Chefs offer tips on cooking without tasting during Ramadan

AMMAN — A sumptuous Iftar (fast breaking meal) during the holy month of Ramadan is a long-cherished tradition. The preparation for the meal at sunset begins way earlier in the day. But one might wonder how can someone fasting cook such great food without tasting it?

For Ali Ghzawi, winner of the MBC Arabia’s 2019 Top Chef Middle East, this skill comes with time and experience.

“When it comes to cooking, you can actually know how the dish will come out eventually by the colours, by the texture and by the aroma,” Ghzawi told The Jordan Times.

By practice, the ingredients and the dishes begin to be more familiar and the outside look and smell can give an idea of the success of the meal, said Ghzawi, adding that knowing the ingredients and the recipes can be a good lead.

“When a dish is not very sweet, maybe it will not need that much of salt. If a dish is a little bit sour, maybe it will need a bit of sugar,” said Ghzawi.

Vincenzo Fullone, an Italian chef in Amman, gives another trick applicable to any kitchen: “In the Italian cuisine, we stir the saucepan a lot, that way the cook is in continuous contact with food and can always smell the dish.”

According to Ghzawi, some chefs had elaborated that it is allowed to taste with the tongue without swallowing and adjust the dish accordingly all the while maintaining  one’s fasting.

“Always taste, analyse, adjust and taste again,” Ghzawi said, adding that this is one of the most important rules he learned in his journey to becoming a chef. 

“Tasting the food while cooking is very important,” he noted.

To avoid any mistake in the seasoning of a plate for Iftar, “I suggest people season their food little by little not all at once. So they are in control as the cooking proceeds,” said Ghzawi.

Salah Jabareen, a chef at an Amman restaurant, recommends people cook dishes that they already master very well during Ramadan to be on the safe side.

“When I fast, I cook the dishes I know well to avoid any mistake. If I am not sure about it, I don’t cook it,” Fullone agreed.