Saudi Culinary Arts in Italy and Urth Café Launch

Saudi Arabia is taking part in a culinary festival in Italy, displaying its culinary arts aboard the Taste Ship.

Moreover, the event features foods from Saudi history that are in danger of disappearing and the work undertaken to conserve them by the Saudi Ministry of Culture, as represented by the Culinary Arts Commission.

The Culinary Arts Commission is the conduit for the Saudi contribution to this second Slow Food festival, the Italian city of “Torino” is hosting it. That said, the worldwide event is titled Terra Madre Salone del Gusto and retains the signature of the fifteenth edition.

A Global Culinary Celebration

The festival will take place from September 26 to 30, four days of global delight, with delicacies from all over the world gathered together to deliver a unique cuisine message about sustainability. This year’s edition has the tagline “We Are Nature,” as a call to guests to reconsider nature and people as interwoven parts of the ecosystem, to promote the provision of excellent, nutritious, and clean food.

“The Taste of Saudi Culture” will be the name of the first pavilion that Saudi Arabia has reserved, while “The International Food Atlas” will be the name of the second pavilion. A variety of culinary arts-related events and activities will be on show for visitors to the two pavilions.

Regarding the Taste of Saudi Culture, it collaborates with Slow Food to showcase goods from nearby Saudi villages. Visitors may sample these delicacies and discover more about the Kingdom’s attempts to conserve them in the pavilion’s endangered food section.

In the meantime, the Food Atlas pavilion provides a comprehensive tasting experience by cooking several traditional dishes and serving them to guests. It also includes an introductory awareness presentation about food preservation techniques and the intangible cultural heritage of Saudi Arabian cuisine and cooking. This cultural and intellectual pursuit, linked to authentic Saudi cuisine, serves as a pass to the global gathering.

The Culinary Association will be hosting seminars and sessions throughout the event, where the newest methods and techniques for food preparation in Saudi Arabia will be highlighted. The Saudi delegation is anticipated to take part in these activities.

Urth Café: Medina’s Doorway to Saudi Heritage

The goal is to demonstrate the Kingdom’s culinary culture, spread awareness of it abroad, and present a positive image of Saudi society and its cherished cooking traditions. This is all part of a larger plan that the Saudi Culinary Authority has been implementing since 2020.

The Culinary Authority has made every effort to enhance and promote the authentic food journey in its capacity as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s ambassador, both domestically and internationally. This appears in the recent announcement of the opening of the Urth store, café, and restaurant in Medina, which provides guests with an immersive experience of Saudi heritage.

Urth is eager to enhance the experience of both the visitor and the employee since all the workers in the café are Saudi nationals. The store corner features prosperous Saudi families as its main clientele, and they have shelves showcasing their authentic Saudi goods, like honey, mountain coffee, and cups crafted by Saudi artisans. They also sell rice, Hasawi lemons, Madinah-sourced roses and mint, various herbs, coffee made from date seeds and date sugar, and a host of other locally produced goods.

A Glimpse into Saudi Culinary Heritage

To provide guests with a true taste of Saudi cuisine and an outstanding dining experience, the café and restaurant are eager to serve food from around the Kingdom. The most well-known meals served at Urth Restaurant’s Medina location include the Madinah puff, Madinah rice, Jareesh—a speciality of the central region—and Majroosh—also well-known there—along with a variety of other dishes such salads and main courses.

Together with an array of natural beverages and juices, Urth Café provides a selection of Saudi dessert selections that showcase the most significant cuisine cultures across the Kingdom.

The Urth Café, a heritage food mall, originated in Medina and Jeddah, and soon a third location will open in Riyadh. However, the story of Urth will not end there, as the Culinary Arts Commission has plans to open 13 more branches of the heritage café across the Kingdom.

Since its founding in February 2020, the Culinary Arts Commission has dedicated itself to promoting the industry, turning the Kingdom into a breeding ground for culinary talent and a major source of revenue for the Saudi business community.

It also aims to uphold the values of hospitality and generosity, turn the Kingdom into a destination for distinctive tastes in the Middle East, and enhance the Saudi culinary experience both domestically and abroad by encouraging innovation and creativity.