Cuisine Couture Kuwait: 2 Weeks!

Hello, everyone! Since last I posted, I made it to the Iraqi border and back. Since the chef is leaving, our driver thought it would be fun to take us there so that we could say we’d seen it. We definitely turned around several hundred feet before it, but at least now I can say I’ve laid eyes on Iraq. Ironically, as we were driving there, we were listening to the local news report which gave updates about a suicide bombing that had unfolded in Iraq that morning. It’s easy to forget about the political terrain as I’m working in a US franchised restaurant in Western shopping mall, but that served as an abrupt reminder. It’s also hard to believe that Kuwait was under occupation two short decades ago in the face of the opulence and modernity.

Yesterday was my first day off since I’ve been here. (I don’t think that my bout with illness that kept me out of work for ½ a day counts as bona fide off time). The corporate boss invited the two chefs and I to a traditional lunch as a farewell to the chef and we decided to take the rest of the day away from the restaurant. The break from the shopping mall and confined restaurant helped remind me why it is I love the Middle East and sought out the chance to come here to begin with. I loved experiencing the architecture, climate (I got outdoors!), and the culture.

We began the day at the “souk,” or Arabic market. It’s probably one of the only sections of Kuwait that has managed to retain a culture and not get consumed by Westernization. From a culinary perspective, it was highly interesting. It had the huge whole butchered meets dangling from wooden stalls. I also found myself walking through a fish market with rare and exotic types of fish. (I think I would have considered that far more enjoyable had I NOT been wearing flip flops, however.) The souk also had an impressive selection of knock offs. I scored a pretty awesome pink bedazzled “Chanel” scarf that I pray makes it through customs upon my return .

Next, we went to lunch. As mentioned previously, schedules are much different in Kuwait and the Middle East at large. For one thing, the invitation was for 2:00 pm. The earliest portion of the lunch wave takes place in what we would consider the afternoon. Moreover, 2:00 really means 2:30 or 3. We arrived at 2:20 to be joined by our boss and the other chef around 2:45. Finally, lunches can last an incredibly long time. There are epic amounts of food and the ordeal can last hours. We did not finish eating until after 4:30 and the hookah did not commence until after 6.

The food was INCREDIBLE and as many of you read cuisine couture for the culinary content, I would love to enlighten you about the feast that unfolded. We met the boss at one of his other restaurants, Leila’s, a Lebanese place. While franchised, it is still small in that there are only a few locations and very authentic in terms of the cuisine served. The restaurant wanted to impress the boss and show him the latest appetizers they’d created for the new menu. As a result, they brought at least 20 mezzes, or Middle Eastern appetizers. Those in and of themselves could have constituted a meal, and I had I known all that was to come I probably would have held back slightly (although I did want to try everything and would not have taken that back). They were served with three types of pitas: fluffy ones made in house, crispy ones, and a few regular ones purchased and brought in. Mezze highlights included:
1. Kibbe- Not fried as per the usual preparation, but baked in a delicious pomegranate sauce. Kibbe is like meat balls- ground beef mixed with spices (curries, etc) and pine nuts- usually fried on the outside, but not this time.
2. Beet Baba ganoush- My personal fave! I LOVE baba ganoush, which is like hummus but made out of eggplant. The beet added a touch of sweetness and flavor and also made the mix pink- a color I most definitely condone.
3. Lentils Agro dolce
4. Truffles in lamb fat- The chefs bugged out over this one more than I did, but it was admittedly good. I found it incredibly rich and decadent, which is very much the point, but in terms of sitting down with something to eat I would go for one of the spreads.
5. Pomegranate baba ganoush
6. Hummus

The main event, however, came after the mezzes has been cleared. Our boss’s sisters had cooked authentic Kuwaiti seafood that they transported to the restaurant. There were two giant platters that could have easily served 10 people each. The platters consisted of a huge pile of authentically cooked up rice with seafood on top. One platter had three enormous stuffed filets of pomfret, the most expensive fish in Kuwait. The other had spicy shrimp. They also presented us with a bowl of fish stew: mackerel, spices, tomato, etc. We received several pickled condiments as well like mango, pomegranate, and extremely spicy peppers. (The boss warned me about the peppers, but I assured him I had high tolerance for heat. He was quite impressed with my spice threshold.)

So how does one go about eating this? Well, my boss started by slapping down the smallest of the three whole fish on my plate. A WHOLE fish- probably 12 ounces of meat at the minimum. One mixes the rice up with the stew and pickled goodies and eats that by the spoon. It’s one giant mash up of spice and flavor by the spoon. The pickled peppers really completed the meal. I left some of the rice, but I confess to eating the entire fish. It was perfectly salted, cooked, spiced, and stuffed with spinach and other green herbs.

Afterward, our boss left us and the chefs and I stayed at the restaurant to partake in the hookah, arguably my favorite Middle Eastern pastime. Leila’s sits in a small shopping alcove and contains an outside patio (truly outside as compared to the “outside” section of Figs in the mall.) The tables lie beside a fountain and downtown Kuwait rises above. The afternoon was sunny and warm, but we remained slightly sheltered in the shade. As I said earlier, I was reminded of what drew me to the Middle East in my younger years. We passed the hours talking, resting, and enjoying the “scenery” around us. The server came to refill our coals periodically. It was a wonderful afternoon and a nice departure from the restaurant.

We had planned to go to the border that evening, but by that time darkness had set in and our driver was hesitant to make the trip at night. We agreed to go in the morning and walked along the “boardwalk” instead. The Kuwaiti beaches are reminiscent of Puerto Rican beaches after hours: the humidity, groups of (Philippino/Latino) people congregating, and the eighties-esque colorblocked benches and chairs. Although the low tide smelled putrid and it was hard to see the beach after dark, the walk afforded us a beautiful view of downtown Kuwait illuminated at night.

I have tried to place pictures into this post, but Kuwait’s interwebs have proven tempermental to say the least. Numerous people are attempting to log on at once and uploading pictures has been near impossible. Fortunately, I was able to load several of them onto photobucket. The link is below and many of the photos supplement the descriptions I have provided in this post.

http://s1327.photobucket.com/user/demb8510/library/

Although I am enjoying this new chapter, I miss all of you and think of home often. Please keep me updates on what you are up to via email, facebook, or any other means of communication you have!