama, a form of cupping.

We were warmly welcomed by the local ladies who were hosting the morning and taken to the majlis (sitting room) to enjoy an Emirati breakfast in the majlis (sitting room) which consisted of Tharid, meat and vegetable stew served on layers of Ragag, wafer thin bread, Balaleet, a dish of slightly sweet vermicelli and egg, Khameer, a type of bread and Legemaat, dumplings drizzled with date syrup.

Having eaten our fill of the delicious offerings, we had a quick tour of a relevant part of museum and were shown the tools for making Arabic gahwa (coffee) and some other traditional cooking utensils and spices and herbs.

Next we moved to a sheltered area outside the majlis where tables had been set up with portable gas stoves and pans. a delightful Emirati lady started to instruct us on the best way to make the balaleet we had just eaten.

It was quite intense as it is quite a quick process to get it just right and I couldn’t help feeling I was on Ready Steady Cook or Masterchef!  A very enjoyable morning was had by all, even though we did go home feeling rather stuffed 🙂

Learning to Cook at Sharjah Heritage Museum

See more of Sharjah at our sister blog Why I Love Sharjah