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Abu Dhabi: Fun at the Souk |
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Written by Stephen Baines
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Wednesday, 25 August 2004 |
The temperature and humidity fell drastically today. It was down to 40C and 65%RH, which made it feel very much more comfortable today. The result was everyone was less tetchy and more got done today. And come the end of the day I still fell quite with it.
The choice at the end of the day was simple; go back to the hotel and eat something at one of the restaurants there, or head off for the souk and The Lebanese Roaster. Tough call.
The reason why such a choice came about was lunch time. One of the dishes was flavoured with Iranian saffron. I was saying how wonderful it took, and I was told part of how it was made. It got to the 10g per person of saffron when my jaw dropped. This, supposedly, was a peasant dish, yet the amount of saffron in it would make a sizable dint in my wallet. They looked at me stunned, and then said how cheap Iranian saffron was. It was then my turn to be stunned.
And so the afternoon finished and the offer was made to take me to the souk and see the spices for sale and the prices on offer. We got there and started to look around. We went into the first of the many shops and various saffrons were offered; first the basic Spanish, then a "so-so" Iranian saffron (it still was better than most I've smelt), and then the Gold Saffron. Mannar asked the price and we were told 10 Dirhams for 11.66g - about £1.50 for the best quality saffron they had. Manar told them they were trying to rip her off, and so the haggling started before the price dropped to about 7 Dirhams. Disgusted we left.
And so round the other stalls comparing prices and me being told not to look at all pleased at any price being offered, and to try and look less western. I'm still not sure how I was meant to achieve that. Finally we ended up in the spice stall that we had (apparently) been looking for. There were two types of Iranian saffron on offer, and the smell and colour blew the others away. The price for one of them was 25 Dirhams for somewhere around 20g, and 30 Dirhams for the other. I loved the smell of both. Much gesticulating went on, on my behalf, and faux walking out etc until a final price of 50 Dirhams for both lots was settled on. I'm still somewhat stunned at the price.
We looked at the coffee cups used for the Kawa I've been having, and the prices - around 20 Dirhams for a half-dozen cups seemed to be fairly common.
We finished looking around the souk, and Manar said that she wanted to take me to the Lebanese Roaster - the place to get nuts and coffee and local delecacies.
The journey was fun, with much lane changing, horn beeping and driving round trying to find a place to park. We finally got there.
We walked in and saw the freshly roasted nuts - nuts galore. They offered me some of the pistachios. They were still warm from the roaster, and were full of the most amazing flavour I have ever experienced. I have never tasted them quite so fresh. I did the same with the cashews, and again they blew me away. I doubt that many will get home. And then I was offered the candied fruits - passion fruits, figs, lemons, oranges and many more all preserved in sugar and yet still full of their flavour. They were hideously expensive at 20 Dirhams a kilo...
The final stage in the mystery tour was the bakery next door. I'd read about the stone ovens and the breads they made. There was a queue of people waiting and as fast as they were thrown in the oven, others were out, wrapped and out of the shop. We had Manaeesh, a flat bread covered thickly with a blend of thyme, olive oil, and lemon. I cannot begin to say how wonderful it was - a simple dish, yet one absolutely full of flavour that I can still taste now.
I'm back at the hotel, contented and glad to have a guide who can show me around the real parts of the city.
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