TRADITION BUBBLES IN KITCHEN OF UMM KHAMAS
Fatima Al Yamahi spends her holy month cooking affordable Emirati dishes to sell at a market in Fujairah
Surrounded by pots and spices, Fatima Al Yamahi starts her Ramadan days by cooking Emirati dishes for many low-income families in Fujairah to break their fast.
In the back yard of her house in a small town called Merbeh, and in the soaring heat, she lights the fire under three large cooking pots.
“I prepare at night before suhoor and, in the morning at around 8.30, I start the cooking process by getting the fire going, preparing spices and heating the pots,” says Ms Al Yamahi, 50, who is known locally as Umm Khamas.
The dishes she prepares include khabees – a sweet dish made of brown flour, rose water, sugar and saffron, and commonly served for breakfast at Eid – and harees, which is made from boiled, cracked or coarsely ground wheat mixed with meat or chicken and then slow cooked.
Ms Al Yamahi spends about six hours each day cooking and preparing more than eight Emirati dishes before taking them to her kiosk at Fujairah’s Ramadan food market, near the fort. “I learnt to cook from my late father, who used to prepare wedding feasts in the old days,” she says.
“I remember standing next to him in front of a large cooking pot filled with meat and rice, which was placed on a pile of burning wood and surrounded by small bricks.
“He used to prepare huge amounts of food to feed more than 300 people. And when I turned 10, he gave me the opportunity to cook my first meal and serve it to some people who were invited over for lunch at our house.
“The way he used to throw the spices over the meat and his unique style in mixing the food made me fall in love with cooking and admire our traditional dishes.”
Ms Al Yamahi mixes brown flour, water, rose water, sugar, cardamom, saffron, cumin and oil to create assida, a sweet dish with a consistency similar to a porridge, which is one of her best-selling Ramadan dishes.
“My customers like all the food, especially assida, harees, luqaimat and sago,” Ms Al Yamahi says.
Luqaimat is a deep-fried dough soaked in date syrup that is often served during celebrations such as weddings and Ramadan. And sago is a sweet, spice-infused pudding.
Ms Al Yamahi is an Emirati single mother of five. Two of her daughters and three granddaughters live with her.
She started selling food at the Fujairah food market five years ago, adding spices that “give the dish a taste from the past that people like a lot”.
The aim was to make everything affordable, with prices for the meals not exceeding Dh20.
Ms Al Yamahi spends six hours each Ramadan day preparing eight or more Emirati dishes for sale at the market in Fujairah. She has also prepared meals for the emirate’s Royal Family
Ms Al Yamahi also prepares feasts for weddings, festivals and sometimes for the Royal Family in Fujairah.
“It’s a great privilege and honour for me to be trusted enough to prepare a full set of well-known Emirati dishes for [the sheikhs’] guests,” she says. “It’s something I’m really proud of.”
Ms Al Yamahi said that she had also managed to support the education of her girls and pay for their schooling fees through her cooking skills. “By practising my favourite hobby and using my cooking skills, I managed to support my family and provide low-income families with high-quality food at low prices,” Ms Al Yamahi says.
“Ramadan is the month of giving and forgiveness. It’s a chance to be there for each other and come together with family and friends, share a special meal and get closer to Allah.”