I experienced my first Iftar buffet on Wednesday night. Jeff and I were invited to be guests of the American Consulate Generals Office of Dubai at their annual Iftar Buffet event held at the luxurious Rotana Hotel ( I could do an entire blog on the bathroom at the Rotana but I dont know if anyone would believe that I am writing about a bathroom....I will say however that it was spectacular and leave it at that, like nothing I have ever seen before).
Tonight was a night of firsts...my first big social event in Dubai and my first Iftar buffet during Ramadan.
Besides the American Consulate General of Dubai, the American Ambassador to the UAE and other dignitaries, local nationals and people from around the UAE, enjoyed this special evening, together. I loved how were all so different but mingled and enjoy our time together. Even the local newspaper with a photographer in tow showed up for the event and took pictures of the all the guests...including me. Hey, maybe Jeff and I will show up on the Dubai Society page in the local newspaper ! Another first - the society page? !
We hob knobbed, made introductions, shook a lot of hands and waited patiently until the official time came - sun down. I could hardly wait, I was hungry and my stomach kept growling. Tick, tock, tick , tock...the time was going so slow.
The call to prayer sounded, signaling that the fast for Wednesday, August 1, 2012 was over. Yeah, it was time to partake of the feast - the Iftar Buffet. Several of the Muslim's in the room said out loud - it is time, we can eat.
Arab Muslim's traditionally eat dates and drink water to break their fast, then they partake of the their meal. It is said that the dates soothe the stomach, preparing your body for food. I need to note that date palms grow all over the city of Dubai, they are everywhere, very majestic. The date palm is the national tree and the locals love their dates. You can get just about anything you want with dates in it or on it in the United Arab Emirates...date cookies, chocolate covered dates, date cake, date brownies, plain dates, dates with a sugar coating, dates mixed with nuts, date juice, date ice cream, date milk (yep, that is right, date milk), etc. But watch out if you step on one that is over ripe. They stick to your shoe like glue and make a big mess. A date squished on the bottom of your shoe is worse than gum being stuck on the bottom of your shoe. Trust me, I know.
The Iftar buffet was a magnificent spread of Arabic salads, main dishes and desserts. They even served the drink of choice for Ramadan, "Vimto". Vimto is a drink, originally from the United Kingdom, but very popular in the Middle East. It is made from grapes, raspberries and black currants. If spilled it can create quite a stain. I opted for a diet Pepsi - keep them coming and please add a lime.
The buffet was absolutely delicious!
Oh and I caused a small stir, when the glass serving plate that I was getting a date brownie from proceeded to fall to the floor and right on to the tile. Crash, bang ! The room went silent, I could feel all eyes in the room on me, including the squad of small Filipino servers running towards me to help. All I could do was laugh and take a bow. Leave it to me to silence a room.
I thoroughly enjoyed my first Iftar buffet. But wait, this won't be my last one during Ramadan. Jeff and I have been invited to three others in the next two weeks. More fun, food and meeting new people. I do not normally like buffets, in fact I usually avoid them at great lengths, but these buffets are different, they are Iftar buffets and they only come once a year ...during Ramadan!
Ramadan Kareem.
Tonight was a night of firsts...my first big social event in Dubai and my first Iftar buffet during Ramadan.
Besides the American Consulate General of Dubai, the American Ambassador to the UAE and other dignitaries, local nationals and people from around the UAE, enjoyed this special evening, together. I loved how were all so different but mingled and enjoy our time together. Even the local newspaper with a photographer in tow showed up for the event and took pictures of the all the guests...including me. Hey, maybe Jeff and I will show up on the Dubai Society page in the local newspaper ! Another first - the society page? !
We hob knobbed, made introductions, shook a lot of hands and waited patiently until the official time came - sun down. I could hardly wait, I was hungry and my stomach kept growling. Tick, tock, tick , tock...the time was going so slow.
The call to prayer sounded, signaling that the fast for Wednesday, August 1, 2012 was over. Yeah, it was time to partake of the feast - the Iftar Buffet. Several of the Muslim's in the room said out loud - it is time, we can eat.
Arab Muslim's traditionally eat dates and drink water to break their fast, then they partake of the their meal. It is said that the dates soothe the stomach, preparing your body for food. I need to note that date palms grow all over the city of Dubai, they are everywhere, very majestic. The date palm is the national tree and the locals love their dates. You can get just about anything you want with dates in it or on it in the United Arab Emirates...date cookies, chocolate covered dates, date cake, date brownies, plain dates, dates with a sugar coating, dates mixed with nuts, date juice, date ice cream, date milk (yep, that is right, date milk), etc. But watch out if you step on one that is over ripe. They stick to your shoe like glue and make a big mess. A date squished on the bottom of your shoe is worse than gum being stuck on the bottom of your shoe. Trust me, I know.
The Iftar buffet was a magnificent spread of Arabic salads, main dishes and desserts. They even served the drink of choice for Ramadan, "Vimto". Vimto is a drink, originally from the United Kingdom, but very popular in the Middle East. It is made from grapes, raspberries and black currants. If spilled it can create quite a stain. I opted for a diet Pepsi - keep them coming and please add a lime.
The buffet was absolutely delicious!
Oh and I caused a small stir, when the glass serving plate that I was getting a date brownie from proceeded to fall to the floor and right on to the tile. Crash, bang ! The room went silent, I could feel all eyes in the room on me, including the squad of small Filipino servers running towards me to help. All I could do was laugh and take a bow. Leave it to me to silence a room.
I thoroughly enjoyed my first Iftar buffet. But wait, this won't be my last one during Ramadan. Jeff and I have been invited to three others in the next two weeks. More fun, food and meeting new people. I do not normally like buffets, in fact I usually avoid them at great lengths, but these buffets are different, they are Iftar buffets and they only come once a year ...during Ramadan!
Ramadan Kareem.
I'm with you Deb, no buffets.... :)
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