Ramadan in the UAE and the art of the five-star iftar

Hotels are busy places at night during the holy month, with thousands of people flocking to the venues each evening to break their fast.

The Ritz-Carlton in Abu Dhabi is setting up for their first Iftar for Ramadan. Chefs make final preparations to some of their dishes prior to the start of Ramadan. (Delores Johnson/ The National)

For one month of the year hotels across the UAE can pretty much guarantee one thing - that they will be full of hungry customers every evening at sunset.

Outside virtually every five-star establishment there is a tent or similar structure set up to attract and feed hundreds, if not thousands, of Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

Because of the tradition of breaking the Ramadan fast with friends and family, the month can pose something of a logistical nightmare if it is not planned weeks, or in some cases months, in advance.

"We usually start planning during the Eid of the previous year," says Alexander Schneider, general manager of the Emirates Palace hotel. "Last year we sat together after Eid and we planned together. It's the entire management of the hotel because an event such as this really affects the hotel as a whole.

"With our current tent we expect 1,200 visitors each night. You can imagine this involves staff at the entrance gate, the valet parking, then the lobby staff. Everyone is involved."

With its lavish decorations and reputation for excellence, the Emirates Palace iftar will be a must-see for those paying the Dh289 price tag.

The hotel has set up a Ramadan Pavilion with displays of artwork and photography by local and international artists to maximise its potential market.

Spread over 2,400 square metres - making it the largest purpose-built Ramadan tent in the capital - the pavilion offers a huge selection of local cuisine, including dishes prepared by the hotel's Emirati chef, Ali Salem Edbowa, the executive chef at Mezlai, something the hotel considers to be its unique selling point.

"We have a huge advantage because we have chefs that are masters in local cuisine," Mr Schneider says. "They have more than 30 years of experience. Chef Ali can prepare and decide on the food especially for the local Royalty and the locals themselves."

When it comes to sourcing enough ingredients to feed the masses, hotels start early. The executive chef from Emirates Palace ventures to rural areas to source as much local produce as possible, as early as possible.

"He went to farms from Al Ain to Ras Al Khaimah and visited these farmers and took photos to show how local these ingredients are," Mr Schneider says.

"There's obviously a very small amount of local produce available. I can't say it's completely exhausted over Ramadan but I would think so. So we enter talks with these farmers ahead of time, and we work with them all year round."

Unsurprisingly, hotels face heavy criticism over the waste of the tonnes of food that is prepared for the iftars but left uneaten.

Dubai Municipality said last week that uneaten food makes up more than half of all the waste in the emirate's landfills every day during the holy month.

It attributed some of the food to private homes rather than hotels, and said part of the problem was the tradition of sending food to other households, most of which have already stocked up.

"On regular days food makes up 33 to 38 per cent of domestic waste. During Ramadan it can go up to 55 per cent or more," says Abdul Majeed Saifaie, director of the waste-management department.

In an effort to limit wasted food, and of course money, Emirates Palace is working with the Red Crescent to distribute "untouched" food.

There is a balance to be struck, Mr Schneider says, between making sure the hotel has enough food so no dish runs out, and avoiding having too much untouched at the end of the night.

"You can't suddenly have a shortage of your iftar buffet," he says. "I can only imagine how it is if you haven't had any food or liquid throughout the entire day, the hunger must really eat you from inside out.

"Here we have a very good strategy of how to manage the buffet but obviously you always have some backup, and any hotel that says it doesn't have backup is lying.

"When it comes to waste, it's the buffet. So if you manage the buffet right, you seldom find a fully stacked buffet that you then throw away."

The hotel avoids serving up "silly items", he says, such as lobster, caviar or imported beef, and tries to remain luxurious while embracing the frugal philosophy of Ramadan.

When it comes to organising the food, it's all about numbers. If a person eats 400 grams of food, a hotel will probably use 600 grams of raw ingredients.

At Emirates Palace, for example, feeding 2,000 people requires a couple of tonnes of raw material. Food that has been displayed cannot be redistributed because of health and safety rules, so hotels have to strike a balance between presenting a lavish feast without appearing too wasteful.

For the Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi, which opened in May, this is its first Ramadan and management are determined to make sure everything runs smoothly.

Planning its service for the holy month began as soon as the hotel was established.

Its purpose-built iftar tent seats about 230 and there is an additional 200 seats inside the main building.

Like other large hotels, one of the most important and difficult tasks it faces can be keeping the iftar staffed.

"During Ramadan we have a few outlets that shut down and we bring that manpower to these outlets to emphasise the service point of view," says the assistant director of food and beverage, Romain Mejecaze.

"There's a full strategy that's planned. There are two or three teams and we pair Muslims with non-Muslims so you always have someone on the food station."

Mr Mejecaze, from Toulouse, France, suggested a souq-like atmosphere with large lanterns and flowing silks on the tent ceiling after visiting Morocco this year.

The hotel provides prayer rooms and food for Muslim staff to break their fasts, and there are four prayer rooms throughout the hotel for guests.

"A lot of people think the five-star hotels waste so much but we have a lot of management that has to be in place, we have a lot of forecasts so the chef already knows what is coming through.

"It's a bit of a mathematical aspect. You need 20 per cent contingency and you know the reservations. From there you have a base."

The iftar costs Dh195, almost a Dh100 less than at Emirates Palace, and Mr Mejecaze insists the hotel does not make a profit.

"We usually break even. And you make an image for yourself, and this will have an impact on the future," he says.

"Something you give back to the community is very important. We are in this country and we should embrace the culture.

"It's a lot of cost involved in something like this."

The first week of Ramadan is usually the quietest for the hotels as most Muslims prefer to break their fast with their families at home.

As the weeks pass the hotels get busier as more businesses host corporate iftars.

For Trevor Greene, the Canadian chef de cuisine at The Address Dubai Marina, one of the most complicated parts of Ramadan is organising staffing.

It can be tricky running busy iftars and restaurants with the adjusted and shortened working hours.

"Most of the menus are done a month or two in advance; it's crucial to do planning well ahead of time," he says.

"The same with staffing schedules. Our Muslim staff can only work eight hours, which means some other people need to jump in. Ideally we plan to have people holiday ahead of time so everyone is here."

Mr Greene, who has been at the hotel for three months but who has lived in the UAE for two years, orders quantities of food depending on how many reservations there are in the hotel's restaurants, not including the buffet banquet.

"You do manage to control your costs because you have an idea of how many people approximately you are going to feed," he says.

"If there are 400 reservations you wouldn't cook for 1,000. If we have 300 reservations already, we would probably cook for 400 or 500 to include the walk-ins.

"It's all in the planning. If you plan well it will run smoothly for everyone."