GOURMET SHAWARMAS

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

What makes it gourmet?

WORDS JADE GEORGE PHOTOGRAPHY DORY YOUNES

One's perspective on the potential complexity of shawarma flavours will

change drastically after a conversation with Chef Izu Ani. Though Nigerianborn and brought up in England, his vast fine dining experience stems from
French cooking and his explorations in the kitchens of Michelin starred chefs
in France, England and Spain. His venture into s'wich, a scalable gourmet
shawarma restaurant in Dubai in parallel to maestroing the kitchen at La
Serre in the city's downtown area expanded not only his repertoire in Middle
Eastern cuisine but the street food's prospects as well. It may seem like a big
statement, but it only takes a visit to his kitchen followed by a meal at s'wich to
verify the claim.
How was your trip to Ethiopia?
It was amazing. Nothing in that place is imported. The soil is so rich because
Ethiopia is close to the equator and so it has a climate thats consistent all year
round, even when it rains. The land is volcanic so the soil and the salt are
organic and extremely rich. Anything you throw in that soil grows. Theres this
super food they eat now: the teff. Its part of the diet of every Ethiopian. They
use it for the injera, their bread. It's bread with no gluten in it. And gluten is
made up of proteins that bloat you. Their bread has proteins but of a different
kind so you can eat and eat and eat and not feel bloated. Nothing there had
additives. There are hardly any supermarkets in Ethiopia and everything is
naturally grown and sold so things taste of what theyre supposed to taste.
Theres no contriving.
Did you bring anything back for swich?
I discovered on my trip that Ethiopia cultivates some of the best sesame seeds in
the world. We want to import them to make the most outstanding tahini for our
shawarma. Tahini shouldnt taste bitter. If you use quality sesame seeds and
only use the heart, without the skin, your tahini wouldn't taste bitter.

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Youve trained in the kitchens of some of the most esteemed chefs in the
world Paul Bocuse, Arzak, Akelarre, to name a few and ran the kitchen
at La Petite Maison in Dubai. French cuisine and fine dining make up the
foundation of your cooking. What's it like for a chef with your background
and kitchen culture to work with shawarma?
Shawarma comes from a different culture, but cultures can be shared. Im
someone who likes to delve into other peoples cultures. And food is culture. Do
you know how important water is in Japanese cooking? To make any of their
main dishes you need dashi. It's the base of any dish they make and thats what
creates the harmony of flavours in Japanese cuisine. When I was in London
there was a chef from Kyoto that used to import water from Japan to make
his dashi. Thats how important it was to him. Because the elements in water
change other things. Dashi basically forms the base of the umami taste, the fifth
taste, which is all about the chemical reaction between certain elements. A lot
of my dishes are created in this way of thinking, and it's become a mindset. So
whenever Im trying to create a dish, I want to add layers to make sure that the
chemical reaction is balanced. I dont do it scientifically; I just do it with palate
built through many years of tasting. One of the first chefs I worked for always
told me, "Izu, youve got to taste in order to have a library of taste." Every time
you sample something you go back into that library and you'll go, "Oh! I can
identify this," and it all comes together. In that way, making swich and making
La Serre wasn't really different because it involved the same ethos. Thats
exactly what I wanted to instill in the swich team.
That might be part of the reason why weve never seen anyone make saj
bread the way you do.
We had trouble making saj bread at first. I was more concentrated on the meats
and the sauces and one of the guys had a recipe for saj bread. I came in and
tasted it, and it didnt taste good. People liked it but I thought it was too doughy.
See, what they usually do is get flour, water, yeast and salt, mix it together, let it
rest for 10 minutes, whirl it out and put it on the saj. After a while, you come to
taste it and it tastes doughy. So I decided to delve deeper into it and create my
own recipe. Theres a lot of information that you need in order to make good
bread. You can make good bread or bad bread using the same recipe and the
same ingredients. What will change the outcome is an understanding of the
flour, the salt, the water and the yeast.
Was it your first time making saj bread?
I had never used a saj before. It was just about understanding the culture
behind it and employing everything I had learnt from my background in
baking and cooking. But one thing is the same. Youve got to basically transform
the proteins in the flour. You have to break it all down. And to do so you need

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bacteria, because bacteria eat proteins to grow. So you need the yeast which
is the bacteria to eat the proteins to be able to change their format. So that
when they go into your body, they're easier to digest. And this process will
consequently make the bread taste good. The flavours are opened, like when
you cook vegetables instead of eating them raw. They taste different, because
you break up the molecules when you cook vegetables and so you taste the
flavours. The flavours are held in the molecules. But if you overcook them,
you let every flavour out and you dont taste anymore of the vegetable. Thats
why youre encouraged to cook things al dente. So that you have some of the
molecules closed and some opened. Thats a good marriage of flavours. So I
explained to my guys that the flour wasnt transformed because they let it rest
for only 10 minutes. I suggested to let the dough rest for 24 hours in the fridge.
The temperature you leave the bacteria in affects how much they multiply. You
leave them in a warm room in a city like Dubai at, say, 24 C and theyll multiply
quicker. When they multiply quicker, they eat up all the proteins. You need
to regulate that because they cant eat too much too quickly. We're all bacteria
after all. We dont feel comfortable when we eat too much. We cant move, we
cant perform Thats why you eat gradually throughout the day. And the
same principle applies to bread. You cant allow the bacteria to eat as much as
they want because they'll die. So what we do to control that is we reduce the
temperature, because they dont have the same appetite in cold temperatures.
This still transforms the proteins but slower and for longer. When you do it over
a longer stretch of time you create more flavours and perfumes in the bread.
Where do all the other elements start to come in? And in an agriculturally
challenging city like Dubai, how do you get your hands on the ingredients
you want?
Well take the flour for example. Theres no such thing as local flour in the
UAE. Theres no wheat grown here. And because people here know that the
climate we live in is very adverse to making good bread, they dont even bother
importing good wheat or grains. They buy the cheapest grains they can find and
pump it all with certain substances to make up for what they lack in quality. So
if the grains don't contain enough proteins, theyll add a shitload of proteins
with chemicals. Try this: buy bread anywhere in this city, leave it outside, and
within a day or two itll mould. Why? Because theres a shitload of chemicals in
the bread. In normal bread, which is usually known as sourdough "levain"
in French you work with the bacteria in the air. You say, "Okay, lets put some
flour here and Ill entice the bacteria thats in the air." So the bacteria drops
down onto the flour. You then have to give them moisture: water. Water is very
important. You and I, as bacteria, need these elements; we need bacteria and
we need moisture. Without them we die. And because the bacteria in the air
are natural bacteria that we breathe, they're easier for our bodies to digest.

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They understand them. Our bodies will receive them and say, "I know you! I
saw you the other day. I can use these proteins that youre bringing into my
body." But if your body doesnt know them, it'll rejects them. Thats why people
become coeliac. They reject the proteins the gluten in the flour because the
unnatural yeast that's created in labs is basically stopping your body from
recognising the formula to break it down. We brought this really lovely flour
from Italy. But, whenever theres a possibility to buy organic here, we do it.
Were not reinventing the wheel. Were just revising certain elements that we
use to make shawarma, to make it better.
How many shawarmas did you have to go through in the process of
elevating the age old street food?
Of course I had to start by discovering the whole tradition around shawarma. I
read and tasted. I had always enjoyed shawarma anyway. Especially when its
made with honest ingredients. The best shawarma I had eaten was in Beirut.
It was especially good because they cooked it on a wood fire grill. I would have
three of those at one go. Theres a grill that I want to buy for swich that costs a
bundle but it will allow us to cook the shawarma spits on wood fire. I got one
for my kitchen at home. Cooking in that will give the ingredients we already use
and the product weve achieved a completely different dimension.
Would it be feasible?
Everything is feasible when you have the desire. Thats why I said to the guys
at swich that, to take it up yet another notch, this is where weve got to go. The
flavour will absolutely rip it. The next step for me with swich is to change the
dimensions of existing flavours. Its also about stabilising peoples perception
of what we stand for. I believe that were making a product that is edible by
everybody and is healthy, and every ingredient that goes into it is seen. Not like
at these dner kebab places where everything is amalgamated and you dont
even know whats in a sandwich. There could be bones mashed in there, there
could be crap in there At swich, you can see the layers: the meat, the salad,
the sauces and all the other condiments. Its not all just blended together so you
can get away with anything. And yes, others get away with it. Some start right
and then decide to go down the line of cutting costs. Its up to you and what you
want to stand for.
Can that be completely standardised?
Anything organic is not going to function like an assembly line. You need to be
consistent, sure. But you over-standardise something and you lose something.
Its that touch of "homemade", "fresh", "daily" that will elevate the flavour. You
put things in factories and youre going to have people working who dont even
care about the product. And this is why I opposed the idea of a central kitchen.

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We would lose a little bit of what were doing here. Yes, it would be harder to
manage but if were ever going to have a central kitchen we have to do it in a
different way than what normal central kitchens do with a different outlook
on everything. You start by saying, "I can do it" and you put elements in place
to get it done. Were already well on our way to our second and third swich
kitchens, maintaining the same principles.
Thats quite a motivating way of thinking. Have you started your
additional research to building on what you already have?
Ive got a research kitchen at home and were setting up an official one with La
Serre. Im now experimenting with lobster shawarma as a special at s'wich.
We already offer beef, veal, mushroom and chicken and the quality of every bit
of it is worth mentioning. The cooking process, the homemade sauces that we
make from scratch every day... Even our BBQ sauce is made from scratch. And
if a mayonnaise is going to go with the lobster, its going to be from scratch. We
wanted to offer moorish flavours from day one.
You were planning on adding fish to the mix. What made you reserve from
launching it with the initial menu?
We wanted to make sure to put out a product thats really tasty but at the same
time isnt bad for you. Nothing that makes you feel like crap after you eat it.
Making fish in a fast-paced shawarma kitchen without putting it in a batter and
frying it was just too risky of a process as far as food hygiene and safety go.
How does someone with your background define shawarma?
It is what it is. Its a sandwich. You shave meat, get bread and humble
ingredients and put them together. Shawarma means different things to
different people, depending on their relationship with it. Its ultimately a quick
bite on the go that gives you all the elements of a diet a whole meal. Youve
got your protein, youve got the vegetables and youve got that enjoyment of the
sauce that lubricates everything and brings it together. Elevating it is basically
looking at the different elements of it and making every bit of it better. Just like
weve witnessed with the evolution of any dish.

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