Sunday, March 6, 2011

Taste of Dubai 2011

My my my.. The minute I set foot onto the green grass and laid my eyes on the overwhelming crowds of people, I thought to myself, "Why is this my first time at Taste of Dubai?!" I instantly decided I'm going to love it. Talk about being really optimistic, huh?



I took my mom along with me because I knew that even though she was feeling a little reluctant to come along (she had a long week and wanted nothing more than to just relax on the sofa) she was going to enjoy the festival. I decided that we should waste no time standing around and begin with the eating!

First up came the Peking Duck from The China Club - Traditional Chinese. I'm a big fan of duck and particularly enjoy eating it this way especially because of the Hoisin Sauce that Chinese restaurants use. To my disappointment the pancake was undercooked, the duck not as tender as I would have hoped and the hoisin sauce almost non-existent.




Moving on to something slightly less disappointing and more on the sweet side of life is Al Hambra's churros with a side of chocolate ice cream and a light drizzling of chocolate sauce. Can you spell d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s? Seriously, I have nothing better to say about the doughnut-y goodness complimented by the cold, creamy and ever-so-chocolate-y ice cream. Mmmm-mmmm!


We continued to walk around and see all the many cool stalls/stands that were set up. A pretty cool stand-mixer like stall caught my eye. I thought it was a creative way for Kenwood to display themselves. Nothing fancy, just right to the point :)



And then I caught a glimpse of a stand with poles wrapped in hot pink tissue paper. It looked like a giant gift box, I couldn't resist not taking a closer look. To my delight, it was from a company called La Maison Du Macaron. Now, thanks to my friend Noreen, I have a new found love for macarons. Ever since she took me to Ladurée, they have sneaked into a little corner of my heart and stayed there. La Maison Du Macaron's macarons were.. A bit disappointing as well. My mom wanted to buy a box of six simply because she loved the box so much. The box was probably worth the money more than the macarons themselves; they had the almond powder after-taste which showed that they were neither ground all the way nor baked right. Not very pleasant, in my humble opinion. Nevertheless, they were pretty to look at. Plus, we get to keep the box! :)



We then sampled some of Gourmet Point's beautifully fragrant and pungent oils. My mom and I had fallen in love with the White Truffle Oil. Might order some for her soon, mother's day is coming up after all!




The highlight of my day was when I got to meet and greet with Suzanne Husseini. She had a post for book signing but since I still haven't bought her book, I decided to just speak to her AND get my picture taken with her. Wohoo!


She was wonderfully down-to-earth and super friendly. I noticed that she was wearing whisk earrings, which I've been looking for for a very long time. She said that she got her jewelry custom-made from a silver shop in Canada. Look at these rings that she was wearing which are actually a fork and a spoon that were bent to fit her size. Brilliant!


We continued walking around and taking in all the activity and excitement for food. Which is probably what I loved most about this event: we're all gathering, mingling, experimenting and enjoying simply because of our love for food. It doesn't get any better than that.

Taste of Dubai, an event which I'm now going to be attending every year. It's definitely worth your time and money. Don't miss it next year!

11 comments:

  1. Thank you for the great feedback! Glad you loved Al Hambra's churros! :-)

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  2. Al Hambra was my favourite food stall too - I sampled everything and went back for more. I loved your account Yasmin.

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  3. They were lovely, weren't they? Wish I sampled more of their food, might go visit them soon ;)

    Thank you for dropping by Sally! :)

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  4. Thanks for dropping by implies we don't live here on red panda bakes, which we do :P

    Thanks for posting about the event for those of us who couldn't be there!

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  5. Hahaha! Thank YOU Samir :) Glad I could bring a little bit of the event to you!

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  6. Great review Yasmin. I feel a bit miffed that I didn't realise Kenwood's stall was gigantic mixer. Very cool. And great pic with Suzanne. I got one with Gary Rhodes!

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  7. Thank you Sukaina :)
    Oo look at us, we're super cool with our pictures with famous chefs ;)

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  8. Thank you Sukaina :)
    Oo look at us, we're super cool with our pictures with famous chefs ;)

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  9. Al Hambra was my favourite food stall too - I sampled everything and went back for more. I loved your account Yasmin.

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  10. Thank you for the great feedback! Glad you loved Al Hambra's churros! :-)

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