Our Dubai sunset soiree

We hosted a little Arabian-inspired pre-launch party for Grantourismo yesterday here at our villa on The Palm. As is typical of Dubai, our guest list was multicultural, and included Dubai bloggers and tweets, and a handful of friends, all from the media, publishing, arts, hospitality, and airline industries – and all really lovely people.

I devised the menu and prepared all the dishes with Lara’s help, and we spent about five hours prepping for 30 people. The villa’s kitchen was perfect for this kind of entertaining with a good stove and a decent-sized fridge with an ice-maker, and an ‘island’ in the middle of the kitchen that is tailor-made for plating plenty of dishes. Here’s what we served:

The Cocktails
Our welcome drink was inspired by the traditions of Arabian hospitality, and the ‘breaking of the fast’ during Ramadan, when camel milk and dates are served to guests. I’m not a big fan of milk-based cocktails, but this went down a treat. We made an alcoholic and non-alcoholic version. We served them in shot glasses on a small bamboo tray with a date on a toothpick on the side – Lara’s genius idea. It meant that people could pick up their little taster and have a walk around the villa and check it out while they settled in.

Marhaba! (It means welcome in Arabic)
2 oz Baileys, 1 oz date syrup, 1 oz camel milk. Date syrup is very strong so err on the side of caution.

There are a lot of Indian expats in Dubai, and they make up a majority of the expat population, so I thought we’d go with a variation of one of my favourite cocktails from Asha’s, an upmarket Indian restaurant we used to frequent when we lived here full-time. We tried a non-alcoholic version of it in Kuwait, and thought it would be ideal.

Ginger & Basil Cocktail
2 parts ginger-infused vodka, then add a handful of torn basil, a dash of lemon, and 1 part apple juice. To make ginger-infused vodka, just grate a small knob of fresh ginger and put it in the vodka bottle. Leave for at least 24hrs. This cocktail disappeared fast.

Pomegranate is ubiquitous in the Middle East – it’s one of Lara’s favourite fruits. We thought it would make a nice mix with gin. And it did!

Pomegranate Pop
2 parts gin, 1 part pomegranate juice, small amount of muddled mint leaves, ginger ale.

The Canapes
I’ve been developing some Middle East dishes for a project that shall remain secret for the moment. I prefer finger food for these kinds of soirees, but I don’t really like the ubiquitous greasy samosas that most people opt for here. I used to serve most of the dishes below at parties we had when we lived in Bur Dubai four years ago.

‘Fattoush’ salad
Tomato, green capsicum, shallots, parsley and mint, all chopped very finely.

I love fattoush (a Middle East salad, ingredients below), but how do you serve it as finger food? Use one of the ingredients as a container for the rest! I sliced the cucumber into large chunks and scooped out the centre on one side to form a cup. The ingredients above go inside the cucumber ‘cup’.

Toasted Lebanese bread is usually broken into small chips and mixed through the fatoush, however, it goes soggy very quickly. I decided to create crunchy breadcrumbs and use them in the same way Thai chefs use toasted rice powder in Larb Gai (chicken salad), so I made Lebanese breadcrumbs and added rock salt. Just before serving I added lemon juice and olive oil. People really enjoyed both the freshness of this dish and my refreshing take on it, and I’m proud of having found a new way to serve it!

The rest of the dishes were a variation on Basque pintxos. We used French breadsticks, sliced and toasted them, brushed them with olive oil, and served them with the following Middle Eastern- and Mediterranean-inspired toppings:

Hummus with coriander

Za’atar, peppered lamb mince and pine nuts

Muttabal with roasted capsicum strips

Pesto, rocket & Parmesan

Olive tapenade with coriander & capsicum

Philadelphia cream cheese with anchovies and chives

I wanted to serve something more substantial for the stage of the night when everyone was tipsy feeling peckish, so I had the idea of doing mini-burgers, or sliders, that were Middle Eastern flavoured – so I made burgers with lamb kofta mince. Kofta mix contains cumin, coriander, garlic and mint and is usually squeezed around skewers and cooked over charcoal. I made these into patties.

The tiny buns were halved and toasted, spread with hommous, topped with caramelized onions, a slice of roasted capsicum and the patty, and then I secured the top bun with a gherkin-skewer. Around 30 of them were devoured in about 30 seconds!

It was a great night made so with a great crowd of people!