Areekah is the mountain dish of Asir, Al-Bahah and Bisha: brown bread baked on an iron griddle is kneaded while hot with pitted dates into a firm brown dough, shaped into a dome, and a well is pressed into its centre and filled with ghee and mountain honey. It appears at weddings and Friday breakfasts; the name comes from 'ark', to knead by hand.
Warm from the southern mountains Southern Region (Asir & Al-Bahah)
Areekah عريكة
Warm brown bread kneaded with date paste and flooded with honey and ghee — the southern Saudi dish of hospitality and cold mornings.
The ReimaginingAreekah Parfait
Layered in a glass: toasted brown-bread crumble, light date mousse, sidr honey and whipped ghee cream, served chilled with gold leaf.
Ingredients
Brown wheat breadDatesGheeSidr honey
Date varieties used
The amber jewel of Al-AhsaKhalas Dates
Khalas is an amber, high-moisture date with rich caramel notes from Al-Ahsa oasis — the signature variety of eastern Saudi Arabia.
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The everyday dateKhudri Dates
Khudri is a dark reddish-brown, wrinkled date with moderate sweetness and an affordable price — among the most widely grown and exported Saudi dates.
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