Someone recently queried my sanity at spending the Bd 20,000 or $75,000 on publishing Arabian Dreams on limited release, throughout just the Middle East. My reply, was , well "I BELIEVED IN THE PROJECT."
Many of us who cook, never invest in ourselves throughout our career . Yet we are our greatest tool. We are not about knives, but about ourselves. A chef does not stand back and point to his expensive knife box and say,"There, that is the sum of my career".
This is not my "ouevre", I believe there is more inside me yet to come, but its pretty dam close. If the remainder of my career I do nothing more than sit back and reflect upon the pride of the effort my team where I work, made to help produce the dream which was ARABIAN DREAMS, then I will truly be blessed anyway.
I am not a religious person to any great extent, but I do believe if you put good things out into the universe you will be rewarded. (A harsh lesson a GM I know is currently learning on the opposite end of that scale)
ARABIAN DREAMS has definately been a good thing and has been accepted into the universe by thousands of people. Not only has the book become the BEST ARABIC TITLE COOKBOOK IN THE WORLD and on the list of TOP 57 COOKBOOKS of 2011 but it has also sold far greater numbers than I ever hoped for.
If "Success is based upon the amount of risk you are willing to stomach", then risk I did.
Today Arabian Dreams is to be found in Abu Dhabi at Blossum Cakes store, In Egypt through the Egypt Chef's Association, In England through Squires Kitchen store and On-line, through Lebanesebooks.com can be found in Australia through Fred Mayer imports NSW, and throughout the Middle East in Jashanmal bookstores, booksarabia.com, and in all good bookstores (including Waitrose supermarket in Dubai) through the Middle East.
Starting this week ARABIAN DREAMS has been lucky to garner some truly blessed PR at the hands of amazing magazines. Three full pages in Spinney's FOOD magazine, Dubai, a whole 4 colour pages in HELLO magazine MIDDLE EAST Edition July 23rd publication and more in Dubai Voyager Duty Free magazine and we hear soon to come to Tabloid Saturday in the GULF NEWS newspaper.
Ten months it has been released now and yet sales continue to climb and PRess becomes greater every passing day. To those who joined the Arabian Dream and the most amazing book i have ever been part of, thank you from the bottom of my heart. This book is not about personal gain, but about proving that REAL CHEFS still have a voice in this world. Many publishers prefer home economists and designers who barely cook, because CHEFS are too professional (yes I have a dozen letters from publishers stating that). ARABIAN DREAMS was born, produced, written , photographed and paid for by a team a CHEF who had a belief that the words and the food meant something and deserve to be set free into the universe. Rewards for good things are truly a blessing,
Starting this week ARABIAN DREAMS has been lucky to garner some truly blessed PR at the hands of amazing magazines. Three full pages in Spinney's FOOD magazine, Dubai, a whole 4 colour pages in HELLO magazine MIDDLE EAST Edition July 23rd publication and more in Dubai Voyager Duty Free magazine and we hear soon to come to Tabloid Saturday in the GULF NEWS newspaper.
Ten months it has been released now and yet sales continue to climb and PRess becomes greater every passing day. To those who joined the Arabian Dream and the most amazing book i have ever been part of, thank you from the bottom of my heart. This book is not about personal gain, but about proving that REAL CHEFS still have a voice in this world. Many publishers prefer home economists and designers who barely cook, because CHEFS are too professional (yes I have a dozen letters from publishers stating that). ARABIAN DREAMS was born, produced, written , photographed and paid for by a team a CHEF who had a belief that the words and the food meant something and deserve to be set free into the universe. Rewards for good things are truly a blessing,
For those of you who do not live in the MIDDLE EAST, please try and get your hands upon a copy to view photos of amazing food, the read the words of Gary Rhodes about the beauty of the Middle East and to read the text from myself and my team who labored over this book of New Age Middle Eastern Concepts.
Before you judge the Middle East based upon news broadcasts, learn about its history and its culture and especially its food. Do not be swayed by politics or fighting. Yes its bad, but there are millions more people working hard within the Middle East who are surviving and trying to tell the world how amazing this place really is. Like any country, there are problems, but below the surface and below the headlines, the people, the culture and the food are an absolute blessing. Even we who live here, are sometimes blinded by its sands. Yet take a day off and most of us wonder at why we would ever consider to leave its shores.
Inside the kitchen we have no boundaries, other than the limits of your imagination and your skill. Step inside a Middle Eastern kitchen and you will find the true United Nations, the absolute Gulf Co-operative Council and a world of absolute freedom.
Thank you to everyone for your interest in ARABIAN DREAMS and may all your DREAMS come true.
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| Spinney's FOOD magazine available throughout Dubai and the UAE August 2011 |
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| Third page of Spinney's FOOD Magazine Middle East |
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| HELLO Magazine Middle East Edition July 23rd 2011 |
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| ARABIAN DREAMS, now selling in Cairo through the Egypt Chefs Association, In Paris at the Librarie Gourmande, In Abu Dhabi at Blossum Cakes, Jashanmals bookstore in Bahrain and also in stores in UAE, Dubai, Qatar and Kuwait. Call Swiss Food in Bahrain for a copy in Qatar or Bahrain or go online at Amazon.com, Lebanesebooks.com, Squireskitchens.com and Booksarabia.com. |
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