Although my husband loves Malaysian food, he wouldn't mind home cooked Arabian meals sometimes. I am grateful that Middle Eastern supermarkets exist in Malaysia so he can never use the "I miss Arabian" food line on me.
One of the things I miss most when we return to Saudi Arabia is Malaysian food. Being married to a non-Malaysian, initially I did not realised that there would be problems regarding food or culture. I had assumed food was the same anywhere else in the world. I mean there are so many non-Malaysian restaurants that we go to in Kuala Lumpur and I really enjoyed those that I've tried here, and I assumed it would be the same in Saudi Arabia.
So when I first got there, I tried everything, there were some I liked and there were some that until now I could never get used to. And in our household, the women folks loved the sour taste too much! Remember those beribu-ribu lemon, in the dish washer advert, that is nothing...I can't remember a day without lemon in the food...It is catastrophic if you say out loud there is no lemon in the house. I mean even the kids would just cut up a lemon and eat it. I cringed everytime my kids do it.
When I first discovered that there was a Malaysian restaurant nearby, I thought I can live here, I was so ecstatic, until I had my first taste of their rendang and sate, they don't cook the same way we do in Malaysia or remotely taste like Malaysian food. So how was I going to survive in my new home? Will I die of starvation? The alternative was to get used to Arabian food, learn to cook or just live on take aways.
Unlike living in Riyadh or Jeddah, where you can easily get home deliveries and things are basically like in Malaysia, minus women are not allowed to drive, in Mekkah where we lived along with the extended family, you have two choices; eat what ever they cook in the house or if you want a KFC, learn to make your own. Because I have to depend on any male family members to drive me (read "hubby but he is rarely home"), I can't have outside food as often as how I live in Malaysia. It is not that we eat out all the time in Malaysia, I love home cook food (read "eat at mum's place) it is just that I have a choice in Malaysia, to cook or not to cook.Whereas, in Mekkah, cook or starve, and with three kids to think of, (and it is not easy because there is only one common kitchen, so if I cook anything, I have to think of others in the house too) I had to learn cook Arabian food.
You must be wondering that surely the ingredients would be available in Mekkah to cook Malaysian food.Why didn't I cook? ...I lived with my in laws and there are like 20 people in the house. My husband's sisters-in-law does the cooking at home in the common kitchen, for the whole family and we all eat together in the main dining hall. They have become accustom to cooking for many and usually take one and a half hours for 20 people (Allah atiqun afiah! meaning God give them good health always). My husband, my children and I would eat anything on the table, no complaints.
If I were to cook Arabian food, it would take me at least three hours and if I were to cook Malaysian food, there would be hungry people in the house. So, I would wait at least until they travel to cook Malaysian food or just keep missing my favourite rendang until I go back to Kuala Lumpur.
Now, we are back in Malaysia, and the situation is reverse. My husband however, doesn't have much to complain. We live on our own, eat what we want, how we want, cook at home, eat at mum's, take aways, deliveries...there is no issue here. And should he crave Arabian food, there is no shortage of Middle East restaurants or supermarkets. All the things he (I mean me/I) needs to cook up an authentic Arabian dish is available. I know how it feels like being deprived of the food you love or having no relatives in a foreign country, so I am grateful I live in a country where others are making it their second home and of course having specialty markets is a boon to hubby and me.
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