Saudi Arabia’s economic diversification thrives amid global uncertainty

Saudi Arabia’s economic diversification thrives amid global uncertainty

CHICAGO: Eating Middle Eastern food has become far more acceptable and popular today than it was more than 20 years ago, say experts in the industry.

Although it appears that the popularity of Middle Eastern food is growing at a pace faster than many other ethnic food products in America, no one is collecting data in a comprehensive manner to demonstrate how impactful that increase has been.

Appearing on The Ray Hanania Radio Show, Middle East food experts Marissa Ziyad, marketing director for Ziyad Brothers Importing based in Chicagoland, and Matthew Jaber Stiffler, research and content manager at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, said that despite the lack of official data, they believe the growth is strong and reflects a robust integration of Arabs and their culture into American society.

“In the late 1880s and early 1900s, wherever there was a concentration of Arabic-speaking folks, there was at least one cafe, coffee house, restaurant. You knew where the community was concentrated,” said Stiffler, who is also director of the Center for Arab Narratives, a national research institution through ACCESS, the largest Arab-American community non-profit in the country.

“Why would you put a place that serves Arab food in an area where