Eating Like a King or Queen; Traditional United Arab Emirates Style

I recently went to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and visited the specific Emirates of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. It was my first time in the Middle East and a very interesting experience. Not to mention I dined extremely well in the many restaurants available to us foreigners.

However, what I really enjoyed was visiting some of the historical places in and around the UAE. I learned a bit about how the Arabs used to live, what their homes were like, and how they used to eat.

I took some photos at the Al Ain Palace Museum, the formal home of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Men and women had separate areas in the palace to live, hang out, and eat. Traditionally, people would sit on the floors of rooms on pillows. However, as you can see below, the Sheikh had seats. I'm sitting on his "throne" in this photo.



In the middle of the room, there would be mats with large woven cones sitting on top. Food would be served on these mats in large dishes. Eating was communal, and it was (and still is) very important to eat with your right hand. The cones protected the food underneath from insects.





The coffee pot is one of the national symbols of the UAE. If you are a guest entering a home, you will always be offered coffee. If you take a look at the coinage of the UAE, the dirham, you'll notice a coffee pot on it.





Lastly, I just wanted to show you a date palm. I had never really thought about it, and didn't realize that dates grew on huge palms. They ripen and dry naturally on the trees, and are ready to eat as soon as they have been picked. Yum!

Lentil, Turkey, & Apple Wraps, Turk, Turkish, Ottoman, Arab

Make the best of the fall apples – stick them in anything and everything. You’d be surprised how well they work with just about everything. Like these crisp and refreshing wraps. They’d be good, but somewhat dull if it weren’t for the bright crunch of the apple. These would make a great lunch (or they DO make a great lunch – we had the leftovers the next day and enjoyed them just as much as we did the night before).

Lentil, Turkey, & Apple Wraps

Makes 4-6 servings. Recipe from Epicurious.

INGREDIENTS
4 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken stock
1 cup dried brown lentils
1/2 cup dried French green lentils
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 medium tomato, cored, seeded, and diced
1 small Fuji apple, cored and diced
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
6 (12-inch) flour tortillas
3/4 pound turkey breast, thinly sliced
1/2 head Bibb lettuce

DIRECTIONS
Place the stock, lentils, celery, carrot, thyme, and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the lentils are tender, about 30 minutes, depending on the lentils. (If they begin to dry out, add water as needed.) Remove and discard the thyme. Drain and transfer the mixture to a bowl; let cool.

Fold in the tomato, apple, lemon juice, and olive oil. Season with the pepper.

To assemble a wrap, place 1 tortilla on a clean work surface. Spread the lentils in the center, top with the turkey and lettuce, and fold up the bottom, left side, and right side before rolling away from you.

Arabic Couscous with Olives and Roasted Tomatoes

Israeli (aka Pearl) Couscous is something I haven’t tried before. I’ve seen it used in recipes and heard about it, but have never actually eaten it. So when we saw a box of it for sale at Trader Joe’s, I snapped it up, and began searching for recipes in which to use my unique find.

This recipe is a keeper. It reminds me a lot of the Mediterranean Orzo and Chicken Salad recipe we made this summer, both in flavor and in mouth feel. I think orzo and pearl couscous are very similar, so if you can’t find the later, orzo is a good substitute.

We added half of a rotisserie chicken for some protein, and so we could eat this as our entire dinner. It’s eaten cool or room temperature. We always like meals like that because I can get photos, Taylor can get all the dishes done, and we don’t have to worry about our food getting cold. It’d be a good summer meal, but also a good winter meal when your tired of all the hot and heavy foods.

Enjoy!

Pearl Couscous with Olives and Roasted Tomatoes

Makes 6 servings. Recipe from Epicurious.

INGREDIENTS
For roasted tomatoes and dressing
2 pints red grape or cherry tomatoes (1 1/2 pound)
3 large garlic cloves, left unpeeled
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup warm water
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

For couscous
2 3/4 cups chicken broth
2 1/4 cups pearl (Israeli) couscous
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup Kalamata or other brine-cured black olives, pitted and chopped
1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 roasted chicken, shredded (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Roast tomatoes and make dressing:
Preheat oven to 250°F.

Halve tomatoes through stem ends and arrange, cut sides up, in 1 layer in a large shallow (1-inch-deep) baking pan. Add garlic to pan and roast in middle of oven until tomatoes are slightly shriveled around edges, about 1 hour. Cool in pan on a rack 30 minutes.

Peel garlic and purée with oil, water, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and 1/2 cup roasted tomatoes in a blender until dressing is very smooth.

Make couscous:
Bring broth to a boil in a 3-quart heavy saucepan and stir in couscous, then simmer, uncovered, 6 minutes. Cover pan and remove from heat. Let stand 10 minutes.

Spread couscous in 1 layer on a baking sheet and cool 15 minutes.

Transfer couscous to a bowl and stir in remaining ingredients, dressing, roasted tomatoes, chicken (if using), and salt and pepper to taste.