September seasonal fruits and vegetables
Look for the exotic jujube fruit in Middle Eastern markets this month.
Middle East
Make your own creamy white malabi, the Middle Eastern Milk Pudding
Rose-flavored sweetness and a light, creamy texture that keeps you dipping your spoon back in – in Israel this pudding is called malabi. In Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt, people call it muhallibieh. The Greeks eat it as well. And it’s only milk pudding, made in ten minutes. Sounds like a dessert for children, […]
Missing Aleppo Peppers
The catastrophic war in Syria and the devastation of Aleppo has resulted in a shortage of – Aleppo peppers. Western chefs and gastronomists bewail the absence of the unique spice in their pantries. Yet before rightly considering that millions of displaced and starving people in Syria endure unimaginable horrors every day, consider the loss of […]
Will U.S. leaving Paris Climate Agreement adversely affect the Middle East?
Concern for our planet due to human caused climate change is definitely not a new subject. Even deceased arch terriorist Osama bin Ladin blamed the U.S. for causing climate change; saying that Arab countries are getting drier due to this. Climate change is also being attributed for rapidly melting Arctic ice caps that are literally rocking world weather […]
Stopping energy leaks in the Middle East
Winter has rolled around again in the Middle East. The colder fronts have moved in, the winds are blowing, and the rains have started – again. After 105 degree heat in summer, it’s hard for us to remember how cold it can really get. And after months of dry spells, that we can suddenly see […]
Middle East plants won’t migrate during climate change
Climate change predictions for the Middle East, like other arid regions of the world, are alarming. In an area known for its water scarcity, rainfall is expected to decrease even further in the near future, spelling disaster for the functioning of unique ecosystems — hotspots of biodiversity and rich genetic fodder for essential crops. To […]
OAXIS: solar-powered hydroponic food belt proposed for the Arabian Peninsula
Most Gulf countries import up to 90 percent of their food, which neither bodes well for food security no climate change – since the food that is brought in from Europe and elsewhere has a lot of what are called “food miles.” True to their name, Forward Thinking Architecture proposes a solar-powered hydroponic food belt as […]
Responsive floating agriculture to feed the Middle East?
Forward Thinking Architecture has designed floating farms for Singapore, a country that shares many of the problems we have in the Middle East – food insecurity, lack of land, and a rapidly growing population. We think this design might be appropriate for our region as well. A subsidiary of JAPA, an ideas lab, Forward Thinking […]
LEED-seeking eco mosque recycles precious ablution water in Dubai
A new “eco-mosque” that seeks LEED silver certification has recently opened in Dubai. Designed to set an example for other mosques and local residents, the Port Saeed mosque can accommodate 3,500 worshippers.
The UAE unveils plans to send the first Arab spaceship to Mars by 2021
Apart from a couple of monkeys from Iran, the Middle East has yet to send a serious mission to space. But Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the UAE vice president and ruler of Dubai, recently confirmed that this is about to change with news that the United Arab Emirates is planning to send a […]
“Smart herb garden” by Click & Grow will make you dumb
I get that a lot of people don’t have any experience growing food and that city people might not have garden space, but so called high tech gardening has gone one step too far with Click & Grow’s exorbitantly expensive “smart herb garden.”
Vertical gardens in Lebanon based on traditional Arabia designs
Green walls and rooftop gardens are great, but keeping them healthy in the Middle East and North Africa can be challenging. Green Studios, whose work in Lebanon we’ve featured once before, has an answer with their patented technology that ensures plants can flourish despite the extraordinary heat in our region. “We wanted to develop something that is […]
Cliche Arab references in Libyan bank design by Henning Larsen Architects
We don’t mean to pick on any one firm here, but a string of repetitive competition proposals has culminated most recently in the Central Bank of Libya design for Tripoli by Henning Larsen Architects. Although they and other foreign foreign firms are making an effort to be culturally relevant, how many desert-like “flowing facades” do we need?
Star Wars 7 “otherworldly” set in Abu Dhabi desert
Actors and actresses are starting to arrive in Abu Dhabi to film a segment of Star Wars 7 in the desert, according to sources close to The National – one of the best regarded newspapers in the United Arab Emirates. How does this fare for the local environment?
Retractable Mashrabiya sunscreens for secret Middle East media towers project
New York’s REX architecture studio has designed a pair of skinny media towers that feature ‘blooming’ Mashrabiya sunscreens that protect against excess solar gain. Mashrabiya is an old Arabian architectural practice to passively cool hot desert buildings.
Floating Majlis meeting rooms made of recycled fishing nets in Dubai
Majlis are the boardrooms of the Arab world. A traditional ‘place of sitting’ often adorned with cushions on the floor, they are used to receive guests and exchange ideas. In the past, nomadic desert dwellers used special tents. Intercon takes a modern approach to this special meeting room with floating Majlis that are moved daily.
Hit the switch and join millions for Earth Hour 2014
It’s Earth Hour this weekend, which means you have the chance to join millions of people around the globe in a united effort to consume less energy.
Dubai, Abu Dhabi ban high energy incandescent light bulbs
After July, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), one of the world’s largest oil producers, will no longer import high energy incandescent light bulbs. And by the end of the year, it will be impossible to buy them. Hit the jump to find out what this means for you.
Burj residents sweat over developer threats to cut A/C and elevator services
Residents of the world’s tallest building in Dubai are being punished over unpaid maintenance fees – some of them unjustly. In order to pressure property owners who have defaulted on their annual payments, developers Emaar warned residents that air-conditioning and elevator service would be cut until they receive their money.
Driverless car partnership emerges between Tesla and Israel’s Mobileye
A decade from now, Tesla is expected to have a suite of driverless vehicles on the road – a feat that wouldn’t be possible without collision avoidance technology. Which means its reported partnership with Jerusalem-based Mobileye is pretty much a no brainer.
5 ways to eat iron-rich nettles
Why would anyone want to eat plants that sting? And iron rich raw nettles do sting. But nettles – best foraged in fall or spring depending on where you live. They are a tasty, nutrient-dense food. People have been eating them since antiquity, and probably since pre-history. Their easily-metabolized iron rich content is so high […]
Wind-powered Tumbleweed robot rolls back encroaching deserts
Desertification has gobbled up huge swaths of the Middle East and North Africa, a fact that Jerusalem-based industrial designer Shlomi Mir knows all too well. So he designed Tumbleweed Desert – a rolling robot capable of spending many solitary years in the desert gathering data aimed at slowing encroaching deserts.
Spicy Iraqi prune cake recipe
I’ve been cooking nonstop out of Nawal Nasrallah’s majestic cookbook, Delights From The Garden of Eden. And my family loves it, because every recipe yields a delicious dish. Like this one.
Oil-rich Abu Dhabi to mobilize climate action at UN Climate Summit
Abu Dhabi will host high level talks in advance of the UN Climate Summit in New York later this year.
Empowered Qatari girls win first GCC hybrid electric car competition
An all-women team of Qatari students won the first GCC hybrid electric vehicle competition held in Abu Dhabi over the weekend. Showing some serious girl power, Gernas 114 from Qatar University beat 10 other teams to become the 2014 TAQA GCC Hybrid-Electric Challenge champions.