You are one of the world's leading chefs and you want to create that special dish using luxury ingredients for your new restaurant in the Middle East.
What can it be? Alain Ducasse has the answer: camel.
Braised for six days and served with foie gras, soufflé potatoes and truffle sauce, it is the standout dish at Idam, housed within the Museum of Islamic Art in the Qatari capital of Doha. No alcohol is served and there's no wine in the cooking.
"The camels can't be too young or too old," Mr Ducasse, 56, says sitting in the dining room.
He says the dish took months to perfect with his executive chef, Romain Meder. At 320 riyals (Dh322.8) it is the top-priced main course.
You might order it after a starter of marinated bonito fish from the Arabian Gulf, with lemon and gold caviar.
That costs 225 riyals. Most mezze dishes cost between 45 and 90 riyals. Idam, which can seat 60 guests, is Mr Ducasse's first restaurant in the Middle East and took 18 months to develop.
"The camel dish is a local adaptation of a Rossini," he says.
"We work locally with the meat, which is precious here. It's very, very high end.
"We hang it in the fridge for three to four weeks and we slow cook it, braise it, for six days to reach the level of tenderness: five days at one temperature and the last day a little higher to fix the colour.
"When we go somewhere, we don't impose: we propose. It's a dish that the locals really like. It's like braised spare ribs but there's no red wine. There's no wine in anything.
"The jus that results from the braising is a natural jus from the meat itself and the vegetables that accompany it."
It's hours before the official opening VIP banquet and Mr Ducasse is looking relaxed. He's dressed in his chef's whites and talks happily in French through an interpreter, except when she is called away and he switches to English.
The restaurant is designed by Philippe Starck, who was present for the opening and was in philosophical mood.
"My job is to manage the energy," he said of the space.
"I've used no colour, except for some glassware. It's the people who will bring the colour. I love life, and all my life I've believed in the idea of democratic design. Everyone can leave here with a memory," he says.
"What could be more democratic than that?"
It's difficult to imagine anyone leaving the museum without many memories. The architecture, by IMPei, is spectacular in its beauty and harmony.
The museum stands on an artificial island reached by bridges and features a five-storey atrium. The restaurant is on an upper floor, with a view into the atrium on one side and out to the Arabian Sea on the other.
Mr Ducasse says it was a challenge to create a restaurant where wine is not served. He and his team developed a range of drinks with different levels of sweetness and acidity to complement the dishes. With the camel, you might try So Good, a mix of white grape juice, tonic, iced tea and rose syrup.
Mr Meder, his executive chef, travelled across North Africa and the Middle East to widen his knowledge of local flavours.
"It's contemporary French cuisine with a mix of taste and spices from the Middle East," Mr Ducasse says.
"In spirit, we're closer to the cuisine that we could imagine to do in Monaco than the cuisine we do in Paris at the Plaza Athenee."
He is very much in demand, with more than 20 restaurants worldwide. He arrived from Chicago for the January 26 opening of Idam and he is developing a restaurant called Rivea at the Hotel Byblos in Saint Tropez.
He has not given up on the idea of a fine-dining restaurant in New York, where he closed Adour at the St Regis in November.
"Adour is over: it's a liberation," he says.
"It was very difficult with the restaurant and the hotel being unionised. It was becoming impossible to operate a restaurant, so it's good news," he says.
"We're looking for somewhere now but not in a hotel."
Guests at the opening banquet were served about a dozen dishes, including chickpeas and lentils harira; preserved duck foie gras, date-sesame citrus; roasted Brittany lobster, zaalouk-style courgette, stuffed flower; and camel shank.
Will camel catch on? Mr Ducasse says he could imagine serving it in London, where many people travel from the Middle East.
Maybe even locals would get a taste for it - Mr Ducasse compares it to spare rib, and the flavour is vaguely beefy but with more than a hint of the farmyard.
For Londoners though, a big, bold glass of red wine might help.
* Bloomberg News
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
The specs
Engine: 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 380hp at 5,800rpm
Torque: 530Nm at 1,300-4,500rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Price: From Dh299,000 ($81,415)
On sale: Now
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
The specs: 2017 Maserati Quattroporte
Price, base / as tested Dh389,000 / Dh559,000
Engine 3.0L twin-turbo V8
Transmission Eight-speed automatic
Power 530hp @ 6,800rpm
Torque 650Nm @ 2,000 rpm
Fuel economy, combined 10.7L / 100km
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
The biog
Favourite films: Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia
Favourite books: Start with Why by Simon Sinek and Good to be Great by Jim Collins
Favourite dish: Grilled fish
Inspiration: Sheikh Zayed's visionary leadership taught me to embrace new challenges.
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
