Instead of popping a slice of bagged bread in the toaster, Saudis’ morning bread comes fresh from an underground clay oven. 😳
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Foul (beans) and tamees (bread) are a hearty breakfast staple here (arguably a lunch and dinner staple too 😆). Neighborhoods have walk-up bean and bread restaurants that specialize in just these two items.
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The tamees bread dough is stretched round like a pizza and flung against the side of a clay oven (usually built into the ground) to bubble and crisp up. Because the dough is so thin, it bakes quickly and the bakers spear the circles with a long poker to pull them out and place in paper bags for customers.
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The warm and chewy, yet also crispy, bread is torn apart by hand to be dipped into foul, which is basically a fava bean stew. It’s similar to the consistency of refried beans but a little more saucy. Foul is made by sautéing the fava beans with with garlic, onion, and spices, then finishing with a garnish of parsley, tomatoes and olive oil. 🍲
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You’d be surprised how quickly we got used to eating beans for breakfast. When the meal is so fresh, flavorful, cheap and accessible, it’s hard to resist. The bonus is watching the bread pros speedily fling the dough around and getting a peek inside the clay ovens. 🔥
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I love these aspects of Saudi culture that are tied to old traditions yet persist through time. They make living in a modern 3.5 million person city somehow have a very authentic, local feel.
Our Journey through the Land of Midian in Saudi
When I was a child, learning about Moses in Sunday school and watching VeggieTales and The Prince of Egypt, I thought of places like the
