Last month I was invited by EmiratesNBD Bank to visit Taste of Dubai and review it for them.
Why EmiratesNBD? Well, not only were they sponsoring the event but they also have a very interesting dining privilege program which is called Bon Apétit!

To be honest, I was very excited to visit Taste of Dubai because I have been meaning to do so for the past 3 years and miss out because of family plans.
When EmiratesNBD contacted me, I hesitated at first and after thinking it through I agreed for two reasons:
1- My whole family are loyal EmiratesNBD card holders.
2- I used the invitation as a strong excuse to visit Taste of Dubai and miss on Friday family gatherings.

I was beyond shocked from beginning to end of this vist!
At first, I was the only person who the security wanted to search his/her bag! (Only the Emirati got that treatment) – No I didn’t let him search my bag and I was this close to causing a big scene!!

You could barely walk from how packed the place was, let alone push a stroller!

Taste of Dubai was more like: Drinking in Dubai! An alcohol fest actually!
Don’t judge! I’m not being biased etc but the event planners should have thought that not only non-muslims/expatriates are interested in food related events!
A British friend of mine said: this event is just one more reason for people to drink!

I won’t go on more about Taste of Dubai since I didn’t see much of it. I left very quickly. Some of the worthy stalls were Lafayette Gourmet, Raw Coffee, and gourmetpoint.com.

If you’re an EmiratesNBD card holder, make sure to make use of the amazing discounts in 600 restaurants all over the UAE!
You can read more about it here!

Ever since I set foot in the kitchen I have been on a quest to learn more about different cuisines and how cultures, tradition and sometimes religion impact on people’s life.

This made me want to learn more about baking food from around the globe and every now and then “Emiratize” it!

Living in a fast developing country, which embraces diverse nationalities and cultures puts us in contact (either directly or indirectly) with a huge number of various cuisines, ingredients and of course experience.

All you have to do is look around you and you’ll get a new idea, a new ingredient, a way of cooking you’ve never heard of or even similarities in dishes from some countries with your own.

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It’s Sha’ban, the month before Ramadan (Islamic Lunar Months). As soon as it starts, the anticipation for Ramadan slowly seeps into our bodies and the excitement rises!

The 14^th of Sha’ban which is also called “El Laileh” or “Lailat El Nes” (which means “The Night” or “The night before the half”. The half as in the half of the month which falls on the 15^th); is a day we celebrate here in the UAE.

Children all dress up in traditional Emirati clothes go from one house to another and are given treats.  The candy given is for El Laileh. To celebrate their happiness that Ramadan is near.

As children we were not allowed to go from one house to another asking for treats. I never knew why.
But family and friends used to send us bags of treats, which will last for months!

This year, I didn’t have time to go buy candy to give out. I was too busy planning my anniversary dinner. Hopefully next year! Inshallah!

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I do realize that a whole month has passed without me blogging.
On the 18th of May, my blog turned one!
That’s why I wanted to make something special to celebrate.
Something Emirati…

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It’s inspiring and heart warming when I receive a compliment from a complete stranger…
This happened to me last week… and now… this stranger is a new friend!
We have lots in common and it’s very interesting how our chats are go on and on as if we’ve known each other for years!

Fatma Bin Shabib blogs at Figs & Saffron and her writing style is just very natural!

She agreed to become a contributor at La Mère Culinaire but since my Contributors page isn’t set up she proposed to share a blog post!

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A new friend of mine asked me to guest post on her blog, this got me super excited and honored at the same time. She’s a fellow food blooger, an emirati, and a super Hero (i.e.full time mom) like me! She blogs at LaMereCulinaire. I totally relate to her life, juggling a toddler around is hard, and she does it with an infant on the other hand! I’m freaking out thinking about how I’m going to manage my life around 2 babies!!! I bow to you Arwa…

I’m writing this post right now while my daughter is lying on the couch next to me watching TV in a big mess of cracker crumbs around her, screaming “mommy one!” indicating she’s done with her cracker and wants one more! She’s full, now lets move to feeding mommy and making a bigger mess…. anyways back to the recipe.

Ramadan is knocking our doors and we are getting super excited! Ramadan is a holly month that we get to clean our bodies and souls in. 29-30 days of fasting, praying and asking God for forgiveness,health, safety and anything we want. Its a time where you feel peace and serenity all around you through out the day, its truly a magical time.

Unfortunately it has been mistranslated recently into staying up late till dusk in “arabesque” tents smoking shisha, gossiping, and watching the so called arabic belly dancers. So to all you looking at us from the outside, this is not how we live it, and most certainly the purpose behind fasting and having shorter working days is not sleeping all day and being awake all night.

I ask God to bless us all and bring this month to us in health and prosperity.

I wanted to create something that had an arabic essence, a feel of Ramad about it. I was googling for inspiration and thought about tanini, a favorite ingredient of mine, especially in desserts. I love to have dates drizzled with tahini or some freshly baked pita bread dipped in Tahini then in date molasses for breakfast… yumm!

I immediately imagined the flavor in a cake and started searching for a recipe. I found a greek tahini cake “tahinopita” which seemed very appealing. I tweaked the recipe a bit and came up with this amazing cake that is delicious warm, bursting with orange, tahini and molasses flavors, and even better sliced and baked in a warm oven to give you the most delicious biscottis you have ever tasted.

Tahini Cake (my own recipe)

Ingredients:
2 cups whole meal spelt flour
3/4 cup tahini
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
juice and zest of one large navel orange
1 tablespoon orange blossom water (optional)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/2 cup yoghurt or butter milk

Method:
Preheat oven to 175C, brush your baking pan with tahini, I used a rectangular loaf pan, it really works as an amazing non stick agent.

Sift all dry ingredients together and set aside.

Mix wet ingredients together, add the sugar, orange zest and whisk till well combined. Fold in the dry ingredients gently till its incorporated in the dough.

Pour into your prepared baking pan and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until skewer inserted comes out clean. let it cool for few minutes and serve warm drizzled with date molasses, the cake is not sweet enough to have as dessert on its own, it needs the extra molasses and it complements the flavor of tahini well.

you can also slice it thinly into biscoties and lay on a baking rack and bake in hot oven for 15 minutes till crisp. store in airtight container.

enjoy!

Fatma