Stories from UAE: Food Love

Naila, a 21 year old, petite, Emirati, openly declares, “I love food,” as we sit down to explore where food fits into her life.
Sipping slowly her chocolate mocha shake, she recounts how her passion for food is not a current fascination but is one right from her childhood, “I used have many children’s cook book and be in the kitchen with my mum as a kid. I really enjoy the whole process of cooking.”
As she discusses food, it becomes clear that the whole experience of food – choosing what to have, making the food & eating – is a personal one. In a way, her time with food is ‘me time.’ “Having food is satisfying yourself- you sit, eat & enjoy!”
She goes out once a week with friends. Asian cuisine being her favourite and when asked to describe the food scene in Dubai, she says, “It’s eccentric. There are lots of flavours to try out. But it’s more quantity than quality.”
Knowledgeable about popular western chefs, Naila states, “Nigella Lawson and Nigel Slater are my favourite chefs. I have their cookbooks and whenever I have time and in the mood definitely try out their recipes.” So impressed is she with their style & experience in cooking that when quizzed whether price is an influential factor in purchasing ingredients, she replies, “Both Nigela and Nigel clearly states we need good quality ingredients. For example, when making a chocolate desert, they say get, ‘good quality chocolate.’ This is a true point and so I wouldn’t compromise by buying a cheaper alternative.”
As we move deeper into the conversation, Naila shares that her family is a close knit one, however, everyone has different schedules and they don’t often end up having family meals at the table. They are health conscious & do have traditional dishes at home and some of these include Makbous (yellow rice mixed with chicken) & Marag (watery soup with veg/chicken/fish that poured into rice and eaten). When asked about the role of butter, she comments that butter is not used much in the traditional local food. However, in the traditional desserts they do use their own kind of oil is which made from butter & to which they add spices to.
“We don’t have a ritual at home about cooking/baking so whoever wants to make food goes to the kitchen and does so.”
For Naila, her interest lies in baking desserts & this is where butter features the most. Interestingly, while she mentions her interest is to try out the more challenging dessert recipes & in a month she would bake twice, she categories butter with basic cooking ingredients like salt, flour, sugar and explains she doesn’t go out looking to buy it. “Vanilla Chocolate mousse cake is one of the challenging recipes that I’ve tried out. It came out ok,” she shares with a smile and continues, “I don’t go shopping for butter, it’s always there at home.”
She thinks a bit before answering why butter is in the background. She states wouldn’t use a substitute for butter in her baking & while she does mention Lurpark, she admits not being brand conscious about the butter. “Butter is in our homes already so rather remind me about spreading it on bread; it needs to go a step further. They need to emphasise the difference.”

It seems butter is a not so much a boring ingredient but more a staple & basic ingredient that apart from wanting it in the food there is no extra love for it. In Naila’s case, it seems that to bring butter in the spotlight is to champion butter as being a key ingredient in making food just that much more delectable.