Love Harees? The world will too, with the addition of the traditional Emirati dish to the UNESCO Cultural Heritage List
If you’ve grown up loving Harees, you’re probably more of a gourmand than you realised.
In a big win for Emirati cuisine, the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) has announced that local favourite Harees has been included on the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Also known as jareesh, boko boko, or harisa, Harees is a porridge-like dish of boiled, cracked, or coarsely ground cracked wheat or bulgur, mixed with meat. Most commonly eaten during occasions, festivities, and especially during the Holy Month of Ramadan, it’s grown to be a favourite among locals and expats alike.
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The addition was approved during the eighteenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage at UNESCO in Kasane-Botswana after it was agreed the dish met the criteria outlined in the 2003 Convention.
The United Arab Emirates led the Harees nomination file in collaboration with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman.
The addition marks the fifteenth element inscribed on behalf of the UAE on UNESCO’s lists, continuing a series that commenced in 2010 with the inclusion of falconry.
Yay!
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