Food for thought: Ramadan, a time for family, food and friends

Emirati filmmaker Fadel Al Mheiri talks about how Ramadan is about family gatherings and why the focus on the month should move away from food and be on compassion and tolerance.

Over iftar at Le Royal Méridien Abu Dhabi, Fadel Al Mheiri chats about what Ramadan means to him. Satish Kumar / The National

“I’m missing my mother’s biryani today,” says Emirati filmmaker Fadel Al Mheiri, as we walk into the golden satin-­draped Layali El Hilmiya Ramadan tent in the courtyard of Le Royal Méridien Abu Dhabi for iftar. Around us, modern Arabian cuisine is laid out at different stations around the swimming pool, which has fountains spouting of it.

It’s the first time the 37-year-old Al Mheiri, founder of Tent Pictures Productions in Abu Dhabi, has missed an iftar with his family.

“I don’t mind the break in routine, but I did have to sneak out before my mother caught me skipping iftar at home,” he says with a chuckle.

The filmmaker, who turned novelist a few years ago after stumbling upon some historical papers on the 15th-century Portuguese general Afonso de Albuquerque, is still riding high on the success of his debut book Kingdom of Peacocks – Mists of Time. The novel, which received positive feedback at this year's Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, is intended to be part of a trilogy. It's about the Portuguese invasion of a make-believe kingdom in the Gulf in the 1500s, but brings to fore pressing issues of extremism.

Al Mheiri pauses to pick up a plump roll of rice-stuffed vine leaves and dips it in the hummus, while I take a forkful of tabbouleh.

"With Kingdom of Peacocks, I'm talking about ISIL, about what prompts them to take such actions," he says. "No one is born a bin Laden, there is a story behind what makes them act this way and what needs to be done to reverse that thought process."

Al Mheiri plans to eventua­lly adapt the books into a feature-­length film.

“I think Ramadan is a good time to talk about these things because Islam is about compassion and charity,” he says. “But we tend to forget that and our focus is always on the food, what to eat at iftar and suhoor. But I don’t want to get too preachy with my work. So even the ideas behind my movies come from something that I have witnessed and want to say something about.”

Al Mheiri says the slower pace of life during Ramadan means he gets to spend more time with his family.

“Ramadan for me is mainly about three things: the family gatherings, my mother’s biryani and keeping my conscience clear by opening my home and heart,” he says, as we pile our plates with fragrant Jordanian mansaf, a rice dish with lamb cooked in fermented, dried yogurt.

“It’s also a time when everyone seems to follow my nocturnal schedule for a change, and that means I spend the entire night with friends in my majlis,” says Al Mheirihe, adding that he spends about two hours every night working on his next book in the series before hosting friends for suhoor.

“I’m also working on an animation about four stray cats living in dumpsters,” he reveals. The film will be a satirical take on the rapidly changing city and how modernity has affected Emiratis.

“It is like my tent – it was a small tent outside my house where I began my film career, and now it is like this majlis, with Wi-Fi, TV and games,” he says with a laugh.

We skip dessert and decide to end our meal with dates, figs and nuts.

“People treat Ramadan like Christmas,” he says. “It’s like a food festival when what it needs to be is about bringing about change and tolerance, be it through simple charitable actions or art.”

• Iftar buffet with unlimited drinks at Layali El Hilmiya Ramadan tent at Le Royal Méridien Abu Dhabi costs Dh180. For details, call 02 401 4000; www.leroyalmeridienabudhabi.com​

• Every Thursday during Ramadan, we sit down to iftar or suhoor with cultural personalities to discuss life lessons and reflections gleaned during the holy month