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Hello, i am Maher el Tabchy, the founder of Tabchilli, the pioneering producer of fermented foods in the UAE, based right here in Dubai.
Why Tabchilli? Why fermented foods? My journey into fermentation began over a decade ago when I started fermenting peppers through a meticulous three-month process, initially creating gifts for family members and friends.
My travels have also allowed me to immerse myself in diverse culinary cultures, but I’ve always been drawn to the tangy, funky flavors produced by microbes rather than fire.
There is no doubt that chilies should heat your palette, but I always felt that there is more to it then chilli pain. To enjoy chilli, simply put, when you taste it, it should not overwhelm you to the point of losing your taste buds; rather, it should release steady building heat while maintaining complex texture and flavor, Umami like.This was the start of my Tabchilli journey.
Out of all the varieties, I chose to tame the heat of the Thai Chili bird – a versatile chili that is extremely sharp to the taste around the 100’000 Scoville level ; yet, beneath the discomfort of the scorching heat that capsaicin brought, hid rich flavors, so subtle, that they required developed heat tolerance to identify them.
To release and unpack those flavors, I chose to “cook” the chili using the art of wild fermentation, exploding that umami flavor from those little dragons. An imperfect slow process which I let mother nature lead, with a bit of help from ingredients sourced only by hand using old techniques handed down by generations, the culmination?
A patient blending of heritage through centuries old traditions – bringing pure chilli and mother earth flavors to your taste buds.
With numerous trials and errors leading to the perfect balance and a recipe I could now fully enjoy, I decided to craft one more detail. Handmade terracotta spoons crafted specifically for every batch, the perfect way to ensure a clean tasting process and the preservation of mother earth’s flavors.
My definition of craftsmanship from start to finish.
My passion for Tabchilli requires a lot of patience, as everything takes time to mature. Once ripe and completed, the taste is intricate enough to bring appreciation to all the traditions involved in making it imperfectly balanced.
All our fermented jars need weeks before they are ready for the next phase of our process. We measure the temperature, and the PH and make sure all the conditions are right, for them to ferment beautifully.
We taste them every 2 weeks to make sure the flavor is building at both, the pace & taste we look for.
Tabchilli is derived from the process of wild fermentation, ie Lacto fermentation; which is the process by which bacteria break down the sugars in foods and form lactic acid.
The process requires only vegetables (in our case that chili bird), salt & filtered water to kick off. All you need is the right vessel, and we chose ceramic crocks & Italian fermenting jars for it.
Salt in fermentation encourages the growth of healthy bacteria, while at the same time killing off bad bacteria; the right amount of salt allows the fermentation to prosper.
We chose to use Fleur de sel out of all the varieties of salt available.
Why? Because it contains several nutrients, including trace amounts of magnesium, potassium, and calcium; and is the purest form of salt as it contains no gypsum or other impurities from the sea since it is the crest that is harvested.
Being hand harvested from these Phoenicians salt ponds for centuries; we wanted the heritage to blend with our fermentation, to give it its distinctive profile.
We chose to source our Extra virgin olive oil from Solar olives, in Lebanon, which is certified organic and uses cold press techniques, while still leveraging its heritage and traditions in olive oil making.
Our infusions are another 2-3weeks process to properly allow the cross transfer of taste & texture to materialize beautifully.
Our combination of finely selected ingredients – Chilli, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Fleur de Sel – with the process
of Wild Fermentation, delivers a range of health benefits in every jar we passionately fill. Learn more by
clicking on the respective ingredient.
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