0:00-1:02 Introduction
1:03-5:06 Coffee Drinking Ritual
5:07-6:42 Welcome Rituals
6:43-8:57 Luqaimat & Regag
8:58-9:59 Overview Of The Cuisine Served Here
10:00-10:41 Kebab Counter
10:42-11:12 Traditional Dance Performance
11:13-13:42 Traditional Emirati Dishes
13:43-22:24 Tasting
22:25-25:26 Relishing Koobideh Kabab
25:27-30:01 Traditional Emirati Desserts
30:02-36:30 Chatting Over A Chai
36:31-37:58 Khaleeji Dance & Fire Stunts
37:59-40.32 Camel Ride
40:36-41:22 Next Episode
During our Dubai food tour, we got the opportunity to delve into the fascinating world of Emirati cuisine under the guidance of our gracious host cum friend Peyman Al Awadhi. He is one of Dubai's celebrated food and travel vloggers and a media professional. For this we went on a day-long excursion to the Al Khayma Desert Camp in Al Awir that introduces visitors to the bedouin heritage, tradition, culture and hospitality. With such a knowledgeable and foodie host alongside, we were all excited for this novel gastronomic experience.
The camp has been set up in the heart of the desert with the best of amenities. The idea behind this facility was to familiarize the tourists and even locals with the desert lifestyle followed by the bedouins. On reaching there we were welcomed by a coffee ritual which is a big part of the Emirati culture. Peyman familiarized us with the whole process that a host follows while serving coffee to his guest.
Next we ventured out to the food section. While heading there we got fascinated by the smell of the loban or a special plant resin which is burnt for fragrance. Next the super hospitable and genial attendants over there offered us some luquamat, fried sweet balls. This was followed by regag, which is a paper thin crepe smeared with various spreads and condiments. The interesting and daunting thing about this classic snack is the way the sticky dough is spread over a hot griddle by hand.
Peyman then led us to the kabab section, where
a whole bunch of meat on skewers were ready to be grilled. Here they serve Emirati, Levant and Arabic cuisines but our focus was on the Emirati cuisine. We then headed to the main buffet area where a plethora of delicacies were spread out for the guests. As Peyman made sure that we get to taste the traditional Emirati fares, we got ourselves some lamb ouzi, chicken machboos and veg saloona and headed to a quite spot to savour it.
He asked us to start with the lamb ouzi which was basically braised lamb served on a bed of rice. The meat was super tender, succulent and very lightly spiced. The rice too was mild in flavour and nicely complemented the juicy lamb meat. Next he suggest us to try machboos which is the national dish of UAE. It was more rich and robust in taste than the ouzi because there the meat is first cooked in a rich onion, tomato and spices based gravy and kept aside. Then rice is then cooked in that broth and finally the meat is mixed with this flavorful rice. Here the rice had more body in it because of the rich gravy. Finally, we ended with the veg saloona which was tart and spicy because of a special spice blend and dried lemon.
After this soul satisfying meal, we finally reached the kebab counter to dig our teeth into some koobideh kebab that Peyman approved as one of the best things over here. The succulent Iranian minced meat kebab right off the skewers paired with freshly baked naan was absolutely magical.
After this we visited the dessert section where we opted for basbousa, aseeda bobbar and umm ali. The former was a soft semolina cake, the second one was a pumpkin pudding and the final one was a puff pastry and cream based sweet dish. The flavours of pumpkin pudding and umm ali were close to the atta halwa and shahi tukda respectively.
After all this heavy meal we went on to have a sulemani chai which is believed to aid digestion. Over this refreshing beverage unfolded a heartwarming and enriching conversation with Peyman. A heartfelt memory that cropped up during this interaction was that of Peyman's meeting with the legendary chef cum explorer Anthony Bourdain when he joined him for Emirati food experience in the city.
This heartening conversation was followed by khaleeji dance performance, fire stunts and a thrilling camel ride. Overall it was a day full of gustatory delights and deep dive into the Emirati culture all because of our super knowledgeable, enthusiastic and genial host Peyman.
/ thealawadhi
About the host:
anubhavsapra.com/
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Texts by Swetaleena Nayak