Food writing students at my class at the Dubai International Writers’ Center.
I’m just back from two weeks away, teaching in Dubai and vacationing in Egypt. I have so much to say about this trip and the foods I ate but I will try to condense it into a few paragraphs:
1. Dubai
This city is a non-stop party for food writers and bloggers. There are dozens of publications to write for, and bloggers get invited to such events as champagne tastings and high-end restaurant openings.
My most scandalous moment came during an interview with Sophie McCarrick, deputy editor of BBC Good Food Middle East, when I dared her to order a dessert called “12 Inches of Pleasure” at Fume, a fancy marina restaurant.
There it is, between us, “12 Inches of Pleasure,” a giant eclair with a layer of salted caramel. Actually, six inches was more than enough for each of us.
I wanted to try Iraqi food and met up with a few of my students from my last trip: Sally Prosser of My Custard Pie, Samantha Wood of FooDiva, Debbie Rogers of Food e magazine Dubai, and Prachi Grover of Orange Kitchens. We gathered at Samad Al Iraqi, an enormous restaurant of gleaming tile and wood and enjoyed masgouf, piles of freshly-baked pita, and salad.
Iraqi chefs slow cook a giant butterflied carp, called masgouf, for an hour while it is impaled on stakes near an open fire.
Oh, I didn’t mention the reason for my trip: over three days I taught two four-hour workshops about food writing and publishing, gave a talk on blogging at the World Trade Center, and coached several students privately at the spectacular Dubai International Writers’ Center.
2. Egypt
A highlight, aside from tours to awe-inspiring temples and pyramids, was dinner at two restaurants chosen by Marigo Gharbawy, a young and beautiful chef who is a colleague of Bethany Kehdy. Our first stop was Zooba, a cheerful casual restaurant serving Egyptian foods like kushari, owned by an Egyptian-American member of Slow Food. Another night we feasted at the gorgeous old-style Abu El Sid, where pigeon stuffed with rice wowed us.
Our feast at Abou El Cid included stuffed pigeon (foreground), a spicy mixed seafood (left), and a veal and rice baked dish (right). (Photo by Owen Rubin)
I could go on, but mostly I want to thank the Dubai International Writers’ Center for making this amazing trip possible. I’ve got another international workshop coming up later this year in Turkey. Life is very very good!
And — for anyone reading — due to a cancellation, there is now one spot open at that Turkey workshop, with the option to bring a non-participating partner to join all activities/meals but not classes.
Your trip sounds great Dianne. Now I want to try kushari. And congratulations for being up and writing less than 24 hours after arriving home!
Yes, Robyn, let’s get that spot filled! Thanks for mentioning. I’m looking forward to another spectacular experience abroad.
Re writing a post, I didn’t post last week, and it was gnawing at me!
Hi Dianne,
While Dubai might be a non stop party it’s also a highly repressive not to mention anti Semitic country. You can’t even’ enter if your passport has a stamp indicating that you’ve visited Israel.
Best wishes
Carol Ungar
Yes, your last sentence is true. Israel has been stamping a piece of paper instead of passports for decades. I remember officials doing just that the first time I visited in 1973, and again when I visited in 2013.
As for being a Jew in both places, I made no secret of it and made it part of my talks and discussions with colleages. I encountered no hostility.
What a dream trip! I’ve now added Dubai pie making workshops onto my bucket list, Dianne.
Why not? You just have to find someone who wants to get you over there teaching pie workshops! Put on your thinking cap.
Custard pie making please 🙂
Thank you for sharing, Dianne!
My pleasure, Rita. A lot of people have Egypt on their bucket list. My husband did, hence our trip. Egyptian people are very welcoming and they love tourists.
tee hee. 12 Inches of Pleasure, I love it! Reminds me of a scandalous new cookbook I saw recently called Meet My Beet. Have you seen it?
Oh I’m glad somebody got a kick out of that. I have not seen this other cookbook you mention, but I like the title.
Absolutely wonderful! Than you for sharing! !!!
Thank you for taking the time to say so, L.
What a great trip! Thanks for sharing the stories with us, Dianne. Glad that y’all returned home safely. I remember my dad talking my mother into cooking a freshwater carp that we caught once while fishing. The only detail I recall was all of the tiny little bones. Much better memories of the Key West “grunts” that we caught.
My pleasure, Eric. We felt very safe in Egypt but then were dismayed to learn about attacks on sites. The Egyptian government is very good at protecting tourists, fortunately.
Re the carp, to be honest, the carp had a freshwater funk that no one liked and the leftovers stayed on the table. I don’t remember lots of bones. I’ve never been to Key West and have not heard of grunts. Just looked them up — they sound good! http://www.tampabay.com/sports/outdoors/grunts-as-good-to-eat-as-they-are-easy-to-catch/1221380
Dianne-this is fantastic and exotic. Stuffed pigeon! 12 inches of pleasure! ha ha I’d love to read more about your adventures. Thanks for sharing.
Those are exactly the right adjectives, Maureen. It was a bit of a whirlwind in Dubai, staying nearby in a traditional guest house — high beamed ceilings, shuttered windows — along Dubai creek. So hot, even at 6 a.m. All the ex-pats I met speak at least two languages, some three or four, and they themselves are very exotic. I met an Algerian married to an Italian who lived in Baghdad, a Finn married to an Egyptian, and and Iraqi married to a Frenchman, among others. Each restaurant was more outrageous and high end than the next. It’s fun to participate in this lifestyle for a few days. Now back to life at home in front of the computer.
Lovely to catch up over carp Dianne. I adore koshari especially eaten at Abu El Sid. Glad you’re back home safe and missed the Luxor incident.
What a treat to see you, Samantha. You are living quite the glamorous life. More power to you! So you have been to Abu El Sid? Remarkable place. So old-school and full of color. Next time we will try the koshari, but it was hard to beat the version at Zooba.
Great to meet up again Dianne – albeit briefly and over the most enormous fish! Egypt is the most incredible assault on the senses. I haven’t visited for several years but keen to return.
Yes it was huge! I was telling friends about it here in the US and they said Americans don’t eat much carp.
Re Egypt, I fell in love with Cairo, particularly. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to go back but I know there is so much more to see and experience.
Had to giggle at your 12 Inches of Pleasure Dessert. 🙂 not what you’d expect to see on the menu there, but quite amusing and looks delicious.
A lot of restaurants there are American outposts of successful restaurants here. Maybe that’s where the idea came from!