By Laura Rancie.
Historically, camels have long been at the centre of life in the UAE and still play key roles in transportation and food in the form of milk and meat.
They are a symbol of heritage, tradition and culture. While we typically associate the humped animal with the Arabian desert, did you know Australia is home to almost one million feral camels within Central Australia that have descended from individuals escaping captivity in the late 19th Century?
With the camel being so influential to Middle Eastern culture (and maybe within the Aussie desert too), it is no surprise that a new Byron Bay restaurant has chosen ‘The Smoking Camel’ as its name. The team behind Light Years (Asian Bar and Diner), based on the Gold Coast, has just launched the new boldly designed venue space in Byron Bay, delivering Middle Eastern fare consisting of vibrant interiors and share-style dishes cooked over charcoal along with fragrant cocktails.
To start, mezze includes traditional dips like hummus with harissa oil and baba ganoush with parsley oil, smashed falafel with green goddess tahini and sumac spiced tuna tartare.
It’s not just the food that transports you on a magic carpet ride to the middle of Agrabah.
"The Smoking Camel uses a combination of flavours from Lebanon, Turkey and Israel,” says Executive Chef and co-owner Robbie Oijvall.
He has brought on Joachim Borenius as Head Chef, formerly from their other venue, Light Years. Together they have brought in flavours from the Levant (a historical and large geographical region capturing Eastern Mediterranean areas such as present-day Israel) and curated a delightful menu reminiscent of the area.
Diners will feast like the Majarajah with BBQ plates including baharat beef shish, shawarma spiced chicken, halloumi and mixed vegetables. The salad selection includes a watermelon, shanklish and mint combination, as well as a ‘village salad’ with whipped feta.
Desserts include the ‘dessert mess’, with baklava gelato from Frankies Gelato, pistachio sand, strawberry, rosewater and honey coco whip and a saffron rice pudding with mango passionfruit gelato and spiced orange.
Robbie says of the food offering: "It’s been really exciting to work collaboratively and adventurously with Eastern flavours. Joachim and I have loved playing around with spices from different regions and seeing how we can enhance traditional dishes to create a unique offering.”
The Smoking Camel is open seven days at 3/17 Lawson Street, Byron Bay.
