Comfort Food: Chips of the Gulf

February 9, 2010 at 12:36 pm · Filed under Roba

I can almost never have a “Hey, remember that funny-looking chips we used to eat as kids?” moment in Amman. When people sit and talk about their experiences as kids in this city, I sit back and have a discussion in my head with my own, different experiences. When my friends get excited about finding a certain candy bar they haven’t had since they were children, I just shrug, as this is the first time I’ve ever had it.

These things, however little, mean that I’m constantly missing out on good conversations.

My Christmas tree lit up yesterday when I found that Moose has found Bafak, and he somehow remembered that I once mentioned that that was one of the chips brands I loved growing up with in the Gulf.

The package was much worse, of course, but I was so happy to see it I gulped the entire bag in seconds (so much for my avoid chips diet).

pufak chips kuwait

Food production in the Arabian Gulf kicks that of the Levant square in the butt. The quality is much better, the flavour is always so much stronger, and there’s a huge variety. I still often crave Al-Safi’s liquid laban, and Herfey’s bread.

But general food craving aside… This post is dedicated to my favorite food brands as a child, since I’m always getting excited about them in my head. Might as well share!

FeshFash, which we used to buy in packs and finish in hours:

http://www.feshfash.com/snack/z3ter.gif

Fishfash came in several varieties including za3tar and peanut flavour.
feshfash

   

And my favorite, which I cannot find a picture of, was called “Salad Chips”. It came in a shiny, super green bag with the illustration of a salad. Not very appetizing, but it tasted amazing.

Many of these images were taken from this Facebook group.






  • http://meshx86.wordpress.com Mesh

    i think the fact of “stronger taste” has to do with gulf people trading with India the lands of spices.

    am still in love with Kitco el 5awatim, i used to put those rings on my hand and humhum them lol

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-854-i_r75o

    Food Technology in gulf countries are much away advances than jordan

  • Abed

    I can relate to everything u posted here, now i wish i can get back to school and eat my kraft cheese sandwich with tasali ketchup chips crumbled up inside it with suntop mango juice and a couple of chocolate footballs or umbrellas (whichever my mom would pack).
    I miss being a kid now :(
    oh well, off to chili ways..
    thnx for an awesome post :]

  • Maya

    This is so beautifully written Roba! Loved it! And thanks for sharing all those beautiful images. I totally miss the liquid Laban, in Jeddah it was Al Marai Laban.. And SUNTOP! OMG!!! Brings so many memories :-)

  • Wafaa

    oh my God, Ruba this is one of the most things i will never forget, i was born in حائل and i remember all these things we used to eat when we were kids, there is also some chips called ورده its so tasty,,,,yam yam

  • Aseel

    awwwww i love fesh fash! its one of my fav chips!
    good times! good times! *sigh*

  • seeba

    OMG these are the stuff that i used to buy EVERYDAY TO SCHOOOOLL IN ABU DHABI !!! ahhh that fruits candy it felt soo real and teh banana always used to make me shock haha
    ahhh childhood hehe

  • Ala’a

    I’m about to move from Kuwait in few days.. this is one of the things i’ll miss :-)

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  • ziad d

    That gum that looks like yellow glass shards brought back so many memories! That stuff used to crumble in my mouth and turn into dust well before it became remotely chewable. The funny part is that we still bought this stuff.
    Still I was a ‘Sinckers’ and ‘lion bar’ person through and through! :) Thanks for the memory jolt Roba!

  • ziad d

    Oh, by the way, anybody out there remember ‘Fan Fair’ or ‘Fan Fer’ (can’t remember the spelling.) It was 4 or 5 wafer sticks coated in chocolate and stuffed with chocolate cream, and was served in a small plastic tray and wrapped in a golden wrapper.

  • Talal

    I just had to respond to this post since, growing up in Abu Dhabi, I can totally relate to how you feel.

    For me, my Gulf Childhood is inextricably linked with: Lacnor mango juice, Aladdin chips, Pofaki Oman chips, Ba6aa6es 9o7aar (SO EFFING DELICIOUS), Coocoo Roocoo wafer bars…and so much more that I can’t even begin to remember.

    I WANNA BE A KID AGAIN!.

  • ziad d

    It was ‘fanfare’ and this is what it looked like:
    http://www.international-chocolates.com/i/amicellichocolate4.jpg

    Sorry for the multiple responses, I guess I am full of sugar this morning! :p

  • http://andfaraway.net Roba

    Mesh, lol, I remember those! :D Amazing! My god, at least you still have access to some of this stuff :( Ya allah shu jay 3a bali laban il Safiiii!!! And askimo il rabee3. 2oft, Gulfian food production rocks.

    Abed, hehe, weren’t the umbrellas disgusting? :D You grew up in Jeddah right? and moved here around the same time I did? 2003?

    Maya, thank you! :) Marai is amazing, but we always had a thing at home where we’d get Marai for regular laban and Saafi for liquid laban. Yummm. R

    Wafaa, I do not remember that chips :( I’m sure it was great :) How old were you when you moved out of 7a2el?

    Aseel, RAHEEB FESH FASH.

    Seeba sab sab, hehe, yeah the fruits candy was awesome. But ouch my teeth hurt at just thinking of them!

    Ala’a, stock up, stock up :)

    Ziad, hehe, I know, kids are funny like that. Lion Bar! I wonder if they still make it? I havent’ seen it in ages. Funny combo of rice crispies and choloate. AND YES! Fan fair! But that wasn’t a part of my childhood :) I remember it from summer in Amman… people used to get it to Saudi sometimes… but we used to like a different one that came in a tin jar. Also wafer “cigarettes” but it tasted much more satisfying. Are you familiar with it? Okay.. wait.. I just saw the image of fan fair.. yeah, not what I’m talking about :) that was a part of my summer experience, which was never good when compared to Saudi chocolate. My mother would pack one whole bag with chocolate and candy for us when we used to come here. The only stuff that I liked: Tutti Fruitti. Remember that?

    Talal, haha, food memories are awesome :) but man, being a kid sucks! I just want all this food again, though I’m sure it’ll be wildly disappointing.

  • http://meshx86.wordpress.com Mesh

    i think they have Kitcko and Fico products in carfour,

    bas regarding Laban, Shanina Taibah wo BAS !

  • http://diana-writes.blogspot.com diana

    HAHA!! Man, I haven’t seen these in AGES!!

  • http://andfaraway.net Roba

    Mesh, sometimes, I feel it would be silly to ruin my childhood memories by realizing how disgusting these foods actually are :) I do want Salad chips though….

    Diana, sa7? :)

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  • http://saudijeans.org Ahmed

    Salad Chips, or Salad Snack as it is now known, is also one of my favourites. So I got you a picture of that green shiny bag, you can find it here. Enjoy :-)

  • shu shu

    Ziad, god I’ve been looking for fanfare, I just love it!
    I wish I could find it, I used to be addicted to it.

  • http://tauqeer-writes.blogspot.com Tauqeer

    Pufak for 50 fils and Sunkist for 50 fils. Best use of 100 fils one could ever dream of.