Kingsley: Ramadan Day 17

Wednesday 16th July 2014

IFTAR!!! Mmmm, seafood stations and mountains of hummus, lashings of smoky mutabal and tangy Baba ghanoush; I am in Middle Eastern culinary heaven. Lamb ouzi is the centerpiece and all around are platters of smoked salmon, trees made of dates and shovel-loads of walnuts, cashews and hazelnuts. My eyes are hungry. I AM GOING FOR IT!

Tonight four work colleagues and newly formed friends came together to break fast at The Palace Hotel, Downtown Dubai. After experiencing a very ordinary Iftar afew nights ago, I was reticent to return to one, however all reports of The Palace’s offering to the hungry were in the extreme complimentary, and so the decision was made to enjoy a sumptuous one. We girls were ready to take on the buffet and live cooking stations with abandon.

Iftar, taken at maghreb, or after sunset, is a joyous celebration and an occasion for socializing and indulging in the very prohibition that apply during the day: drinking, smoking, kissing and making merry…

But before we could do any of these things, we four patiently awaited the sound of the call to prayer booming through the hotel. It signaled the end of the fast today and immediately after prayers, the exploding sound of the canon. At 7:14PM it was time to break our fast, – and start our eating marathon – at one of the most lavish Iftars in Dubai.

Iftar 2014

Karen and Alice quite civilized, taken before the feeding frenzy begins. Iftar 2014.

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Karen succumbing to the temptations of the lamb ouzi (or is this the fish one?)

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Lindsey & Karen take over the Arabic Coffee Pouring Station.

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Karen & Lindsey chipper after consuming their first plateful of goodness.

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Lindsey Sonia Karen and Aladdin.

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Sonia and Lindsey in a lull: taken between servings.

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Just before I hit the road. Dessert eaten, fruit taken from the buffet, Alice and Sonia day farewell to one another. What a terrific Iftar 2014.

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