How one woman actualizes her dreams of kosher food in an unlikely landscape

Eight years ago, Elli Kriel and her family moved to Dubai. The commute of her husband’s work from Johannesburg was proving too taxing, and when he was asked if they would be willing to consider permanently relocating, after some reconnaissance, they decided to make the move.

In 2013, the Kriels were the only kosher family in Dubai, which was certainly a challenge. Elli’s primary focus was to settle in her two younger children, aged three and four at the time, into this new environment, as well as set up a kosher home. For those first couple of years, her husband focused on community, and she maintained focus on the family.

On the one hand, it was daunting to maintain their frum identity in such a foreign atmosphere. On the other hand, they continued to be pleasantly surprised by the openness and support they received, both locally and internationally.

Starting Slow

Initially, the Kriels would send suitcases from South Africa to Dubai filled with food necessities (at one point they were importing 120 kilograms of food in one trip!), but once they realized what they could buy locally, they only brought the items that they truly couldn’t get in Dubai, like meat, cheese, and butter. Meanwhile, word started spreading quickly that there was a kosher family in Dubai, and people began to reach out to them for guidance.

In November 2018, the Global Conference of Human Fraternity, a large interfaith conference, took place in Abu Dhabi, which is an hour from Dubai. The conference organizers reached out to the Kriels, asking for help to feed ten rabbis three meals a day. Although Elli was not a caterer — yet! — she committed to sending all three meals for these ten attendees, starting at 7 a.m. each morning. After that, word began to travel even faster.

By January of that year, the government announced they would be doing the Year of Tolerance. For this, Elli provided kosher meals for the attendees who needed it at the inaugural event.

At this point, Elli went public, launching a website and finessing her branding. She sent her website to her first customers, a family coming to Dubai, and after they shared it on social media, suddenly 4,000 people were alerted to her brand. By December 2019, the business was full-on running, with families and businessmen ordering her food daily.

Growth Curve

As with so many others, when COVID struck, her business went so quiet that Elli didn’t think it would get resurrected. And then, two incredible things happened.

A journalist from a popular American newspaper contacted Elli. She had grown up next to a rabbi, and her speciality was reporting on religions in the Middle East. That interview was published in the English version of Al Arabiya, a Saudi-based newspaper, which catapulted Elli’s name and products into the Dubai local markets. Overnight, she had all the emirates and expats requesting her traditional Jewish food. This unique situation got a lot of coverage in local press and major publications, and then was picked up by the Jerusalem Post and the Times of Israel.

Although Elli’s focus remained on the domestic market, when the peace treaty was signed between UAE and Israel, everything suddenly changed again. With Elli’s Kosher Kitchen’s demands increasing, she moved her production out of her home and received OU certification, as well as a full-time mashgiach. Her goal is to continue to provide kosher food for all of the hotels and their tour groups.

One would think that kashering a kitchen in the Middle East would pose multiple challenges. Yet in Dubai, with its unprecedented luxury in hotels, there is customer service to match. It was clear to see how Elli’s represented an amazing opportunity for the hospitality industry, as it moves towards creating an infrastructure that supports kosher travel. The hotels are encouraged to attract more people to Dubai, and the willingness to make this happen is evident. There’s complete compliance, great support, and an understanding that there is a learning curve for all parties involved.

One of those learning curves has huge benefits, yet requires education: In the Middle East, there is a deep kind of connection between Muslims and Jews, cousins that date back millennia, despite the conflicts that exist. Because of this, there is a misconception in the world at large that if you eat kosher, you can eat halal. In reality, halal eaters can eat kosher, but not so vice versa. Here is where that educational process comes into play.

Kosherati

Because so many people from so many diverse backgrounds are eating Elli’s food, she has a varied and eclectic menu. Elli herself has Mediterranean roots, with a cooking style that speaks to Moroccan Jews, while Ashkenazim need their tastes met also. And then, of course, there are the classics that people passing through expect from a Jewish kitchen, like latkes, matzah ball soup, and babka.

Elli coined the term Kosherati to describe her developed recipes: a fusion of Emirati-style food delivered in a kosher way.

Things you may find on her menu are balaleet kugel, which is a breakfast dish made with vermicelli noodles, sugar, and eggs, and seasoned with saffron and rose water, then cooked in a pan and fried. (Think Yerushalmi kugel, just with different spices.)

Instead of blintzes, in Emirati cuisine there’s a pancake called the chebab. It’s made with saffron and rose water as well, and drizzled with date syrup. Elli will make it in blintz format, fill it with cream cheese, and then finish with date syrup.

When it came to the actual delegation dinner, Elli was lucky to meet Meir Ben-Shabbat, the new national security advisor and head Israeli negotiator, and feel the incredible presence of so many others during this momentous event.