Where to find the best bread in Dubai

I thought this deserved an entry…First, let’s be clear. When I talk about bread, I talk about European style bread – not the middle eastern kind, which is of course great and plentiful here. For a example, when we first arrived from France a few years ago, a good baguette was pretty difficult to hunt down. There is the French Bakery – but I never found it to be reminiscent of a good “boulangerie francaise” unfortunately. In fact, wonder if it is indeed French at all? But since, I have discovered a lot of gems. So without further ado, here is my list:

Crumbs: Although not my favorite, I can’t not talk about this place because every French person in town knows of it. Located on SZR near al Thanya, it has been around forever. Not a true gem, but you can find decent bread and croissants.

Laserre: Laserre is actually a really good Nicois restaurant – much like La Petite Maison – which is how I discovered it. They have a bakery downstairs from the bistro (at La Vida Hotel in Downtown Dubai) and we went back the next day to pick up croissants and some baguettes. Definitely in the top 3.

Cafe Vendome: Cafe Vendome have their main bakery in Al Barsha, but they also have a location in Oud Metha, near the Alliance Francaise. The baguettes are top notch – I highly recommend them. They also do reasonably-priced home delivery.

Cafe Bateel: I know – how would have thought right? It sounds so un-French! Yet, their boutique in Jumeirah sells some of the best bread in Dubai. A bit pricey, but have a nice variety; the fougasses and baguettes are a hit at our house.

Eataly: The bread counter at the back of their Dubai mall store is filled with super fresh baked goods, from pizzas and foccacias to baguettes and brioche. They also sell all sorts of baking ingredients – it is the only place in Dubai where I was able to find good quality typo 00 pizza flour. By the way, the food is superb.

Eric Kayser: So I know Kayser is a big name in Paris, but I was pretty disappointed by their “boulangerie” here in Dubai. Many people swear by their bread, but the two times I went, it was dry the next day. Perhaps I was just unlucky?

Paul Tepper: I haven’t tried this, but so many people rave about his bread that I can’t omit it from the list.

If you have any additions to this list please let me know – I’m always up to trying a new one 🙂

Sweet heaven: Al Samadi Sweets

I must share this little heavenly gem that I found out about a great little on this great little blog, called Little Majlis the other day. It’s called Al Samadi Sweets. And it’s a great place to go if you want to buy some delectable arabian pastries.

Living in Umm Suqeim, I have access to a lot of little sweet shops but most of them sell chocolates (hum…being half-Belgian, I don’t go near local chocolate), dates and nuts. When I left for summer holiday I went throughout all of the Jumeirah/Umm Suqeim area and the best pastries I found were at Abshar, the iranian restaurant. Granted, being half-Iranian, that suited me fine as I consider Persian pastries absolutely divine.

However, when I heard about Al Samadi, I asked my sweet-loving Indian colleague about it, and he told me it was worth a visit – at least once and on an empty stomach.

So off I went and I was not disappointed – the guys there even insisted I taste a few with some cardamom coffee, which I adore. 200 aed and 2 kilos of sweets later, I can’t say enough good things about this place.

The below pistachio cookie pan covered with nougat and dripping with honey tastes even better (and richer) than it looks.

Al Samadi Sweets
Opposite Coral Deira Hotel, Al Muraqqabat Street, Al Rigga, Dubai

(Me being me and Dubai being Dubai, I of course got lost going there, but you’ll find it, it’s right after al Makhtoum bridge if that helps)

The Deira Fish Market

Last weekend, we headed on over to the Deira Fish Market for the first time. Actually, it wasn’t the first time – I had gone previously by accident when I got lost looking for the spice souk but that’s another story. 

Months ago, I had heard that they were going to close this Dubai landmark down, so I decided that it was the right time to go and visit. I was not disappointed. 

(tip) Should you decide to go there, make sure you arrive early – when we went at around 11am, finding a place to park was quite the hassle.

On your way in, there are many men who come and offer to carry a shopping cart around – I hear tourists never use them but many locals tend to – maybe next time, we’ll do that, because you can potentially come out with a lot of stuff.

Before getting inside the fish market, there are several fruit and vegetable stalls and a really really nice date counter. I had never seen such a big variety of dates before – even the kids, who are insensitive to any kind of fruit or veg – were amazed! We opted for some nice Iranian dates (of course), which are really sweet and had a nice smooth texture. Next time I go back to Europe or America I am definitely coming here to get some good dates instead of getting the supermarket ones which pale in comparison. They’re also considerably cheaper…

 

The fruits and vegetables are, by the way, a lot cheaper and fresher than what you would find anywhere else. One day, I will have to do some research on all the different squash people buy here in this part of the world – there about 10 different kinds I see regularly and although I suspect they are mostly used in Indian/Sri Lankan cuisine, I’m really not sure. There were loads of them at the market. 

Now comes the exciting part: the fish.
First of all, the place is huge – in Europe, the fish stall at the outside market is a just that: a stall. Here, we are talking big proportions: there must be 20-30 of them. Check it out:

And that’s just one aisle – there are quite a few of them. The fish seemed extremely fresh and the shellfish looked to die for. We ended up not being too adventurous and got some large prawns and some shari and another local fish. Now, there is one thing that I find extremely annoying :  bargaining. We were negotiating the price for 10 minutes, it was a little ridiculous – and guess what: we still got jipped! When I told my nanny how much we paid for the prawns she said she usually gets it for half the price…oh well, it’s part of the experience I suppose. (tip) When you buy the fish, go next door and get it scaled and cleaned – it costs you a fraction of what it will cost you if the guy who sold it to you does it. Again, not a huge deal, but I felt a bit ripped off. 

When we got home, we threw the prawns on the barbecue and the result was delight. Can’t wait to go back!

 

 

 

Cream of spinach and broccoli soup with seared scallops

I don’t know if it’s because we spent Christmas in France, where it was windy and cold (or at least colder than here in Dubai), but lately, I’ve been in soup-making mood. My latest test was this creamy soup…the scallops add a little bit of elegance to the whole thing, but If you want a simpler affair, you can skip them altogether. 

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Serves 2 people as a main and 4 as a starter

Ingredients:

– 1 head of broccoli

– 3 bunches of spinach

– 1 bunch of scallions

– 1 potatoe

– half a baguette

– 1 or 2 cloves of garlic

– 6 scallops (if starter course, use 8 so that each person gets two)

– a few slices of bacon (I’m referring to american-style can, but you can also use long slices of pancetta)

– salt and pepper to taste

– 2 tbsp of olive oil

– optional : 1-2 bouillon cubes, 1/2 cup heavy or light cream

 

Instructions:

1. Cut up the potatoe in small cubes.

2. Cut up the broccoli and saute with scallions for about 2 minutes with a dash of olive oil in a large pot. 

3. Add spinach to the broccoli mixture for 10 seconds, the potatoe and then cover the whole thing with water (I added 2 bouillon cubes too – but you can just put salt and pepper if you prefer). Let simmer about 15 minutes. 

4. Once you feel the broccoli and potatoe cubes are cooked, take off the stove and let it cool for about 15 minutes.

5. Blend the soup in a blender until it is really creamy. If you want, you can add 1/2 cup of cream at this point. Add salt and pepper if necessary. Set aside.

6. Take a small baguette and cut it lengthwise. Toast it in the oven (or in your toaster if it fits). Once toasted, rub a clove of garlic all over the cut sides. Cut into soldiers so they look like long rectangles. Set aside.

7. In a pan, fry the bacon and set aside on scott towel to absorb all the fat. Empty the pan of its oil (only leave a film of it to saute the scallops in).

8. Dust the scallops with flour. Add salt and pepper to taste.

9. Cook each scallop about 2-3 minutes per side. The cooking time really depends on the size of the scallop. A minute before it is done, if you want, you can add a splash of white wine and let it evaporate. It will give the scallops a nice taste.

10. Take a few of the scallops and roll them in a slice of bacon, making it hold with a toothpick. Leave the other scallops as is.

11. Laddle soup into some nice bowls, plop a few scallops on there and on the side, put your toasted garlic rubbed soldiers.

My favorite salad of the moment

There is nothing I like more than what the French call a “salade composee”, or in other words a salad you could have for dinner without leaving the table hungry. Over the years, my husband and I have been quite fond of eating salad for dinner and depending on the country or region or season, we have our favorites.
In France, we were big fans of “salade perigourdine” that we discovered in the many bistros of Paris. In Nice, we loved having tomatoes, mozzarella and parma ham salad platters. In Canada, I used to love eating a good chicken Ceasar salad. Here in Dubai, we have actually made one up using some of our favorite local ingredients.

For 2-3 people
Ingredients:

A bunch of rocca leaves (resembles arugula), cleaned
1-2 bunches of your favorite lettuce/leaves, cleaned
(I often take mesclun and add a bit of raddichio or some shredded red cabbage)
2-3 small lebanese cucumbers in thin slice
1 cup of cherry tomatoes
1 avocado cubed or sliced
3/4 cup of feta, crumbled (try to get a creamy variety, in Dubai, I ask for the Danish one, which I suspect is not Danish…)
1 red bell pepper, cut up in bite size pieces
Croutons (try frying some pita chips…)

Dressing
1/3 cup of olive oil
3 tbsp of balsamic or cider vinegar
salt + pepper
3-4 tbsp of FRESH herbs: parsley, wild thyme, basil. mint

2-3 Chicken breasts (I usually marinate chicken with olive oil, lemon, thyme/rosemary, salt & pepper for a few hours and grill on bbq – I suggest you do the same)

1 cup of hummous (in Dubai, I get this at the store, because they make it better than I could)

Make the dressing and let it sit for 30 minutes or so.
Grill chicken on the bbq if possible. Slice and set aside. You can actually do this part way ahead of time and just warm it up before using.
Toss all the salad ingredients except the croutons and toss in the dressing until everything is well coated.
Arrange the salad on each plate, add the sliced grilled chicken and croutons or pita chips.

Accompany this with pita and a bowl of hummous that you can dollop on the side of your plate….

Indego by Vineet

Indego by Vineet is a must try Indian restaurant at Grosvenor House in Dubai.

We went there one night as an after thought and it turned out to be one of the best dinners I’ve had in the city since we’ve been here. This restaurant falls into the gastronomic category and it is quite pricey. The chef has 2 Michelin-star restaurants in Europe and you can tell by the menu (and the food) that a lot of thought has been put into the conception of every dish. In fact, I have his recipe book and the recipes are quite complex….

Back to Indego, the atmosphere is elegant, subtly decorated and perfect for either a romantic dinner or if you want to impress clients. For those who want to have cocktails before, I recommend going to Buddha Bar right next door.

Now comes the interesting part: the food. It was delicious and memorable.
Once seated, they brought us the typical Indian chutneys and sauces with pappadams. As an entree I took the kebab platter – don’t be put off by the non-fancy name…it is actually a super refined assortment of 4 appetizers (jumbo tiger shrimp, tandoori salmon, morsels of chicken, lamb stuffed with gorgonzola) that were each cooked to perfection. Honestly, to die for.
Our mains were equally good, especially my husband’s ginger lamb shank. It was a melt-in-your-mouth experience that had the right amount of spice and it was altogether very tasty. My sea bass was quite nice too but it paled in comparison.
We didn’t take any desserts but I was really tempted because they looked so original. I had never seen Indian desserts that sounded so appealing…saffron tiramisu with a cardamom smoothie, chocolate almond samosa, too name a few.
The service was excellent, the waiter was friendly, very knowledgeable about the food and was able to help us pick the right wine, which is not always a given in Dubai, even in high end restaurants.

The delicious ginger lamb shanks....

Thai vegetable & prawn stir fry

I never considered posting this recipe because it feels like something that is almost too easy to have to explain. It is just something I cook up when I’m in a hurry but want something nice. Perfect if you have unexpected guests for dinner or if you just want to change from the usual pasta dish.

Kaffir lime leaves are quite easy to find in Dubai in most supermarkets. In North America and Europe, you would need to get them at an Asian store. The good news is that they freeze quite well. They are extremely fragrant and the taste is much like that of lemongrass.

If you have no time to make the sauce, you can substitute with a ready made stir-fry sauce. You could also skip the marinating, but it would be a shame (and prep only takes 10 minutes). As for the vegetables, feel free to add any that you have in your fridge that can be sauteed (cauliflower, chop suey, shredded carrots or cabbage, etc).

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

For marinade:

1/4 cup vegetable oil
juice of 2 limes
2 tbsp of sesame oil
2 tbsp grated ginger
1 tbsp of fish sauce
1 tsp of soy sauce
5-6 kaffir lime leaves or 1 stalk of chopped up lemon grass

For the sauce:

1/4 cup of vegetable oil
2-3 tbsp of sesame oil
1-2 tbsp of peanut butter
Asian hot sauce
Juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp of ginger

2 chicken breasts cut up into strips/or 10 tiger prawns

300 grams of rice vermicelli

3 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
1 small onion, cut into slivers
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1/2 cup snow peas
1 bunch of pack choi
1/2 cup of broccoli (I have a penchant for broccolini)

Garnish:

Cashews and loads of chopped coriander

Instructions:

Mix all the marinade ingredients in a large bowl and put the chicken or prawns to marinate for 30 minutes.

Just a picture so you can see what the kaffir lime leaves look like

Meanwhile, using a wok, saute the garlic on medium heat in a tpsb of vegetable oil and then add the onions. Don’t let them brown. I usually saute them for about 2 minutes total, you may want to reduce the heat if they start browning or increase the heat if onion still looks raw.

Using the same wok, fry up the chicken/prawns with a few tbsp of the marinade (include a few of the kaffir lime leaves + some of the garlic) on medium heat for about 7 minutes or until cooked through. Prawns might take a little less time.

Add all the other vegetables and saute for about 4 minutes or so and take off the heat.

Mix all the sauce ingredients until the peanut butter is well emulsified.

Bring to boil a big pot of water and add vermicelli until cooked, around 4 minutes. Strain and add to the wok along with the sauce. Toss everything on medium/high heat for about 3 minutes.  Garnish with  coriander and cashews.

Tada!

Ravi’s

If you peruse the web looking for good restaurants in Dubai, you will likely stumble upon a Pakistani curry house called Ravi’s. Cheap, diner-style place located in the bustling neighborhood of Satwa that serves up great Pakistani fare. A lot of people recommend it if you want to experience a more down to earth side of the Dubai restaurant scene. So it was with curiosity that we went there last night with a group of friends.
Luckily, one person in the group was a die hard regular and was able to make a nice selection of all the must haves. Meanwhile, I went snooping around taking some pictures of the kitchens and bread oven (they are like street counters, so very easy to sneak a peek). The two highlights was this very friendly guy sitting on top of a chair stirring some form of curry in a cast iron pot who was quite willing to be photographed and chat.

The other one was this bread oven used to make naan, more like a pit where they throw the flattened balls of dough on the sides and let them bake.

Back on our outdoor table in the sweltering heat, we were faced with a mouthwatering variety of curries, grilled meats, warm breads and dals. The naan was quite nice, and the dal was extremely good. I am not a huge fan of dal, the famous lentil saucy/puree often seen in Indian restaurants, but this one was truly tasty.  The chicken and meat dishes were as would be expected, good, especially the green masala chicken, which was spicy but addictive.
Is Ravi’s better than the average Indian or Pakistani restaurant? Maybe slightly, but above all it is really cheap and the atmosphere is really vibrant and genuine, which is why most people go back I think. Like many restaurants that are not located in a hotel in Dubai, it doesn’t have a liquor license but in 40 degree heat, water was a far better option anyway.

Creamy cauliflower verrine with croutons

Ok, so this recipe has nothing to do with Dubai or its local ingredients but I thought I would post it because it is such a nice little appetizer when you have a dinner party and can be prepared in advance.
If you don’t have truffle oil, you can replace it with another flavored oil that you can even make yourself. I originally saw this recipe in Elle magazine with a curry-infused oil…

What you will need:

– 1 cauliflower, cut into small pieces
– 1 onion
– 1 cup of creme fraiche
– 1/2 cup of milk
– 1 liter of chicken broth
– white truffle oil
– 2 slices of white sandwich bread, crusts removed
– butter

Making the cream of cauliflower:

Saute the onions for 2 minutes on low heat.
Blanch the cauliflower for 30 seconds in boiling water and strain.
Add the cauliflower to the onions and saute for another minute. Cover with the stock (you should be able to just cover the cauliflower)  and let simmer 20 minutes.
Put the cooked cauliflower and 3/4 of the cooking liquid in the blender along with the creme fraiche and milk. Blend until silky creamy. Pour into pot and let simmer 2 minutes. Cool in fridge.

Preparing the croutons:

Cut the bread slices in 1cm cubes and fry them in some butter until golden on both sides. This should take about 2 minutes.

Assembly:

Take small bowls, martini glasses or little cups where you put a few tablespoons of the chilled cream of cauliflower, add a few drops of truffle oil and garnish with croutons.

Shanti makes byriani

Shanti is our maid and she comes to the house a few times a week. The other day, she saw all the spices in the cupboard and I guess must have seen my propensity to buy, prepare and eat food so she suggested she make us a byriani.
She is from Sri Lanka and has spent years in Dubai as a housemaid with various families from all origins so I figured it would be a nice idea. She came by this morning and once in action in the kitchen, slicing onions faster than a blender and smashing garlic cloves , ginger and spices more efficiently than I could ever dream of, I knew she could teach me a thing or two….

I have slightly adjusted the recipe by deboning the chicken because I dislike having chicken bones in my plate and it is more pleasant when you are having people over. As well, Shanti fries the chicken once it has been cooked. I have completely skipped that step because it can slightly dry out the chicken. Of course, you can substitue lamb or fish for this recipe. When I served this, I put some thick yogurt on the table for those of us who wanted to cool down the spicy taste.

What you will need :

– 3 onions
– 5 garlic cloves
– 4 tomatoes, diced
– a bunch of fresh coriander and mint
– fresh ginger – 5 cm piece

– vegetable oil

– ghee or butter

– 1 chicken, skinned and cut up

– curry powder
– turmeric
– cumin powder
– cardamom pods
– chilli powder
– salt, pepper
– 1  cinnamon stick
– cumin seeds
– anis seeds

– basmati rice (around 3 cups)

Preparing the chicken, tomatoe and spice mixture:

Add oil to a pot and saute the chicken on medium-high heat for 2 minutes.

Add 2 onions, 2 cloves of garlic, 2 chopped tomatoes,   2 tbsp of powdered cumin, 2 tbsp of turmeric and 2 tsp of curry powder and 2 or 3 tbsp water, cover and let it cook on medium hear for 20 minutes, adding extra water to prevent the chicken from sticking to the pan sticking. The chicken should be properly cooked through once you are finished with this step and you should have a few tbsps of cooking liquid.  Let the chicken cool down, debone it and return the chicken pieces to the pot with its cooking liquid. Set aside.

Meanwhile, using a mortar and pestle, chop and and make a paste out of the remaining garlic, the chiles, ginger and around 2 tbsp of cumin.

Grind all the remaining dry spices into a powder. You can leave a few cumin seeds and bay leaves whole.

Fry the remaining onions and garlic with some oil in a pan on medium heat until it becomes golden. Then add the remaining chopped tomatoes, the dry spice mixture, whole bay leaves and cumin seeds and let simmer until it becomes a thick sauce, about 10 minutes.  Once this is finished, you add this mixture to the chicken, add the chopped herbs and set aside. It should look like the pic below.

Directions for making the rice :

Put the rice in a big bowl full of lukewarm water and rinse it thoroughly. Repeat 2 or 3 times or until water is clear.
Cook rice in lots salted boiling water for about 5-7 minutes. The rice should be slightly undercooked. Strain it.
Separately, take your saffron strands and reduce to a powder in a mortar. Add this powder to a cup of hot slightly salted water.

Assembling your byriani :

Take a big pot and put 2 tablespoons of butter or ghee. Add a layer of rice, 1/3 cup of saffron water, the chicken mixture, and repeat until there is no more rice.
Cover and put it on low heat for about 30 minutes or until the rice is tender.
To serve, I mix it up a little, add some ghee or butter to it and then pour on a large platter. Use coriander and mint for decoration and if desired some toasted cashew nuts.