Yes, flavour pairings are a personal thing…what people like to eat together, but also what ingredients go with what. They are also based on scientific studies – flavour families with which we’re familiar, like floral of Zobo and Meyer lemons; citrus of oranges and limes and lemons; and on and on and on. The truth is...
I had a good plan to pair this with a Guinness – Palm wine concoction but I spread shards of glass and malted black liquid on some cream tiles this evening instead. A bag delicately held, mindlessly dropped and dreams and thoughts are dashed. Oh well, one less thing to make š and on to...
One. Its acidity. Someday, we might be able to find the best way to make more than scattered cheese curds with the flesh and its liquid. The experiment below involved Agbalumo flesh in a jar, filled with milk and left refrigerated for a couple of days. Two, the liquid extracted from macerating Agbalumo flesh in...
Saffron. Zaafran is the first thing I see – the first thing that lets me know where I am – the Deira Spice Souk in the heart of old Dubai. We’ve gone in the evening, about 6pm. We couldn’t meet the morning opening at 10am. We are after all on holiday. As the souks are closed...
Part of the appeal of going to a new place, any new place for me is the food :). Dubai was really interesting because I didn’t try any hardcore Emirati dishes. I had lots of Lebanese and Turkish and others though. Putting that to one side, I got the chance to try a variety of...
A few nights ago, Lara took me to Barracuda – a popular fish restaurant in Jumeirah 3, Dubai. It is owned by an Egyptian and is established onĀ the concept of ‘selecting’ your own seafood. It reminds me very much of selecting catfish in some Nigerian restaurants, popularly known as Point & Kill. Except in this...
The best pita bread is pillowy, soft, sweet and served warm. Thank you Jedoudna, for all I’d ever known about pita bread has goneĀ to pot. A few days ago, we strolled down ‘The Walk’, seeking where we might feast. At Jedoudna – a Lebanese establishment, we were served basket after basketĀ of the most delicious pita...
The best thing for me about a holiday, any holiday is the drinking of leisurely cups of tea. And for me, quite frankly, the tea culture in the Middle East, Gulf states and North Africa is unrivaled. Except by the Chinese perhaps but this isn’t a discourse on who does it better – this is...
It took me a while to learn the difference between cook and chef. A cook does wonders in the kitchen, without formal training of techniques and cuisines. A chef does wonders in the kitchen, with formal training of techniques and cuisines. I never really wanted to be a chef, not till a couple of years...