Abu Dhabi, March 26: Can you serve coq au vin made with red wine in Dubai anymore? Nobody’s completely sure.
Confusion reigns in the upscale restaurant kitchens of the Gulf sheikdom after a circular was sent out by Dubai officials earlier this week stating that the use of alcohol in cooking was “strictly prohibited” since it violated the Muslim country’s strict alcohol rules.
Arabian Business, quoting the head of food inspection for Dubai, reported that hotels had one month to stop using alcohol in food preparation or face fines ranging from $545 to $5,445 (AED 2,000 to AED 20,000), even rising to as much as $136,000 (AED 500,000) for serious repeat offenders.
But just as the frost was starting to develop on the foie gras (which can come marinated in wine), Dubai authorities did an apparent U-turn, with a senior official saying there had been a “misunderstanding” of the rules — and that there was no ban.
For them, alcohol is a 100 percent no-no, even if it’s boiled.
Chefs and hotels have now been told that the Dubai municipality will call a meeting soon to clarify the alcohol guidelines, Uwe Micheel, president of the Emirates Culinary Guild and director of kitchens at the Radisson Blu Dubai Creek, told.
Micheel told that he thought stricter rules will be brought in, but that there will be no ban.
“I expect the change will be that all the dishes prepared with alcohol will have to be on a separate menu,” the German executive chef said, so that it’s easier for Muslims to identify which dishes contain alcohol. He said he also expected stricter guidelines on storage of food prepared with alcohol and perhaps utensils used to eat food prepared with alcohol.
At the moment, dishes that contain alcohol can be sold in the city’s restaurants if they are clearly marked on the menu. The drink must be stored and the food prepared separately.
Alcohol is available to drink at licensed restaurants and bars, which are usually found in international hotels, although Muslims are not legally allowed to drink.
Micheel, who oversees 14 restaurants, said the Dubai authorities were generally supportive of the emirate’s hospitality industry and were not “here to make life difficult for us.” But he said he thought more complaints were coming into them from local Muslims. He added that not all Dubai restaurants were complying with the current regulations.
Dubai, not that long ago a sleepy pearling village, has unique demographics. A massive 85 percent of the people there come from another country, vastly dwarfing the conservative local Emirati population.
And that unusual population divide can cause culture clashes, like the present confusion surrounding a possible alcohol cooking ban or the recent case of the British couple appealing a one-month jail sentence for kissing and drinking in public.
-Agencies