Food – Page 3 – Ruth Badley

Visit to Kerala (Part 2)

Post author:RuthBadley
Post published:8th March 2016
Post category:Culture entertainment Expat Living Food Travel
Post comments:2 Comments

Kerala’s herb and spice trade dates back hundreds of years and even today the international market for these ingredients is a key driver of the regional economy. Locally grown pepper, cardamom, turmeric, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, tamarind and curry leaves are highly prized both for their flavour and beneficial medicinal qualities.

Everywhere we went we had to reassure anxious waiters that, contrary to popular belief, many Europeans do like spicy food, so please bring it on! Tasty, with spice, rather than hot with chilli was our experience of the Keralan vegetable and seafood dishes we tried. (more…)

Visit to Kerala (Part 1)

Post author:RuthBadley
Post published:3rd March 2016
Post category:Culture entertainment Expat Living Food Travel
Post comments:0 Comments

Touch down in Cochin for a five-night trip to Kerala and even from the air our first glimpse of India looks so lush and green, abundant with vegetation and water-rich. Only three and half hours away but such a different landscape from the desert city of Dubai. (more…)

On the Indian food trail

Post author:RuthBadley
Post published:23rd January 2016
Post category:Culture Dubai Expat Living Food Middle East
Post comments:2 Comments

Dubai is full of glitzy, expensive restaurants but there is another side to this food-loving city that is easy to overlook. Old Dubai, is crammed with Indian street food sellers, artisan food producers, family–run restaurants and ethnic grocery stores, offering authentic regional specialities at bargain prices, but where to start? We have made tentative inroads to this other world but knowing where to go and what to order requires some serious insider knowledge. Enter Frying Pan Adventures, a small, local tour company started and run by two food-loving sisters, Farida and Arva Ahmed. (more…)

It’s beginning to look a little like Christmas

Post author:RuthBadley
Post published:14th December 2015
Post category:Culture Dubai entertainment Expat Living Food Middle East Shopping Travel
Post comments:6 Comments

It was about this time last year that we had a conversation about what our Christmas in Dubai might look like. Should we take the Christmas decorations with us? Surely not. Likewise, the oversized fake tree that comes down from the loft every year? No, that would be ridiculous too. Wise decisions. Without all the familiar festive paraphernalia to hand it is easier to break away from convention and adopt a fresh approach. Deep down, I think the attempt to simply replicate what we usually do in this very different location would make me feel a bit sad.
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Pick and Mix Christmas

Post author:RuthBadley
Post published:30th November 2015
Post category:Culture Dubai entertainment Expat Living Food Middle East Shopping UAE
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I never dreamed that I would be able to achieve my idea of a perfect Christmas whilst living in Dubai but it is shaping up nicely to be just that. Black Friday, Cyber Monday and all the rest of the hideous panic buying that makes the countdown to December 25 a nightmare in the UK, is not happening here. It probably is at some level but that is my point, really. You don’t have to take part in all that if, like me, you hanker after a calmer lead up to Christmas. (more…)

Home to sound and fury

Post author:RuthBadley
Post published:11th October 2015
Post category:Culture Dubai entertainment Expat Living Food Middle East Travel UAE
Post comments:2 Comments

When does living in a new location really feel like home? Returning to Dubai after a holiday it now seems less like a fantastic experiment and much more like real life. What has caused this subtle shift in thinking? The occupants of the flat above ours and their home improvements mostly but more of that later. (more…)

Take me back to the China Sea

Post author:RuthBadley
Post published:25th August 2015
Post category:Culture Dubai entertainment Expat Living Food Middle East UAE
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I have been ‘fancying a Chinese’ for quite a few weeks now, mainly because Tim has been raving about a particular dish he tried one lunchtime at Dubai’s China Sea restaurant and has been promising to take me there to share the joy.

The stars aligned and here we are, outside a beacon of red and gold illuminated kitsch that signals this is going to be a memorable dining experience. Every Chinese adornment, from fringed and bobbing lanterns to rampant mythical beasts, is on show at this Dubai institution and then some. (more…)

Jordan’s hidden wonder

Post author:RuthBadley
Post published:16th August 2015
Post category:Culture Food Middle East Travel
Post comments:4 Comments

‘You are welcome’. This simple phrase, usually just a reflex response to thanks, when used at all, doesn’t usually catch my attention. It took a journey to Jordan for me to appreciate the real meaning of these words when spoken by a Jordanian. Everywhere we went it seemed that ordinary people were genuinely delighted to know that visitors were in their midst and this oft repeated greeting was their way of communicating their pleasure. (more…)

Letter from Lebanon

Post author:RuthBadley
Post published:29th July 2015
Post category:Culture entertainment Food Middle East Shopping
Post comments:2 Comments

I can still hear the worry in your voice, echoing in my head from several months ago when I first dropped Beirut into the conversation. Well, Mum, I went, I survived and I’m back safe and sound. I would have rung you by now to tell you all about it but since we can’t have those conversations any more I thought I would write down what I would have liked to share with you about this trip. (more…)

Open door for Iftar

Post author:RuthBadley
Post published:15th July 2015
Post category:Culture Dubai Expat Living Food UAE
Post comments:0 Comments

You don’t have to be here very long to notice that expats in Dubai vastly outnumber the local Emirati population. A recent BBC radio report states the current statistics are 1 in 9. The cultural mix from around the world is rich and diverse but perhaps because of that, aside from the very obvious social protocols, the customs and religious traditions of the UAE can be somewhat hidden. (more…)