For some, Ramadan is a special time – particularly for cooking shows. And Dubai-based Tarek Ibrahim, a stalwart of Ramadans past, is making his own contribution to this year’s programming with a food travelogue on Australia.
His new show, Travelling Tarek’s Australian Adventures, looks beyond the plate to how the continent’s famed livestock is raised and produced, while meeting the farming families behind its creation.
“I set out to learn more about Australia’s beef and lamb, but what I never expected was to be taken on a genuine Australian food odyssey of the culinary senses,” he says.
On the three-part show, which airs on Fatafeat TV, Ibrahim visits cattle and sheep farms, gets a taste of station life in the saddle, up in the air and in the yards working up close with livestock to gain an understanding of how Australian beef and lamb makes its way from the paddock to the plate.
What he finds is an unspoiled natural environment and larger-than-life characters acting as caretakers of the land. “Actually setting foot on the farm, seeing the cattle and sheep fit and healthy in the paddock, learning about the pastures they graze and the natural conditions they are raised in was eye-opening and reassuring,” Ibrahim says.
“I take viewers into the homes of many passionate Australians who show me the diversity of food and flavours that make this country a unique place to visit,” he adds.
With a trolley full of fresh ingredients, a barrel of laughs and plenty of passion, Tarek cooks up mouth-watering meals inspired by his experiences across the series including lamb chops, grassfed barbecue roast beef and fresh seafood and seasonal fruits – each with a Middle Eastern twist.
“I was inspired to create dishes that bring to life the Australian spirit for land, nature and food of the finest quality,” he explains.
With 30 years’ of cooking and teaching experience, Ibrahim is the Arab world’s first Master Chef recently crowned by the World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS).
The series begins airing on Fatafeat HD on Sunday, June 19 at 14.50 UAE time. It is distributed through the partnership on beIN platforms as part of its entertainment package, channel number 113. Viewers can access all the recipes online on www. Fatafeat.com following each episode.
