PART 1: DISCERNING QUALITY HONEY
Riath Hamed founded Balqees in Dubai in order to make it easier to source high quality raw Yemeni honey in the market. He has since expanded the business to premium quality raw honey from bee farms cherry-picked from around the world. Visit their website: balqees.com to get your honey jars online or to find the nearest store in the UAE. Most Carrefour supermarkets and the farmers’ market at Bay Avenue, Business Bay also stock Balqees. Stay in touch with them through Instagram.
PART 2: PALESTINIAN ZA’ATAR AND CHEESE MANA’EESH
Mama’esh is located in Business Bay (google map link). In addition to selling fantastic flatbreads like mana’eesh and fatayer, they also sell fair-trade ingredients like za’atar, freekeh and maftoul produced by women-owned cooperatives in Palestine. At the time of recording this episode, the owner Hussam Al Batta was on track to opening his second branch in Al Wasl by the end of October. We wish him luck!
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Credits
A special thank you to AVProductions for supporting us with their studio so that we could sound like us, and not robots in an aquarium.
Music tracks licensed from Audio Jungle.
Credits for the Mama’esh sound track: Hicaz Zeybek by Seyyah on Free Music Archive.
Arva Ahmed is the co-founder of Frying Pan Adventures, Dubai’s first food tour company, and a celebrated food explorer known for uncovering Dubai’s hidden culinary gems. Her expertise in the city’s diverse food scene has been featured in prominent publications such as CNN, Khaleej Times, BBC Travel, The Sun, The Independent and countless more. She also hosts Ditch the Silver on YouTube. Through her immersive tours and storytelling, Arva brings Dubai’s rich flavors and vibrant cultures to life.
