DAMMAM: A group of women in the Eastern Province have turned their houses into kitchens for preparing and cooking traditional dishes and delivering them on foot to their customers in the neighborhood. However, some want to find an alternative to having to walk to deliver their food and are seeking loans to help them pay for transport costs. Umm Muhammad, who has been working in the field for more than 15 years in Al-Khobar, is hoping the authorities can help to find a place for her to serve the traditional dishes to her customers instead of turning her small house into a kitchen. She said that because of the small size of her house and lack of transport she cannot cope with the demands of her customers for traditional Eastern and Southern dishes. “My customers are mainly working women who have no time to cook food for their families; and also those who host parties and like to adorn their tables with traditional dishes.” Some women's societies are also customers wanting traditional dishes served at certain social events, she added. Fatima, another woman who serves traditional dishes, said the lack of transportation is a major problem for all the women in the field; because of this they cannot cope with the growing demand. “We are really tired of distributing the orders on foot. The limited income we generate from the business doesn't enable us to buy a pickup or a small truck to deliver the orders.” “It is high time for the authorities to pay attention to our problems and include us on their list of small businesses, so that we become eligible for loans. It should be borne in mind that most of us are breadwinners because we are divorcees or widows.” “This business has enabled me to lead an honorable life without stretching my hands out for alms. Most important of all we are not stigmatized by society. We take pride in our business because we have become productive and earn our living with our sweat.” Umm Abdul Aziz said she generates good income but she declined to reveal the figure. “The job is not easy because we need to secure the ingredients for the traditional dishes on a daily basis which is a tedious and tiresome job.” She said the restaurants which have started hiring Saudi women to cook traditional dishes do not pose any threat to them because their dishes have a special flavor developed over many years. “So we don't fear the competition.”
