Why is it so hard to find local fare in the Gulf?

A VISIT TO the Middle East can feel like one endless lunch. Lebanon offers no end of delicacies. Tour guides in Egypt take their charges for , a bowl full of carbs topped with tomato sauce. A trip to Baghdad requires a stop for , a beloved platter of grilled carp (American troops found Saddam Hussein in 2003 by tracking his fish deliveries).Ask residents of the Gulf countries where to sample Gulf cuisine, though, and you may be met with blank stares. Local fare has long been limited to home kitchens, while restaurants offer grub from everywhere else. One restaurateur estimates that of the 5,000 or so eateries in Dubai, fewer than 1% serve Emirati food. A glance at a food-delivery app seems to confirm this: there are more options for Hawaiian food. It is one of the few places where visitors might spend a week and never eat a local dish.