We believe that our food only tastes as good as our ingredients. That's why we are proud to work with passionate local farmers, producers and artisans.
We source produce from a variety of local farms across the country depending on the season. Seasonal fruits and vegetables come from our partners Mujeb Organic Farms, along with hormone and antibiotic free eggs laid by healthy, happy chickens. Heirloom chickpeas and lentils are sustainably grown by over 40 farmers in the south of Jordan with the support of our sister organization, Al Hima.
Bani Hamida Dairy, our longtime partner, works with shepherds in Macharius to produce pure sheep's milk yoghurt, labaneh, butter and cheese. Al Amal Farms near Jerash also work with local shepherds to make our halloumi and Nabulsi cheese. We also work with artisanal Cheese-makers in Amman, like Robou' Al Azraq in Al-Bayader, who produces a selection of delicious Circassian and specialty cheeses.
We use a distinctly Jordanian Olive Oil, Nabali, named after the oldest olive cultivar, and marked by its fruity aroma. Naturally preserved sun-dried tomatoes, capers and olives are made with love in Jordan by Tuneib Preserves. We make all our pickles and ferments in house, except for our legendary Eggplant Makdous that is made by Um Mohammad in her home (because no one makes it better than she does). We buy our honey directly from Rawabi City, managed by one of the country's leading bee-keepers.
Our Kmaj bread and Manaqeesh are made in house and baked fresh every day. We use a blend of two flours. The first is a locally grown, unsifted whole wheat flour from the north of Jordan that is milled fresh for us every Friday by Ibda'a Al Balqa'a. The second is a Latvian bread flour, which helps make up for the low gluten in local wheat in Jordan. We also buy sourdough and toast from Foron Rex, a local bakehouse specialized in naturally fermented artisan breads.
Our tailor-made coffee blend is freshly roasted by Bunni coffee roasters in luweibdeh. they source high-scoring specialty beans directly from micro-lots at origin and go through strict quality control at the roasters. Beans are always roasted in small batches to ensure greater quality and freshness. Our turkish coffee is prepared using Al Ameed Coffee, which began as a small coffee roasters in 1973 and grew into the country’s most renowned coffee brand.
We serve a selection of local beers starting with Carakale from jordan’s first microbrewery. Founded in 2010 in the town of fuheis, Carakale specializes in a variety of ales and craft beers, handcrafting each brew using only the best ingredients. Carakale is committed to keeping it natural, never using foam enhancers, malt extract, hop concentrate, enzymes, chemical preservatives or malt substitutes. We proudly serve Petra beer from Jordan's first and oldest brewery founded by Mr. Raouf Abu Jaber in the 1960s. Another beer on our menu is Almaza, Lebanon’s leading beer since 1933. The classic pilsner remains a standard bearer today for beer drinkers throughout our region.
We serve local wines from one of the oldest vintners in the country Bulos Zumot. Zumot first started as a vintner in 1954 with a patch of land in Madaba, near the historic Saint George church. Today, his son Omar continues his legacy in ‘organic viticulture’ living by his father’s wise words, “nature is the best engineer.” From their modern day vineyard in Al-Mafraq, the Zumot family produces Arak Zumot and Saint George wines, using sustainable farming and rigorous quality control practices.
Shams El Balad is a celebration of the heritage, land and the people who work hard to protect them for all of us to enjoy.
