- [Trevor] This is incredible.
Okay, and then he is covering it with the bread.
- Yeah, see now, see?
- Oh, and then juice on top as well,
the goat juice!
All right, check it out guys,
it's Trevor James,
I hope you are as excited as I am for this episode.
Check it out,
we just got into Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,
super beautiful morning.
I am excited,
we're gonna be going for a lot of local food today.
It's gonna be a lot of fun,
we're meeting up with Hisham Baeshen,
top food blogger here,
who's gonna be bringing us for so much delicious food.
Number one guy, and it's gonna be a lot of fun.
Let's go check it out, guys.
And here he, Hisham, bro!
How are you? - Good to see you!
- Yeah, so pumped man.
- Gonna eat some food, real food.
- Awesome, let's go!
Okay, and now we're just making our way to
a more traditional area of Riyadh.
- Very old one- - For the foul.
- Yeah, the foul- - And the camel liver.
Okay, and here we are.
It's just right up here, right?
- Yeah. - Oh good.
And here we are. - Yeah, yallah, happy.
- And we're goin in for foul!
- Happy and hungry.
- Happy and hungry, yeah! (both laughing)
- But listen, you have to eat the whole dish.
- The whole, okay.
- You have to eat the whole dish.
- Okay. - It's a traditional thing.
You are not allowed to not finish it.
- Okay, let's go.
This is it here?
- Let's check if we have it open.
- How are you?
- [Trevor] Assalamu alaikum.
- [Hisham] This foul been cooked for like 14 hours.
- [Trevor] Oh, here it is!
Wow.
Oh, and then, what's this here?
- [Hisham] This is the salsa. - [Trevor] The salsa.
- [Hisham] With some salt, and some cumin.
- [Trevor] And then some Zaytun olive oil,
looks good.
Wow! Thank you.
And there it is, look at that.
Thanks boss.
Very aromatic.
- You need to taste it.
- Oh, and he's showing us something else here,
what's this, gulabah?
- [Cook] Gulabah. - [Trevor] Gulabah.
- Yeah, it's mixed between foul
and some to tomato sauce.
- [Trevor] And then he puts the salsa, the spices,
the salt and the Zaytun.
- Yeah, Zaytun.
- [Trevor] Gulabah. - Yeah, gulabah.
- [Trevor] Amazing.
And this is the bread station here, right?
- Yeah, the bread station.
Assalamu alaikum.
- [Trevor] Assalamu alaikum.
Look at the size of this tandoor here, it's giant!
It's a massive tandoor and here's the bread.
So he rolls it out-
- [Hisham] Then he, you know, he will use that stick-
- [Trevor] Oh yeah, to put the whole
to aerate it. - [Hisham] Yeah, yeah.
- [Trevor] Wow.
And it goes so deep in that oven.
Oh! - [Hisham] Wow.
- [Trevor] It's so aromatic. (chuckles)
Amazing!
Here it is.
Oh, fresh bread.
- [Hisham] It's coming out, it's coming out.
- [Trevor] Oh, we're gonna dip that in...
Oh, it's huge!
Beautiful, here we are,
let's go eat that foul.
Here we are. - Wow! (laughs)
- So we got two foul,
- [Hisham] This is two foul, and one gulabah.
- [Trevor] One gulabah,
which is a mix between the foul-
- [Hisham] The foul and tomato sauce.
And this one is-
- [Trevor] Extra salsa. - [Hisham] Extra salsa.
- [Trevor] And then is that cumin on top?
- [Hisham] Cumin on top.
- We got the fresh bread.
And you said this is a called a "foul-area".
- Okay, we are in a "foul-area".
This shop is only sells foul.
They are not allowed to sell anything else, only foul.
- Only foul. - Yes.
Let's dig in- - First bite in Saudi,
here we are!
- This is the first bite.
- Oh man, and what really popped out to me
was the aroma of that olive oil.
It smells- - See the color?
See the colors? - The colors, wow!
And there's an Arabic Saudi salsa on there.
- Yes. Yes.
- Let's try it out.
Mmm!
Oh wow, mmm!
That is seriously delicious.
The garlic, cumin, the salt,
the salsa, it's not as spicy as it looks.
It's more aromatic.
- Now you need to try the gulabah.
- Okay.
So this is mixed with a little tomato?
- Yeah.
- Oh man.
Mmm!
I love both, but I think I like the foul.
How about you?
- Wow, so you like this one more?
For me, this is the real foul.
I don't like gulabah.
- Amazing, oh, wow.
And look at this.
He's topping it off with extra olive oil!
Wow. Thank you.
Habibi, habibi. (both laughing)
Ting, you gotta try, you gotta try the foul.
- Mmm!
- [Trevor] Really nice, eh? - It's good.
- [Trevor] It's really good!
- Normally I don't like foul,
but this one's very good.
(Trevor speaks in Arabic)
- [Trevor] It means it hits the heart.
The Tisham's cat phrase. (laughing)
Thank you boss, (speaks in Arabic).
It was delicious!
Okay, what a meal that was!
- Yeah. - Perfect start to the day.
And next up, we're going for camel liver.
- Yes, now.
You have some space?
- [Trevor] Yeah, I could do it, I could do it.
(both laughing)
And this is it here, right?
- Yes. - [Trevor] The camel liver.
- Yeah. - [Trevor] Let's go.
- He's the oldest shop for liver camel.
And it's the first one in Riyadh.
- [Trevor] Right here? - Yeah, right here.
(speaking in Arabic)
- [Trevor] Assalamu alaikum.
How are you? Assalamu alaikum.
So we're gonna get the camel liver
and then what else?
- We're gonna have the Kirsha, the stomach.
- [Trevor] Oh, the stomach! (both chuckling)
Really?
- We're gonna eat the stomach
and also the kidney.
- [Trevor] Oh, all from camel? - Yeah. Yeah.
- [Trevor] Okay, so this is the local camel liver.
Saudi camel liver on the side.
Starting with oil,
and liver going straight on.
- [Hisham] Will be only tomato and then chili.
So you can eat the camel taste-.
- [Trevor] The pure camel aroma.
Oh man, this is good, with chili,
a little salt and cumin, right?
- [Hisham] Yes, that's it, nothing more.
- [Trevor] And that's it. - [Hisham] Salt and cumin.
- [Trevor] It's a quick fry. - [Hisham] Yeah.
- And there it is.
That smell's so aromatic with the cumin, the salt,
the chili, it looks delicious.
- Now we're gonna try. - Let's go.
Look at the camel liver coming right up.
- So, lamb stomach and camel liver.
- [Hisham] Yes.
And when you just sit,
they give you this complimentary.
- [Trevor] What's this?
- It's a soup with a whole wheat-
- [Trevor] Oh! - [Hisham] whole wheat soup.
- [Trevor] Whole wheat soup. - [Hisham] Yes.
- [Trevor] Oh, and there's more.
- [Hisham] Yeah, camel. - Camel kidney!
- Check, check. - Oh, wow.
- How big is it? Very big.
- It's plump.
Okay, so how do we eat it?
- This is whole wheat bread.
- Oh, nice. - Go ahead.
- And then just scoop it.
Take a nice chunk, maybe some tomato.
- Yeah.
- Get some juiciness there.
- [Hisham] See? Or-
- Oh, that's gonna be good iron.
(speaks in Arabic)
Beautiful. - Go ahead.
- Mmm!
Oh wow.
Mmm! Man, that is delicious.
Seriously delicious, like you said,
it's cooked so quickly, right?
So it's still juicy. - [Hisham] Yes.
- And soft.
It tastes similar to beef.
- Tastes like beef, right?
- So next up-
- Now we have the kirsha- - [Trevor] The kirsha.
Which is sheep stomach.
- [Hisham] Yeah.
- And it's cooked in similar spices, right?
- [Hisham] We add extra cumin.
- [Trevor] Extra cumin.
- We call it kamuneah.
- Mmm!
Oh wow.
Yeah, the cumin, the cumin!
The pepper. - And juicy.
- Seriously, really delicious.
- Now we gotta go with the kidney.
- [Trevor] Okay, camel kidney.
I've never tried a camel kidney before.
Let's do it. - Let's do it.
- Mmm. - Mmm.
Wow.
It's good.
- That's even juicier, than the liver.
- Very juicier. - Mmm!
- Oh, this is a gift for you.
- And what's this?
- [Hisham] Arika.
- [Trevor] Arika, what's that?
- Full loaded arika. - [Trevor] Oh, wow.
- [Hisham] It's whole wheat cooked with some ghee,
and they add some cream and cheese and cornflakes, and wow.
- [Trevor] Oh, and is that honey on top?
- [Hisham] Yeah, honey on the top.
- Local honey.
(speaks in Arabic) (both laughing)
Let's try it out.
Mmm!
Oh, wow.
Yeah, you can taste the dates.
Wow, that is delicious.
Milky, sweet, honey.
Full of dates.
- [Hisham] Fennel flour.
- [Trevor] Oh, and the fennel flour.
- [Hisham] Yes.
- [Trevor] And then earthy from that wheat,
and then cheesy as well.
So you just take some of that peppery,
it tastes like a beef fry,
but it's actually juicier.
It's like a juicier upgraded beef.
- [Hisham] Yeah.
So you put it over here.
Right man, that's it.
Yes! - Oh yes!
- And take a bite. - Take a bite.
- A real bite.
- Mmm.
Habibi. (both laughing)
What do you think, Ting?
- This really good.
- [Trevor] The camera kidney?
- I love.
- [Trevor] You love the kidney.
That was just an amazing meal.
And next up we're going for more.
I think we're having a big lamb platter, right?
- Lamb platter, yes, yes.
- Wow, and here we are.
What's up next?
- Yeah, now we're gonna eat makmoud.
- Mamut. - Yeah.
It's meat, slow cooked
in a pressure cooker. - Oh wow.
- Then they take the juice for the meat,
put it in a bread,
and under the bread there's some rice.
- Let's go check it out.
- So it's amiti. - Amazing!
- Juicy amiti! - Juicy amiti.
- And this joint is local, look at this.
Oh man, this is amazing, local meat joint.
- They only use goat meat.
It's a goat. - [Trevor] Only goat meat.
- It's a small one.
- Okay.
And they just invited us into the kitchen.
Whoa!
- Look at this beauty!
So this is where it starts, right?
- So this is the rice. - [Trevor] This is the rice.
- [Hisham] Yeah.
- [Trevor] So cooked in Arabic spices?
- [Hisham] Yeah. - [Trevor] Wow.
And then there it is, that's the raisin rice, right?
- [Hisham] Yeah.
- [Trevor] Oh, there's the goat meat
covered in bread.
The jelly-like goat. - [Hisham] Yeah. (laughs)
- [Trevor] This is incredible.
So what's this dish called?
- [Hisham] makmoud. - [Trevor] makmoud.
Okay, and then he's covering it with the bread.
So it gets the bread soaking up all the goat juices.
Wow.
- [Hisham] Yeah, see now, see?
- [Trevor] Oh, and then juice on top as well.
The goat juice! - [Hisham] Yeah.
- [Trevor] Oh the fatty flavor, oh yeah.
Look at the juice.
- [Hisham] And then this is how they plate it.
Some onion, lemon, and that's it.
- [Trevor] Wow. - [Hisham] That's it.
- [Trevor] And good to go, okay, let's go eat!
Okay so now-
- Let's go and eat, I'm so hungry.
- We're going into the seating area, right?
Just take your shoes off, amazing,
and Ting's ready.
And I'm just loving this super comfy eating area.
- Yeah, yeah.
Now, you will experience everything.
So you're gonna eat with your hand now, right?
- The real local way.
- Yes, very local. - Let's do it.
Look at how comfy this is,
shoes off, hangin out. (H laughing)
You can just sort of lean back.
- Yeah!
- Here it comes, this is ours.
Oh, beautiful!
Shukran, shukran.
Okay, and here we are.
- Yeah.
- Where are we?
- We are at makmoud Bakhlah.
- makmoud, oh, this is the Saudi honey.
- Yeah. - Look at this.
- Tahini. - Tahini.
- Oh man!
- This is salsa, hot salsa.
- Salsa, Arabic salsa.
And this is the-
- Galgal.
- It has three items,
the kirsha, mulsaran, (indistinct).
You translate.
- It's got the caul fat, it's got the intestine
and the stomach, right?
- [Hisham] Yes. Yes. - [Trevor] I think so.
- [Hisham] The stomach, caul fat.
- [Trevor] It smells really aromatic.
I'm just so excited, man.
Look at that!
All the drippings.
Let's eat.
- [Hisham] Put this on the side, like here,
before everything, I want you to eat this.
- [Trevor] The intestine right there.
- [Hisham] Yeah. Yeah.
- Mmm!
Whoa.
Explosive.
Mmm, seasoned nicely.
- Seasoned nicely.
- It's springy and cleaned very well.
- Check how juicy the meat is.
- Oh man.
- See how easy you will pull it?
- [Trevor] Whoa!
- [Hisham] Take some rice.
So this is the first bite, okay?
- Let's do it.
Mmm!
Wow.
Is it spicy or medium?
- [Hisham] Yeah, it's a spicy, a little bit only.
- [Trevor] A little spicy.
- [Hisham] Yeah, put some tahini on it.
- Some tahini, too?
This is a coriander sauce.
With green chili.
- [Hisham] Just mix it together with your hand.
- Now take it with hand and mix it into a ball, right?
- [Hisham] Yeah, into a ball.
Oh, you like chili?
- I love chili. - Whoa.
(Trevor laughing)
- Yeah, let's see.
Yes!
- Mmm.
- It's like- - Spicy.
- Yeah, spicy. (laughs)
- Wow.
- It's like a party in your mouth.
- Mmm, wow.
And seriously, just get a look at this
meat juice pool down there.
It's hubbly, bubbly.
What do you think, Ting?
- It's really good.
- That bit on the bottom's good, eh?
And we're getting full, we put a good dent into it.
We're gonna do our best.
And then tonight we're going for a special,
full on Saudi meal, right?
- Yes. Yes.
- Another Saudi meal, it's gonna be good.
- Wait us, wait us.
- [Trevor] Shukran, shukran.
Thank you, see you, see you, bye.
Okay, and to finish up the night,
Hisham is bringing us to a famous
Najd restaurant, right?
- Yeah, so we are gonna eat
what people eat in Najd.
- Which is a state here, right?
- Yeah. - Let's do it.
- Let's do it. - Let's go.
Wow, look at this beautiful restaurant.
Oh wow.
- This is Saudi coffee.
- Saudi coffee! (laughs)
Shukran.
Mmm!
- That's good, huh? - That's good.
Wow, look at the size.
- Pretend that you are- - So traditionally
you would grind the spices?
- We grind the spices over here,
but usually we use it for
mostly with the coffee.
So we bring the coffee, put it here, you know?
- Amazing. - Yeah.
- Wow, and we just got invited into the kitchen.
Oh wow.
- [Hisham] He's making garsan over there.
This one is the tanoor.
- [Trevor] Tanoor, yeah.
Oh, look at this skill there.
This is called the gursan bread.
Oh, and then they put it on the dome there.
- [Hisham] Yeah. Yeah.
- So you eat this one with the-
- Yeah, just with your hand,
just with your hand.
So it will be meaty
with a gravy meat and some vegetable.
- And some vegetables, oh.
And here it comes.
Wow, it's massive!
- [Hisham] Very crispy.
- [Trevor] Okay, let's try some of that out.
Oh, listen to that crispy sound.
Let's try it out.
Mmm!
Oh, it's like a whole wheat cracker.
- Yeah, it is.
- Mmm.
Here we are going right in the kitchen.
- Yallah. - Let's go, yallah.
Hi chef, how are you?
Nice to meet you, nice to meet you.
What are we making here?
- [Hisham] Ah, this is monosir.
- [Trevor] Monosir?
- [Hisham] Yeah, some people call it (indistinct).
This one, we eat it with some honey.
You know, it's small,
it's like pancake with whole wheat.
Check, he's flipping it right now.
- [Trevor] Oh yeah, nice flip.
- [Hisham] Yeah, he adds some butter and some honey,
some butter and honey, yeah.
- [Trevor] This kitchen is amazing.
- [Hisham] This is what we call it tower bread.
This is towa bread.
- This is towa bread.
- Yes, towa bread, it mean pan bread.
- Wow it looks like it's super rich whole wheat.
Very healthy. - [Hisham] Yes.
See how brown it is?
- [Trevor] Yeah, very brown, very healthy.
- [Hisham] And then we'll put it in the pan.
- Okay.
Oh, and then deep fry.
Oh, and then it's just gonna puff up like a frisbee.
- [Hisham] Yes.
- [Trevor] Look at it puff up!
Wow. - [Hisham] Whoa.
- [Trevor] Wow, look at that.
- Nice, huh?
- Amazing. - Amazing.
We gotta try it right now.
- Let's go, let's go.
Thank you, chef.
Thank you so much.
And then back out to the courtyard here.
It's beautiful.
Hi how are you?
(speaks in Arabic)
- Trevor James.
- How are you? - Good, how are you?
- Say hi. (laughs)
- [Trevor] So we're gonna be eating together.
- Yeah, I brought my help. (laughs)
- [Trevor] Amazing, we need help, we need help.
Shoes off, time for Saudi feast.
Oh man, this just looks so comfy.
Look at this size of this.
Whoa. Wow!
Oh, and you got Saudi dates?
- Saudi dates.
- Number one dates in the world.
- And this one's called Khalasah, you have to try it.
- Oh wow, I think we got some amazing food coming.
- [Hisham] Yes.
- Look at this, oh my goodness.
What do we have here?
All the classics.
- Yes.
- Whoa!
What's this?
- Yes. - Wow.
Whoa.
Oo! What's under the bread?
What's under?
(everyone exclaims)
Okay, oh, wow, and what is this?
- [Hisham] We call it the biha.
- The biha? - [Hisham] Yes, the biha.
- And then two types of rice you were saying?
- [Hisham] Yeah, the red and the white.
- [Trevor] The red rice, white rice covered in fried onions.
- [Hisham] Yes, yes, yes.
- [Trevor] And it's covered in pasta?
Lamb stew, yogurt salad.
- [Hisham] Yogurt salad.
- [Friend] And this one called here, hammis.
- [Trevor] This is hammis.
Boneless lamb with onion?
Oh yeah, we saw that one in there.
(crosstalk)
This one has,
so it's like Saudi bread soaked with lamb sauce?
- [Hisham] Yes. Yes, yes, yes.
- Amazing.
- That one is the delicious whole wheat
cooked with levin, the one we-
- [Trevor] Oh yeah.
- [Hisham] So it's inside.
- [Trevor] What a beautiful spread.
Should we eat?
- Yeah, should we eat?
- Shukran, shukran.
Thank you, guys.
Okay, here we are, so what should we start with?
- Ah, okay, we'll show you now.
See how tender it is?
- Oh, look at that hubbly, bubbly goodness.
- [Hisham] With your hand, yes!
- [Trevor] Just rip it, oh, wow!
Okay. - Yeah.
- Mmm!
Oh! That is-
- Piece of heaven.
- Wow.
Melting, fatty, bubbly goodness.
Whoa, seriously, that was just pure lamb aroma,
naturally flavored.
A little bit of seasoning, a little bit of salt,
but not much.
- Okay. - Now next up,
what are some top dishes?
This one looks really nice.
What's this one called?
- Margoud.
- So it's like a Saudi pasta? - Yes, yes.
- [Trevor] Look at that,
Saudi pasta soaked with the lamb.
- [Hisham] Yeah, with your hand.
- And then what do they got in here?
Some veg, some lamb meat, oh, okay.
You just go in?
- [Hisham] Zucchini, yeah, yeah.
- [Trevor] Oh, hubbly, bubbly.
Just take it down.
Mmm!
- Juicy.
You know what you do next?
You put it over here,
take some, put it over here.
- Okay. - Yeah.
- Take the pasta?
- Take the pasta, put it in the rice.
- That is a rich lamb stew.
- Yes. Yes!
We put it over here.
- Vegetable lamb stew.
Mmm.
Mmm, oh!
- That's crazy.
- The Saudi spices in that rice?
- Yes.
- Combined with the richness of the lamb stew,
and the juiciness of the lamb meat.
- It's amazing.
- That's the top dish of the world right there.
(everyone laughing)
Okay, what should we have next?
- The girish, the girish.
This is crushed wheat.
- [Trevor] Okay.
- [Hisham] They cook it with some spices
and they add buttermilk.
- Buttermilk, and what's on top here?
- Okay, this is onion with black lemon spices.
- Oh! - Black lemon.
- Take a bit down.
- Yeah, take it a bit down.
- [Trevor] So that's onion fried in the dried lemon?
- [Hisham] Yes.
- [Trevor] With a little sugar.
Mmm!
Oh, whoa, whoa.
Oh, it's citrus-y.
A little sweet,
very savory and very hearty.
Okay, and to finish off the meal,
what have we got here?
These are the pancakes we saw inside, right?
- Yeah, the pancake we saw inside.
- Cooked in the butter.
- Say "Marah-sir".
- Marah-sir.
- Yeah, marah-sir. - What a day.
Mmm, wow the honey!
- Whoa, whoa.
- The honey!
It's amazing.
- So guys, hope you like it.
- Yeah, hope you like it.
Make sure you guys check out
Hisham Baeshen's channel,
description below, amazing day.
- Thank you! - Subscribe.
Thanks so much, man.
Lovin Saudi, lovin Saudi.
- I hope you enjoyed Riyadh.
Habibi. - Habibi!
(both laughing)
- Ah, last word, (speaks in Arabic).