Is alcohol really off the menu - and is pork next?

It appears that Dubai’s legislation-makers have their eyes fixed firmly on the restaurant industry at the moment.

Hot on the heels of the service charge changes earlier this year — whereby restaurants that do not pay the 10% Dubai Municipality tax can no longer add a service charge to their bills — came the recent announcement that chefs may no longer use alcohol in their cooking.

A circular issue by the Municipality last week said the use of alcohol in the preparation and cooking of food, and the sale of food containing alcohol, was “strictly prohibited”.

Restaurants in Dubai were told they had one month to stop using alcohol in food preparation or face stiff fines, which could range from AED 2000 to AED 20,000, potentially rising to as much as AED 500,000 for repeat offenders.

Speaking to our sister site ArabianBusiness.com, Ahmed Abdul Rahman Al Ali — head of food inspection at the Food Control Department of Dubai Municipality — confirmed there was a total ban on the use of alcohol in food, explaining that there had been complaints regarding instances where Muslim guests did not realise a dish contained alcohol.

However last night, it seems the situtation had altered somewhat, when a senior official from Dubai Municipality reportedly said there had been a "misunderstanding" over the new rules regarding dishes cooked with alcohol.

Khalid Sharif al Awadhi, the director of the food control department, told UAE daily The National that chefs had misinterpreted the circular, and that no ban on food containing alcohol was in place.

He told the paper that food containing alcohol could be served, provided it was segregated from other food and clearly labelled.

There seems to be some contradictory ideas floating around at the moment, and it would undoubtedly be best to get the situation clarified as soon as possible.

If the total ban seemingly implied by Ahmed Abdul Rahman Al Ali went ahead, it certainly wouldn't spell the end of Dubai's flourishing restaurant industry; I doubt even those who do order dishes containing alcohol would base their decision to go to a restaurant upon this factor.

But there is no doubt the issue would have been hotly contested by the emirate’s chefs.

A host of traditional (predominantly European) classics rely on alcohol — flambée, crêpe Suzette, tiramisu, coq au vin and steak and ale pie, to name but a few — and whilst the talented chefs here could no doubt amend these greats, it would still entail deviating from the original.

From the feedback we saw on HME.com, many chefs were concerned that the new measures would mean compromising their offering, with their creative scope being limited.

Further confusion still was created by the fact that alcohol had been permitted as an ingredient for so long, providing it was clearly marked as such on the menu.

(Indeed, in many dishes the alcohol content was cooked off, and acted simply a background flavour in the dish.)

But now it appears the implied total ban is off the table.

What precisely the circular meant, and whether any new regulations are actually going to be passed limiting the use of alcohol as an ingredient, is still slightly unclear; chefs are hoping that a revised and clarified notification will be sent out later this week. But reports suggest the Municipality may now require a separate menu for dishes containing alcohol.

This seems quite a simple point to reach, considering the amount of confusion there has been getting there.

But either way, the fact remains that the law-makers do seem to be taking a long hard look at restaurant operations at the moment.

Indeed. this recent flurry of concern over alcohol begs the question of whether pork will come under scrutiny next, since it is currently permitted on Dubai hotel menus under the same rule — i.e. that it is marked as such.

Ultimately, of course, ex-pats who come to enjoy the many benefits of living and working in Dubai must respect the local culture, rules and practices of their host nation. That is only right.

But by the same token, Dubai — probably the most cosmopolitan city in the region — will have to appreciate that if it does decide to proceed with any total prohibitions of ingredients, that will necessarily limit chefs and cuisines; which may well affect its progress as an aspiring gastro-hub.