Out and About in Dubai

This weekend while Alicia was slaving away at work, Stanley took me out to see a bit more of the city. We started by driving out to check out a few souks, but ended up just hanging out for a bit in the gold souk. It’s pretty cool seeming so much gorgeous and/or hideously garish jewelry in one relatively small area. Being a bit poor, we mostly just window-shopped, although I did find a totally cute watch of high enough quality that I don’t seem to be allergic to it (as I am to the $20 watches I used to try to wear). I haven’t worn a watch in over 10 years, so I’d forgotten how awesome it is to be able to find out what time it is just by glancing at your wrist. Amazing!

After our time at the gold souk we decided the weather was more appropriate for hanging out in air-conditioned places, so we headed over to Souk Madinat Jumeirah, which is a gorgeous building housing a mall, residence, hotel, and restraurants. We wandered around a bit, took some pictures (including the obligatory touristy Burj Al Arab shot, and then stopped for lunch.
I thought it would be fun to try some “local” food, so we went to a restaurant in the building called Al Makan. This was definitely a mixed experience, with 3 really tasty dishes and one dish that led Stanley to comment “This is by far the worst thing I have ever ordered in a restaurant,” and me to wholeheartedly agree with him. First, the good… We started with an absolutely spectacular Greek salad (which I forgot to take a picture of). I’ve had many Greek salads in my day, and this was definitely one of the best. (I know, I know… Greek salad isn’t exactly “local” to the UAE, but we more than made up for that with the final item we ordered…) Next up was Manakeesh Lahm, a Lebanese pastry filled with “enhanced lamb” (we think “enhanced” just means “seasoned with delicious herbs and spices” rather than referring to any genetic enhancements, but you never know…). This was awesome, with the crispy toasty pastry wrapped around juicy flavorful ground lamb…
Next up was Shish Taouk Irani, which is chicken Tikka marinated in yogurt and saffron then grilled over charcoal to yummy charred perfection. The flatbread on top of the chicken in the picture is topped with a garlicky yogurt sauce that was great with the chicken. So far so good, right? We’re 3-for-3 with only one dish to go…
So, yeah… The menu had a section entitled “From the Heart of the UAE” and I thought it would be good to order one of those dishes to get a bit of local flavor. We ordered Al Harees Meat, which even the waitress seemed to think was a bad idea. She looked at us quizzically and then asked if we’d had it before (no) and if we understood that it was “puréed” (no, but that should be fine… thinking she just meant the meat was ground rather than being in steak form…). I have since learned on the interweb that Al Harees is “one of the most savoured dishes in the UAE kitchen and it involves a lengthy preparation,” and “is quite prominent during special occasions such as Ramadan, Eid and weddings,” so it seems like an OK thing to try, right? Right? So, here is a picture of the dish:
If you’re saying to yourself “Wait. That just looks like sticky puréed oatmeal with oil on top!” then you’re not far off on the final flavor profile... The first words to come to mind when tasting this were “glue” and “oatmeal”… After some discussion, we agreed it’s sort of like puréed oatmeal combined with paper maché paste and some meat juices. Apparently that’s not too far off, as I have since learned a bit more about this very special dish: “Al harees is made by cooking ground wheat in a pot with a pinch of salt, to which the meat is then added. The mixture is then left for long hours until it is fully cooked and the meat is completely dissolved into the wheat.” This is followed by several more long hours until the mixture reaches the “desired” consistency. Fantastic.

Restaurant learning experiences (e.g. If the waitress is horrified/concerned when you order something, maybe you should consider ordering a different menu item…) aside, it was a really nice day and I enjoyed seeing a bit more of Dubai. Stanley and Alicia are back at work today (thus leaving me with ample time for excessively long blog posts) and I should probably go get their dinner marinating so they can have a nice meal waiting for them when they come home… I’m still enjoying this time to myself during the work-week when I have nothing more pressing to do than to prepare some yummy food and mainline coffee…