Meet the London Chef On a Mission to Modernise Iraqi Cuisine
by Siti Zawani
@ 04 Dec 2015
Chef Philip Juma who describes Iraqi cuisine “as very close to my heart with my father being from Iraq itself,” has transformed into an ambassador of the country’s delicacies and signature dishes.
“London is a very multicultural city, it has a wide range of different cuisines and nationalities, and I can say that the Iraqi cuisine is a very understated cuisine,” Chef Juma, who is of a mixed English, Irish and Iraqi heritage, told Al Arabiya News.
Chef Juma’s pop-ups in London restaurants include his five-course Iraqi dishes, which have given “Juma Kitchen” some publicity, the latest being is his new bi-weekly food column at the London-based Evening Standard paper. The gourmet-flared chef said one of the best ways to further promote Iraqi food is by working on presentation. “We can’t just have a lamb shank on top of rice with a bowl of soup next to it. We have to be more refined and really become more confident,” he advised. He is also working to modernise some traditional dishes, including Iraq’s traditional cookie, kleicha, which is usually eaten with cardamom tea. To read the full story, head to
http://goo.gl/TCE6Ym
