Twist on tradition

Gulf Weekly

27-02-2025

The Holy Month of Ramadan may be known primarily for its custom of fasting, but an upcoming cooking show is serving up playful twists on the cultural feasts that come at the end of the day.
The Art Station in Muharraq is kicking off its cooking show in Ramadan, to celebrate the culinary arts and explore themes of heritage, creativity and community-building, highlighting how people are brought together by food.
The Art Station Kitchen will offer modern Bahrain-based chefs an opportunity to showcase their take on traditional recipes and flavours.
'Many traditional dishes are passed down through generations, but Ramadan also invites the opportunity to put a new spin on these recipes,' Art Station director Shaikha Latifa bint Abdulrahman Al Khalifa told GulfWeekly.
'Our cooking show allows our guests to honour traditional flavours while also making them more modern.'
Amongst the invited guest chefs showcasing their culinary arts are Scoop Creamery founder Alya Al Ammari and Dona's Wonders founder Dona Maria Gemayel, who are serving up spins on karak tea, lumee and baklava.
The first round of videos, which were filmed this week and will be released on social media in the coming days, focus on creative sweets.
'Alya combined the classic and comforting flavours of karak tea, a staple beverage in the region, with the nostalgic crunch of biscuits, creating a unique ice cream sandwich,' Shaikha Latifa added.
'It's a cool modern version of a traditional favourite.
'On another episode, Alya creates a Lumee Aswad sorbet, a refreshing and vibrant twist made with the infamous Lumee Aswad (dried black lime) which is a traditional key ingredient in Bahraini cuisine.
'Dona takes the iconic Arabic sweet Kunafa and presents it in a cup form, easier for sharing in the communal setting of Ramadan.
'She also prepared Baklava Cheesecake, adding a modern take to the classic baklava experience by combining creamy cheesecake filling with honeyed crunchy layers of baklava.'
According to the Art Station, the desserts represent 'stories passed down, reinterpreted, and shared with new generations, blending cultural heritage with modern culinary artistry'.
'Ramadan cooking is a practice cherished, ritualistic, and incredibly intimate to each household,' Chef Alya explained.
'After a long, fasted day of cooking, the final iftar spread is moulded by the individual tastes and delights of whoever will be at the table when you hear the Maghrib Athan (call for prayer and end of the fasting period).
'This unspoken, treasured consideration of every family member is, of course, shaped by their cultural and culinary backgrounds, and the contexts in which they exist.
'My own household is a touching example of this. One of the recipes I made is a Karak ice cream sandwich- made using my mother's own karak recipe, lovingly scrawled on the back of a receipt.
'My mother is English, and certainly did not grow up making and drinking karak, yet her recipe - using British Tetley tea bags - reflects her 40 years of living in the Gulf and decades of making karak for my Bahraini father every Ramadan.
'This is the recipe she passed to me - a child of mixed but quintessentially Bahraini heritage.
'The fusion of a classic recipe, steeped in the rich context of my household, is highlighted most delightfully during Ramadan, and the karak recipe I pass down to my children one day will be a reflection of the history and migration of my family and their story.'
While culinary arts have been appreciated as an art form around the world, the Art Station is the first creative space in Bahrain to feature a demonstration kitchen at their new premises in Suq Al Qaisariya.
The vision behind the new cooking show at the kitchen, during Ramadan and beyond, is to create an intimate and collaborative environment where emerging artists are showcased in formats tailored for TikTok and Instagram reels.
The team also hopes to highlight gluten-free and sugar-free creations at the kitchen, with Chef Dona whipping up variants on classic Ramadan dishes that can be enjoyed by all.
'Cooking, like art, is a form of expression that requires patience, precision, and passion,' Chef Dona explained.
'Creating gluten-free and sugar-free dishes is even more intricate, as it demands time to experiment and perfect each recipe. Just like an artist carefully layers colours on a canvas, I layer flavours and textures to ensure that each bite is both nourishing and delicious.
'Fasting, too, teaches patience and discipline, reminding us to slow down, appreciate the process, and be mindful of what we consume. Whether in art, cooking, or fasting, patience is the key to achieving something truly meaningful.'