The Shaikh Zayed Grand Mosque organises the country’s biggest iftar. The Abu Dhabi Armed Forces Club and Hotel prepares iftar for over 25,000 people a day and around 35,000 a day on a weekend, over the 30 days of Ramadan.
Read the full article on gulfnews.com - Inside the kitchen preparing UAE’s biggest iftar http://bit.ly/2USIgXD
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read the full article on gulfnews.com - Inside the kitchen preparing UAE’s biggest iftar http://bit.ly/2USIgXD
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi is one of the country's most recognized landmarks,
00:09with its incredible architecture drawing in over 5 million visitors a year. But that's
00:13not all the mosque is famous for. Every year during Ramadan, the mosque organizes a grand
00:18iftar that feeds around 25,000 to 35,000 people a day, and everyone is welcome. The organizers
00:26have put in place 12 air-conditioned tents to welcome people for iftar. But before we
00:31go and have a look inside the tents, let's go and see what it takes to put an iftar of
00:35this magnitude together. We've come to the Armed Forces Club and Hotel, where all the
00:39action happens. The kitchen here prepares around 30,000 meals every day, and one of
00:45the executive chefs is going to show us just how it's all put together. We are doing the
00:50first iftar from the beginning actually, and we start about 15,000 a meal a day. Then
00:57after growing up until now we are doing, because we get a good reputation from the management
01:04itself, from the people itself, and from the organizer of the mosque. It's good reputation
01:14for us because we have no problem at all during the cooking or something because it's a huge
01:19operation, and we do our cooking as per Hasab and Abu Dhabi Food Control authority rules.
01:26The quantity of ingredients that are used to put this iftar together are staggering.
01:32Around 7,000 kilograms of rice, 6,000 kilograms of lamb, and 12,000 kilograms of chicken are
01:40used on a daily basis. A lot of planning is involved in getting this iftar right every
01:45day. This chicken takes two days to defrost, so what they're cutting here is meal for two
01:52days' time. Here we marinate the chicken and we keep it standby ready to cook. So this
01:58is where they pack the rice. This is about 400 portions of rice, and they pack it here
02:04and they keep it in a warmer, above 60 degrees, until it's time for iftar. So here is where
02:08they prepare 7,000 kilograms of vegetables every day, and the smell of onions as you
02:15enter that door is just overwhelming. My eyes are watering up. I'm really struggling
02:20to keep my eyes open and not have them all teared up. This kitchen never sleeps. It works
02:2524 hours, 350 chefs, 160 stewards, 450 service staff. Overall, 1,000 people are involved
02:36every day to make sure the iftar is put together. So after all that hard work, this is where
02:42it all ends up. The food is kept in these warmers at above 65 degrees and ready to go
02:47out to the people waiting at the iftar tent. So this is what the guys in the kitchen worked
02:52so hard to put together. A Lamborghini, a vegetable saloona, a pack of dates, and an
02:59apple. Ten of the tents are for men and two are for families. Everyone from all backgrounds
03:04and all faiths is welcome here, reinforcing UAE's message of tolerance. Sarabi Ghirampaya,
03:11Golf News.