Dubai Opens its First Kosher Restaurant in The World's Tallest Building

 Closer ties between the United Arab Emirates and Israel mean that Dubai should experience an influx of Jewish visitors. Restaurants are scrambling to offer kosher cuisine - food that meets Jewish dietary requirements.

I visited the country's first kosher restaurant, the Armani/KAF which has just opened its doors at the foot of the world's tallest structure, the Burj Khalifa in downtown Dubai, to sample this Kosherati or Emirati kosherati.

There, I met Fabien Fayolle, the executive chef of the Armani Hotel who told me that we would make arancini, Italian snacks coated in breadcrumbs and then fried.

Fabien first warmed the frying pan:

"I just add a little olive oil to the pan. Then we get the carrots, celery, and garlic. When the vegetables are all ready, we simply add the meat.

"After the meat, I add the tomato paste. You let the Bolognese cook for about 15 minutes and put it in the refrigerator; to make the arancini, you need cold Bolognese.

High-tech kosher

Fabien explained the rules of kosher food preparation and how it works with modern methods:

"The fire can be the burner or the oven (and) must be lit by the rabbi himself.

"We have a smart oven. So basically, the rabbi has an app on his mobile. And we text him and say, "Can you please turn on the oven?" - and he can do it remotely.

"Then we'll make the tomato fondue; Mediterranean cuisine is all about onion, garlic and tomato.

"Salt, pepper, a little sugar, cumin powder and paprika. It's going to be some kind of tomato marmalade, let's say.

Meat OR dairy products

"When the tomato fondue is cooked, I cook the rice for the arancini: arborio rice. When the rice is well cooked, we add the margarine."

I asked why he used margarine and not butter and Fabien explained that it was an important kosher rule, to keep meat and dairy products separate:

"Either you prepare meat in the kitchen or you prepare dairy products."

Fabien took some of the sticky and well-cooked rice and added a little Bolognese sauce:

"Put it in your palm, then press the middle, where you can then push the piece of bolognese."

"Then the arancini will go first into the flour, then the eggs and finally the breadcrumbs."

"And then a little lemon mayonnaise on top. Add a few coriander leaves, just as a garnish."

After that, I only had one thing left to do, which was to eat it!

We were then joined by Rabbi Levi Duchman, the rabbi of the UAE.

I asked him to tell me more about kosher traditions and kosher food rules:

"The kosher certification certifies everything related to food.

"So, starting with the ingredients up to the preparation, turning on the oven - anything that has to do with the cooking process of food has to be supervised kosher.

"This restaurant is called Glatt Kosher, which is the highest kosher certification you can get.

"We worked with chef Fabian and his team to create a kosher menu made up of the ingredients available we have here in the UAE and on top of that, we made the first import of kosher meat to the UAE.

"So it was quite extensive, to gather all the ingredients and make them certified kosher.

"This restaurant is not just for the Jewish community. This restaurant is for the whole UAE community, so that tourists come through Dubai Kosher Travel and go for the kosher experience."

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