Foodie Series: Faisal AlNashmi @Zubaneen

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My friend and fellow foodie Fatmah from F. Scribbles and I decided to start a Foodie Series on both of our blogs. We will both feature the same people but will post at different times.

Our first feature is Faisal AlNashmi, commonly known as Zubaneen, an aspiring chef and a fresh graduate. I have been following him on Instagram for a while now and what caught my attention is how he recreates traditional dishes in a new and refreshing way, as well his incredible food photography!

We asked him 8 foodie questions and below you’ll find his enthusiastic responses.

1. What do you do on a day to day basis?
I’m currently a freelance cook. My day usually starts at 9 am at the Sultan Center, buying ingredients for the dish I will be testing in the kitchen that day. When I get home and into the main kitchen, this is where the fun begins; sprinkles of flour and smudges of oil all over the countertop. Our cook prays to God that some day I leave this child play. My main goal is to plate the dish when lunch is first served upon my Dad’s arrival. I take it to our garden and start shooting to upload on Instagram (my best friend), then get comments while my family each get a bite. The rest of the day? Well, going through piles of pictures and editing for next day’s upload. Continue reading →

Photos: Hot cocoa

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This deliciously thick soy milk hot cocoa was perfection. I enjoyed it during my recent trip to Dubai at the Boulevard Cafe located in Almanzil Hotel.

Picture taken by my achingly cool new digital Polaroid camera that has a food setting. Yes, perfect camera for all my travels because I almost exclusively take pictures of food only!

Video: EAT

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I’m sorry for just posting films these days but there are so many beautifully made food-related mini films that I can’t not share them with you!

This film combines my two favorite activities: eating and traveling. Three guys travelled to 11 countries in 44 days and documented their trip through the food they had. Two other films were also produced: Move and Learn.

EAT from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

Video: Gecko Emmentaler

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The geckos are placed on the cows and once they are there, they can eat all the annoying blowflies. This means that the cows are more stress-free and produce more relaxed milk, which goes to producing better cheese. (link)

Please watch this video produced by Emmentaler Switzerland. I first received a link of this  video on April 1st. After viewing the video, I was convinced it was a joke but then I went on their website and they seemed convincing. I was confused. Could this be real? But this is ridiculous and hilarious! Anyway, I’ve been meaning to post it on the blog then but never did. I finally came around to posting it and when I checked the website again to link it here, I found it was an April fool’s joke! Well now that makes a lot of sense!

They even created an event on April 1st for the unveiling. Check out the pictures here.

Morning rituals: date oatmeal with sliced bananas

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For the past week, every morning I go down to the kitchen grab a small saucepan, add 1/4 cup fine oats, 1/2 cup water and 2 chopped dates and cook away on the stove top until it thickens.

Sweet and creamy, I enjoy my oatmeal with super ripe sliced bananas and a pot of soothing herbal tea.

Food history: Kushari!

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Who decided to add pasta to rice and lentils?

The origin of this Egyptian claimed dish has always intrigued me.  Even its name has no roots in the Arabic language.  The answer came to me while reading Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors (an excellent book by the way) about the history of Indian cuisine. The book mentions a simple classic Indian dish of rice and lentils topped with fried onions called Kitchari.  Kitchari? Kushari?  The names sound similar.  And the ingredients are similar.  This cannot be a coincidence.

Anyone that knows anything about Indian food knows that its influence impacts strongly wherever it hits.  So my guess was that the dish must have been introduced by Indian soldiers during the time at which Egypt was a British protectorate.   That was almost obvious.  Especially that the dish is eaten with a fiery sauce made with chilies and vinegar – think chutney.

But what about the pasta?  How did pasta find itself into the dish?

So after asking around, a friend sends me an article about the history and origin of Kushari.  Happens to be that the Italian community that lived in Egypt at that time adopted the dish and added their favorite food to it – pasta!

So there you have it.  A truly fusion dish.

Image via Miss Anthropists Kitchen – she also includes a great recipe for Kushari

Eggless 15 minutes tiramisu

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For my BDesserts day, I created desserts that were no-fuss and simple, tiramisu were one of them. Traditionally, to make tiramisu, raw egg whites are whipped with the mascarpone cream but since I don’t trust eggs in Kuwait, in fear of salmonella, I came up with a simple recipe that does not require eggs.

You can whip this up in no time and forget it in the fridge for hours so the flavors develop. The longer it stays in the fridge, the better it tastes! Trust me.

What you will need:  Continue reading →