It’s a pretty appalling picture from the Blackberry, but this was me choosing my dinner at Amman’s Zad El Khair restaurant on Monday evening. Run by Saddam Hussein’s personal chef and aimed at, in my host’s words, ‘the Iraqi elite’ it offers a traditional spread of Arabic dishes with one significant exception. Upon arrival the guest leans over a pool in the kitchen to choose their fish for the evening, which is netted and doffed on the head before hitting the barbeque.
Unusually – and rightly – it brought me uncomfortably close to what lands on my plate most days. I felt a little God-like and didn’t enjoy the experience, although this is something we should probably do more often before tucking into the next hamburger.
Mind you, by the time the fish got to the table I’d forgotten about the death sentence I’d passed on it an hour earlier and was happy to tuck in. I’ll not be turning veggie anytime soon.