<p>The order came after Muslims in the city raised an objection on some hotels using alcohol in preparing or cooking a dish, Arabian Business reported.<br /><br />There was a total ban on using alcohol for cooking food in the country, Ahmed Abdul Rahman Al Ali, head of food inspection at the Food Control Department of Dubai Municipality, was quoted as saying by the newspaper.<br /><br />"I don’t think it will affect businesses or tourism. There are a lot of different meals from around the world catered for in Dubai’s restaurants, so the choice will still be there. Also, some dishes can change alcohol for a different flavour to get the same taste," he told the paper.<br /><br />Fines will range from 2,000 dirhams (USD 544) to 20,000 dirhams (USD 5,445), and may even rise to as much as 500,000 dirhams (USD 136,132) for serious repeat offenders.<br />Al Ali had said the 500,000 dirhams fine was a last resort, adding: "But we don’t want to go to that level. We don’t want businesses to go under. We are not looking for the fines at the moment. The inspectors will decide whether they get a notice period of one month."<br /><br />Some restaurants have already enforced the ban, while others were waiting for further clarification from officials as some reports suggest that the municipality has backtracked the order and no such rule will be imposed.<br /><br />Luca Gagliardi, general manager of Verre by Gordon Ramsey, said: "This law will affect our restaurant very much because we do use alcohol in some of our signature dishes, like the terrine of foie gras marinated in Sauternes and the Madeira veloute that we serve with our pithivier of quail."<br /><br />Al Ali said the order conforms to a law issued in 2003 after complaints came from Muslims about alcohol in food, following which the municipality issued a circular stating the sale of food containing alcohol was "strictly prohibited".<br /><br />"We found a lot of violations. Some local Muslims, and foreign Muslims visiting Dubai, were surprised that the food they ordered had alcohol.<br />In some cases they did not realise that what they had ordered contained alcohol because of the way it was written on the menu," he told the newspaper.</p>
<p>The order came after Muslims in the city raised an objection on some hotels using alcohol in preparing or cooking a dish, Arabian Business reported.<br /><br />There was a total ban on using alcohol for cooking food in the country, Ahmed Abdul Rahman Al Ali, head of food inspection at the Food Control Department of Dubai Municipality, was quoted as saying by the newspaper.<br /><br />"I don’t think it will affect businesses or tourism. There are a lot of different meals from around the world catered for in Dubai’s restaurants, so the choice will still be there. Also, some dishes can change alcohol for a different flavour to get the same taste," he told the paper.<br /><br />Fines will range from 2,000 dirhams (USD 544) to 20,000 dirhams (USD 5,445), and may even rise to as much as 500,000 dirhams (USD 136,132) for serious repeat offenders.<br />Al Ali had said the 500,000 dirhams fine was a last resort, adding: "But we don’t want to go to that level. We don’t want businesses to go under. We are not looking for the fines at the moment. The inspectors will decide whether they get a notice period of one month."<br /><br />Some restaurants have already enforced the ban, while others were waiting for further clarification from officials as some reports suggest that the municipality has backtracked the order and no such rule will be imposed.<br /><br />Luca Gagliardi, general manager of Verre by Gordon Ramsey, said: "This law will affect our restaurant very much because we do use alcohol in some of our signature dishes, like the terrine of foie gras marinated in Sauternes and the Madeira veloute that we serve with our pithivier of quail."<br /><br />Al Ali said the order conforms to a law issued in 2003 after complaints came from Muslims about alcohol in food, following which the municipality issued a circular stating the sale of food containing alcohol was "strictly prohibited".<br /><br />"We found a lot of violations. Some local Muslims, and foreign Muslims visiting Dubai, were surprised that the food they ordered had alcohol.<br />In some cases they did not realise that what they had ordered contained alcohol because of the way it was written on the menu," he told the newspaper.</p>