While Expo 2020 Dubai will launch a globe-trotting gastronomic experience when it opens on Friday, one of the more exciting food offerings should make UAE residents feel right at home.
Alif Cafe by farm2table is the sustainable restaurant venture launched by Humaid Alremethi and Jessica Queitsch, in partnership with Media One Hotel.
Opening at the Mobility Pavilion on Friday, the restaurant by the husband and wife team features a menu with disparate influences, all cooked with produce grown by local artisanal farmers.
“The UAE has such a beautiful versatility when it comes to local ingredients and is proof that sustainable eating can be a lifestyle for all,” Queitsch tells The National. “There’s been a bit of an underground wave starting in the UAE, especially among local farmers, who have been experimenting with growing different plants and stepping out of their comfort zone.
“My husband and I have always had a huge passion for agriculture and growing things with sustainability in mind."
The German-Canadian chef, who has worked in many parts of the world, including the UK and Japan, says she wanted to find an outlet that combined her love for cooking with the interest in agriculture she shares with her Emirati husband. The couple want to showcase the range of produce that is grown in the UAE, and she intends to be the bridge between artisanal farms and the global community that will be visiting the Expo.
“We hope to spotlight local artisanal farmers with this concept that is ‘born at Expo’,” she says.
The couple invited The National for a preview dinner at their family farm. Located in Sweihan, a town 70 kilometres north-west of the city of Al Ain, the farm is one of several owned by Alremethi’s family. It is a walled-off expanse lush with vegetable fields and palm trees. Kittens scamper about the potted flowers and cacti, a pair of dogs stand on guard and goats can be heard bleating nearby.
Alremethi takes us on a tour of the grounds, explaining that his family has been keeping farms for a century, with his great-grandfather importing palm trees from Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. “They’re heirlooms,” he says of the farms. “They’re special for us.”
The farm we are standing in is at least a decade old, and though it is hard to imagine the landscape without the fields of alfalfa leaves and looming palm trees, Alremethi says the land was completely bare when his family received it.
“We took date palms from our old palm trees in our farm in Al Ain Oasis and planted them here. We had to start from scratch.”
It is clear that Alremethi feels a responsibility towards these farms, not only to tend to them but also expand them, to “do better tomorrow”.
He takes us to the edge of the farm, beyond which the land has been flattened and topped with a layer of nutrient-rich soil from Al Ain. “Iron, metals, selenium, calcium; the soil contains many different kinds of minerals that are crucial to our bodies,” he says. “This is important. If you grow something from a mineral-depleted earth, you’re going to get a crop that is tasteless, scentless and with very little nutrients.”
We make our way to the dinner table, an open-air floor-seating arrangement. Dishes and cutlery are already set, and folded linen napkins are decorated with a single fresh zaatar sprout. The set-up offers a touch of fine dining with the intimacy of an Emirati family get-together.
Our hosts point to the bread baskets in front of us – they're jam-packed with slices of focaccia. Some are a sombre brown, made with locally produced wheat. Slightly salty, they are both chewy and crisp. The others have a faint sweetness and are red in hue thanks to added beetroot.
Fresh vegetables are then brought out: purple and orange carrots, spring onions, celery and radishes stuffed in khous baskets woven from palm trees.
Then comes the yellow salad, a medley of yellow tomatoes, corn and courgette, all grown in the fields around us. The salad is bursting with distinct textures and flavours – its freshness reprised with every bite.
Beef samosas are then laid out on wooden receptacles. Bulbous and golden, the fried pastry’s crunchy exterior contrasts perfectly with the tenderness of the beef filling.
Plates of Afghan chainaki are brought out in steamy bowls. The lamb slides off the bone and a flurry of praising murmurs later, the table falls silent as we savour the taste of the meat and stew.
“We’ve been keeping animals on the farm for five or six years now,” Saeed, a cousin of Alremethi’s, who plays an active role in managing the farm, says. Elaborating on the secret of the meat’s tenderness, he says it’s all a matter of how the animals are treated and fed. “The meat doesn’t have any of that bad smell of the sheep and that’s because of the food we give it. We also make sure to keep their environment clean. If you go to the market, you’ll find the lamb and mutton has a smell. Because of the size of their production, they can’t control it.”
Finally, the dessert – a rose and pistachio rice pudding with a palette of flavours and a subtle sweetness. As our spoons clank against the glass bottom of our pudding bowls, Queitsch tells us the inspiration for her menu, saying it came about as she was thinking about the relationship between food and mobility, the theme of the pavilion where Alif Cafe is located.
“The Silk Road was an inspiration,” she says. She notes how key ingredients such as wheat, rice, coffee and spices travelled via the Silk Road – a network of trade routes connecting China and the Far East with the Middle East and Europe – and went on to influence worldwide cuisine. While the fusion in Alif Cafe’s menu – set to change regularly by offering seasonal dishes – may speak of the ambulant nature of culinary practices and tastes, the eatery will also host a variety of presentations about food’s mobility.
Alif Cafe will also hold talks about how to grow your own food and the importance of making conscious choices when eating.
“I hope to inspire guests of all ages to question where their food comes from,” Queitsch says.
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Biography
Favourite book: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Holiday choice: Anything Disney-related
Proudest achievement: Receiving a presidential award for foreign services.
Family: Wife and three children.
Like motto: You always get what you ask for, the universe listens.
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CHINESE GRAND PRIX STARTING GRID
1st row
Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
2nd row
Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes-GP)
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
3rd row
Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing)
Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing)
4th row
Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Sergio Perez (Force India)
5th row
Carlos Sainz Jr (Renault)
Romain Grosjean (Haas)
6th row
Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
Esteban Ocon (Force India)
7th row
Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren)
8th row
Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso)
Sergey Sirotkin (Williams)
9th row
Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso)
Lance Stroll (Williams)
10th row
Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
arcus Ericsson (Sauber)
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
Tips for used car buyers
- Choose cars with GCC specifications
- Get a service history for cars less than five years old
- Don’t go cheap on the inspection
- Check for oil leaks
- Do a Google search on the standard problems for your car model
- Do your due diligence. Get a transfer of ownership done at an official RTA centre
- Check the vehicle’s condition. You don’t want to buy a car that’s a good deal but ends up costing you Dh10,000 in repairs every month
- Validate warranty and service contracts with the relevant agency and and make sure they are valid when ownership is transferred
- If you are planning to sell the car soon, buy one with a good resale value. The two most popular cars in the UAE are black or white in colour and other colours are harder to sell
Tarek Kabrit, chief executive of Seez, and Imad Hammad, chief executive and co-founder of CarSwitch.com
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Results
5.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,400m; Winner: Mcmanaman, Sam Hitchcock (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)
6.05pm: Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Bawaasil, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson
6.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (Dirt) 1,400m; Winner: Bochart, Fabrice Veron, Satish Seemar
7.15pm: Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: Mutaraffa, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
7.50pm: Longines Stakes – Conditions (TB) Dh120,00 (D) 1,900m; Winner: Rare Ninja, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
8.25pm: Zabeel Trophy – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh120,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Alfareeq, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
9pm: Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (T) 2,410m; Winner: Good Tidings, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
9.35pm: Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (T) 2,000m; Winner: Zorion, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi, Helal Al Alawi
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Brief scoreline:
Wales 1
James 5'
Slovakia 0
Man of the Match: Dan James (Wales)
Scoreline
Arsenal 3
Aubameyang (28'), Welbeck (38', 81')
Red cards: El Neny (90' 3)
Southampton 2
Long (17'), Austin (73')
Red cards: Stephens (90' 2)
Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
THE SPECS
Engine: Four-cylinder 2.5-litre
Transmission: Seven-speed auto
Power: 165hp
Torque: 241Nm
Price: Dh99,900 to Dh134,000
On sale: now
Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
Canongate
2.0
Director: S Shankar
Producer: Lyca Productions; presented by Dharma Films
Cast: Rajnikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson, Sudhanshu Pandey
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
MO
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Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
