She adheres to her mother’s recipes to the letter, and her restaurant raises the slogan “Face me and don’t eat me.”

"Salam", winner of a Michelin star in Dubai: "My mother" is the secret of the mixture

• Salam confirmed that the place she founded in Dubai carries a message of love for everyone who enters it.

  Photography: Ahmed Ardeti

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Committed to all her mother’s recipes, and with her tenderness that she also restores, Chef Salam Dakkak prepares her dishes in her restaurant in Dubai, which also bears a touch of loyalty to the mother, as the ingredients of the recipes are flavored with a lot of love and giving, as his institution wanted to be a destination for those looking for the mother’s morsel with all it carries. Of privacy and fond memories.

Salam, who founded “Bait Maryam” years ago in Dubai, succeeded in winning a Michelin star for service and welcoming, as well as being included in the “Pep Gourman” list of restaurants that offer the best dishes at acceptable prices within the same award, for her dedication to preparing and serving food according to the best standards.

Salam Dakkak revealed to "Emirates Today" the secret of the mixture that enabled her to achieve this success: "I always dreamed of establishing a project related to preparing food and giving it my mother's name, because she was always keen to prepare the best food for us, her happiness was in feeding her children, as she was She is very distinguished in cooking, for (the soul) has a very big role in the taste of cooking, and I took this from her, and to this day I follow in her footsteps in my love for cooking and feeding people.

She added: "I founded the idea of ​​(Maryam's House) as a kind of repaying the debt and honoring her for her beautiful journey with us. I also lived in exile and moved in many countries. My family moved from Palestine to Jordan, then to Saudi Arabia between Riyadh, Jeddah and Al-Khobar, and then to America Then to Dubai, and this movement is difficult and leaves a lot of things inside the person, and for this he remains eager for family and friends.”

Salam considered that traveling is useful, as it gives one a lot of richness and relationships, noting that she specializes in sociology and psychology, and therefore likes to communicate with others and relieve their pain, considering that “Dubai was the perfect place to establish my project, because its goal is not just a restaurant serving dishes, but rather to create a space where visitors can enjoy food and talk, and find someone to listen to them, so the place I founded was loaded with a message of love for everyone who entered it.”

special welcome

Salam al-Daqqaq believes in the popular proverb “Late me and don’t have lunch”;

Therefore, it attaches great importance to the welcome, as it considers this proverb to be extremely true. A guest must be warmly welcomed, and that is why its guests feel that they are the owners of a place, and not customers in the restaurant.

After the welcome, visitors enjoy the taste of good food and traditional dishes, as the owner of "Beit Maryam" preserved the traditional dishes, stressing that despite the development that entered the Arab and oriental cuisine, she tried to adhere to her mother's recipes to the letter, as she preserved all the advice and information that she gave. I took it from her, specifically when she was cooking for them in the winter, when she was sitting near the fireplace and preparing food.

She pointed out that the development in dishes is beautiful, as there are now people who master it, "but in the end people return to the origin of the dish, because these traditional tastes are what many people long for."

Ingredients and flavors

Ingredients play a big role in the taste of food, and in order for Salam Dakkak to present her dishes with the same flavor that her mother used to prepare, she resorted to buying spices from several places. She brings thyme and olive oil from Palestine, bulgur from Lebanon, and freekeh from Syria, while vegetables and meat are from Emirates, and in this way the recipes are the closest form to her mother's recipes.

She added, "The competition in restaurants is great in Dubai, as it is one of the cities that contain more restaurants, so excellence is difficult, but it starts with quality in choosing the good quality of food ingredients, as well as distinctive spices, in addition to hygiene during cooking, and most importantly preparing food with love as if we were preparing it." For the family, as much as we give things, they give us, food needs cleanliness and generosity in order to be special.”

As for the expansion plans, Salam Dakkak indicated that she was often offered to participate or even buy the name of other branches, but she was worried in the first five years, considering that the rise should be one step after another and quietly, without rushing to reach greater successes, for each stage It has its own taste of success, and it is best to enjoy it.

She indicated that she is working on preparing for a new branch, which will be in an area closer to the center of Dubai, noting that she has trained all her assistant team, and they are now good at preparing dishes in the same style.

“Beit Maryam” its owner succeeded in being included in the “Bib Gourman” list of restaurants that offer the best dishes at reasonable prices.

A home for everyone

Salam Dakkak said that she is keen to be in her restaurant, talk to customers, and make sure that everyone is comfortable, as she considers this her duty, as she put it, noting that she is keen to hear the opinions of visitors on the ground, explaining that she broke barriers as a chef and shop owner, so they became like a family. This is the most beautiful thing in the place, which has become the "House of Secrets" for many of its visitors.

She noted that "Beit Maryam" won a Michelin star for welcoming and service, and it was not easy, especially since the restaurant does not have any kind of entertainment, and it does not offer a hookah or even a program of events like some other destinations, so the welcome is the most important thing that can be offered to visitors.

Hello Dakkak:

“Dubai was the perfect place to set up my project, because its goal is not just a restaurant, but a space where visitors can enjoy food and talk.”

“My mother was very distinguished in cooking, as (the soul) has a very big role in the taste, and I took this from her, and to this day I am following in her footsteps.” 

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