Riyadh's regional dish
Marqooq is widely popular in the Riyadh region, and on 8 January 2024 the Culinary Arts Commission named it the region's dish under the National and Regional Dishes Narratives initiative, launched in early 2023.
It is also made in the Eastern Province and the central regions in a similar way with differences in preparation, and it is one of the broth-based dishes Riyadh and Qassim share.
Ingredients and method
Marqooq is made from whole-wheat grain and kept to meat and vegetables: the dough is cut and mixed with broth, vegetables and spices until fully cooked.
Its ingredients are close to those of matazeez; the difference lies in how the dough is prepared, cut and combined with the rest. Some hold that matazeez developed from similar dishes such as mathlotha and marqooq.
A winter and Ramadan dish
Marqooq is listed among the winter dishes of Wadi Al-Dawasir Governorate and among the Ramadan dishes of the Aseer region.
The thirteen regional dishes
The Culinary Arts Commission chose the regional dishes for their cultural and heritage value, historical importance, link to the region's geography and food culture, and contribution to the local economy, through specialist committees and in coordination with the regional emirates. The Commission chose one dish for each region: marqooq for Riyadh, saleeg for Makkah, Madini rice for Madinah, mlaihiyya for the Northern Borders, bakeelah for Al-Jouf, muqanah bread for Al-Baha, kubaibat Hail for Hail, al-ruqsh for Najran, klija for Qassim, Hasawi rice for the Eastern Province, maghsh for Jazan, sayadiyah for Tabuk and haneeth for Aseer.