Popular Jordanian smokehouse The Pit makes its Dubai debut

Earlier than they opened their first smokehouse in Amman 4 years in the past, Jordanian restaurateurs Ahmed Hijazi and Ghaith Saadeldin had been so obsessive about serving the proper smoked brisket that they constructed their very own smoker from the bottom up.

“There’s a science to smoking that we’ve been attempting to good since we opened,” says Hijazi, whose The Pit-Home of Barbecue simply opened its first franchise in Dubai.

The method of smoking meat dates again to how primitive males preserved the spoils of their hunt. The Pit has developed its personal method to serve the proper briskets that, in keeping with Hijazi, “soften in your mouth”.

Perfecting their very own smoker would quickly repay for the entrepreneurs, whose enterprise started as a tiny shack at a again alley in Amman in 2018, promoting slow-cooked meat primarily to buddies and neighbours.

“After a 12 months and a half or so, the enterprise was going so effectively, they determined to develop into extra of a dine-in expertise,” Ahmad Al Dada, the restaurant’s managing associate within the UAE, tells The Nationwide.

“They determined to take an even bigger house — round 200 sq. metres — on the centre of the town the place there may be larger site visitors in Abdoun Al Shamali, one of many busiest districts within the Jordanian capital, which might grow to be their flagship restaurant.”

In 2019, The Pit offered its first franchise in Erbil, Iraq, and has since bolstered plans to launch the model throughout the area, with plans to take it to different Gulf nations after the UAE outpost in Metropolis Stroll.

Whereas smoked briskets are its speciality, The Pit additionally serves brief ribs, in addition to burgers and sandwiches.

However earlier than the smoking even begins, shut consideration is paid to sourcing their meat, vetting suppliers and ensuring they solely get premium cuts.

“Now we have a number of sources; we don’t stick to at least one particular supply. We get our meat primarily from the US, Australia and New Zealand — relying on the reduce of meat,“ Al Dada explains.

When you get the proper meat, then comes the cooking by the smokehouse’s pit masters, who’re artisans in their very own proper — led by head chef Khaled El Shaweesh, who can also be answerable for coaching the opposite employees because the restaurant prepares for its GCC enlargement.

The pit masters don’t simply comply with a set recipe, says Al Dada, as an alternative they “really feel” them. Completely different meats are handled in numerous methods. For instance, rooster is smoked for a minimum of 4 hours, whereas full briskets can take as much as 22 hours within the smoker.

Hijazi says he was particularly annoyed in regards to the high quality of beef bacon from the US, which he says usually feels chewy and “the fibres don’t soften, which is bizarre”.

This frustration led the model to roll out its personal smoked deli choice, which can also be out there within the UAE.

That includes each indoor and out of doors seating areas, a juice bar and an open kitchen providing a view of their prized custom-built smoker, The Pit-Home of Barbecue in Dubai can seat as much as 120 friends in complete.

Hijazi and Al Dada are hoping the restaurant’s recognition with expats in Jordan, who make up 40 per cent of its buyer base, will assist them make a splash in multicultural UAE.

Up to date: December 06, 2022, 2:19 PM