From dates and barley bread to honey and thareed, the foods the Prophet Mohammed is recorded as eating and favouring tell us as much about his modest character as they do about life in seventh-century Arabia.
It was a time when people adapted to a harsh landscape through dates, grains, preserved meat and seasonal produce, turning what was available into dishes that also spoke of family, hospitality and celebration.
Drawing on authenticated narrations, we look at foods the Prophet ate in different settings, from meals with companions and at home to his wedding feast, and how some of those ingredients and traditions remain woven into the region’s culinary culture today.
1. Thareed
Thareed is perhaps the best-known dish connected to the Prophet Mohammed, according to authenticated narrations.
It is made by breaking bread into pieces and softening it with broth, often with meat added. He is also recorded eating it in an account describing a bowl of thareed served with gourd.
The dish survives across the region in different forms. Emirati thareed still follows the same principle, with rigag bread soaking up a stew of lamb or chicken and vegetables.
Iraqi tashreeb follows a similar method, with bread soaked in a meat or vegetable broth, while Moroccan trid and rfissa and Levantine fatteh also build dishes around bread absorbing sauce or broth.
2. Gourd and dried-meat broth
Anas ibn Malik, one of the Prophet’s companions, recalled accompanying him to a meal in Madinah prepared by their host, an unidentified tailor.
On the table was barley bread and a broth containing dubba, a squash-like vegetable, and qadid, dried or cured meat.
The exact variety of dubba is not identified in the account. Similar vegetables remain common in regional cooking today, where pumpkins and squashes are widely used in stews.
One example is salona, a staple of Khaleeji cuisine in which meat is simmered with vegetables that can include pumpkin or squash, carrots, potatoes and tomatoes.
3. Sweet food and honey
Aisha, the Prophet’s wife, recalled in the compendium Sahih Al Bukhari that he enjoyed sweet food and honey. She also described him drinking honey at home. While the variety is not identified in the authenticated accounts, sidr remains a historical possibility because the tree from which it comes was present in the Arabian Peninsula at the time of the Prophet.
The Arabic word halwa in Aisha’s account meant sweet food generally, rather than the specific confection now known as halva. Classical commentators suggested this could include simple preparations such as honey mixed with water or dates kneaded with milk.
4. Dates with fresh butter
One account in Sunan Abi Dawud, a collection of prophetic traditions, describes the Prophet Mohammed visiting the home of companion Abdullah ibn Busr, where he was served dates and butter because they were among his favourite food.
That combination remains familiar in Arabian cooking and is also found in sweet dishes and comfort food. In Saudi Arabia, hanini is a traditional dessert made by kneading crumbled wholewheat bread or flatbread with mashed dates and drizzling it with hot melted butter or ghee.
An Emirati twist on the combination can be found at Michelin-listed Dubai restaurant Gerbou with its date rengina dish, made with dates, cardamom, date syrup, ghee and butter.
5. Rutab
Rutab, the soft, juicy dates available during the summer harvest season, are mentioned in an authenticated account involving the Prophet Muhammad.
Abdullah ibn Ja'far, one of his companions, recalled seeing the Prophet eat them with qiththa, a long, mild cucumber-like vegetable also known across the Middle East today as faqous and available during the summer months. Rutab differ from tamr, the dried dates more commonly eaten throughout the year.
Fresh rutab still marks summer across the Gulf. In Abu Dhabi, they were celebrated at the inaugural Al Wathba Dates Festival, held this month, with competitions devoted to locally grown varieties.
6. Barley bread
Barley bread was a regular part of the Prophet’s diet, reflecting both the grain available in the region and the modest circumstances of his household.
In one account, Sahl ibn Saad, one of his companions, described how the barley was ground by hand before the husks – the tough outer covering of the grains – were blown away. The remaining flour was then used to make bread.
7. Vinegar
In the authenticated compendium of Prophetic sayings, Sahih Muslim, vinegar is described as a condiment that the Prophet ate with bread.
Jabir ibn Abdullah, one of his companions, recalled a meal in which the Prophet Mohammed asked if there was anything to accompany the bread. When told there was only vinegar, he ate it approvingly and said: “How excellent is vinegar when eaten as a sauce.” The praise has traditionally been understood as reflecting both appreciation for its flavour and gratitude for a simple food placed before him.
Vinegar remains common across the region today, particularly in pickling and preserving. It is used in preparations such as torshi, mixed vegetables preserved with vinegar, salt and spices, and the pink pickled turnips commonly served alongside dishes such as shawarma and grilled meats.
8. Hais
Also known as hasees, it is a sweet dish served befitting the occasion, hais is recalled in Sahih Al Bukhari as part of the feast after the Prophet Mohammed’s marriage to Safiyya.
According to tradition, it is made from dates, aqit, a dried curd, and clarified butter.
Similar flavours are used in Arabian sweets today, such as the popular Emirati dessert bathietha, which also combines dates with flour and ghee.
