Daydreams of an eating and writing life
Okay, technically, Al Mukhtar isn’t really in Dubai. It’s located at the edge of Dubai and a bit into Sharjah. Well, it is in Sharjah. But who cares? Al Mukhtar Bakery is an institution and was not missed as part of my Dubai Last Suppers, which was oh-so cleverly and strategically planned with a certain work related meeting in a Sharjah location. So, of course, Al Mukhtar was a must stop before we trekked back into Dubai.
A Haneeth feast
If there is one thing that the Middle East can do extremely well, it is grilling meats. And it was just fitting to have our official last supper in Dubai at Cabrito Mandi in Umm Suquiem, Al Barsha (our former neighborhood). [Read more...]
“I saw you looking at Jam E Jam supermarket. What’s in there? I saw your head turn and your eyes lit up when we passed that intersection. I saw you!” The Husband quizzically asked me.
Are you seeing what I saw on my fresh from the oven man’ousheh (more popularly known as its plural form, makakeesh)? Don’t those sesame seeds look like clumps of creepy crawlies, a reminder of unwanted infestations in deep dark corners of the house or on our furry friends?
Blech.
Enter the Yemeni battle arena!
The Husband and I don’t agree on many things, unlike some couples, who are completely on the same page on practically everything in life. (But being clones of each other doesn’t make it any fun, right?)
Hence, we argue quite often about food, including which restaurants serve the “best (insert dish here)” And unlike me, who is more open to trying out restaurants (maybe because I am still on googly-eyed curious Dubai newbie mode) , he’s the type of customer that is fiercely loyal to his favorite restaurants, which he has tried and tested through the years he’s been here, and is highly critical of the competition. Good thing about The Husband that he’s open to try at least once, but if the competition doesn’t pass his critical palate’s standards, then bye-bye to the restaurant forever and back to sticking to the tried and tested.
I can be a person, who likes a bit of a challenge, most especially when it comes to convincing people of the best dish or the best restaurant. So I was brave enough to have thrown the gauntlet down on The Husband’s favorite Arabic meat and rice dish: the Yemeni Mandi.
After a long day of back and forth trips to the diagnostic center and the doctor, The Husband decided to stop by the Mandi-han (Mandi restaurant) to feed his curiosity of Madfoon, another Arabic meat dish haunting his meat lover’s dreams.
Yesterday morning, I’ve taken the road less travelled by most Filipinos, perhaps one of the most un-touristy things ever: take part in a cultural breakfast at the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding.
Laban the drink.TRIVIA: Laban in Filipino means Fight.
Laban drink is one of the food discoveries I’ve stumbled upon with the help of my equally food curious Husband. Before I do a tasting of my food discoveries, I try to do a preliminary background research amongst Filipino friends, whose palates, I think, are quite close to mine. So I asked them: How does Laban taste like?
And I always get this answer:
No. This is NOT a cappuccino.
Ever since The Husband introduced this dessert, I’ve been craving and raving about it. I’m not sure where exactly this particular Arabic dessert came from: Egypt? Syria? Lebanon? Morocco? Iran? Iraq? I really don’t! (But would appreciate if someone would enlighten me. I’d thank the high heavens for the inventor of Umm Ali) All I know that it hits the spot so hard that it’s all I think about nowadays…
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