A midnight of bustle and bliss

RAS AL KHAIMAH // Tradition holds that a phantom donkey roams the dark alleys around Kuwaiti Street, making it unsafe for children to venture too far from home at night. During Ramadan, however, legend says the spirit of the evil beast is locked up, making the streets safe for midnight shoppers of all ages. It is unlikely that any donkey, real or otherwise, could survive the convivial chaos the holy month brings to the traditional souk. The street is brightest at midnight as traffic comes to a standstill and women trundle toddlers through shops that shine with sweets, glittering abayas and crystal perfume bottles.

Ramadan is, in other words, round-the-clock business on Kuwaiti Street. Preparations for the sunset iftar feast begin before the sun has a chance to rise. Aayman and Mohammed Harery come to Al Fajr Bakery at 4am to drip flour, starch and water onto a sizzling hot plate to make some 125 kilograms of kanafeh, the translucent strings that form the base of their Ramadan sweets.

The Syrian cousins and their co-workers fill the 35-year-old bakery with delights such as qatayef pancakes, buckets of cream, spreads of soft cheese and bags of mukasarat, a mix of pistachios, raisins, sugar and coconut. In the afternoon the pancakes are replaced by pedestals that hold sweet cheese pies and trays of orange kanafeh pastries. For Abdulla al Maftool, 35, Ramadan is synonymous with Kuwaiti Street's New Roastery. It is the city's oldest coffee roaster, founded in 1969 by a Lebanese family. Mr al Maftool bought the store on impulse five years ago to keep the character of the area intact.

"I didn't want to let someone buy it and change the place," said Mr al Maftool, an Emirati who grew up in the neighbourhood. "It was the last place we remembered from our childhood. I was always going there on the way to my grandmother's house." While his favourite Ramadan treats were the Roastery's Lebanese Gandour chocolates, the shop is most renowned for its Arabic coffee. Its esteemed patrons include the royal court of Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammed and a blind grandmother who knows the exact location of the store's 150 varieties of spices, nuts and candied fruits after years of coming there.

The Roastery's Safeer Mall branch earned twice the profit of the original store when it opened in 2009, but during Ramadan it is the traditional market that brings in the cash. "Young people are going to the malls but there are some shops 20 years old that have their loyal customers," said Mr al Maftool. "Our people here in RAK like these things." The souk is empty in the final minutes before iftar, which represents the proverbial calm before the storm. Workers crowd into a Red Crescent tent that serves 220 men who live or work nearby. They do not have long to rest. After prayers it is back to business.

Profits triple during Ramadan for clothiers, who can earn Dh15,000 over the month. When they are not bartering with clients over fuscia and aquamarine sequined dresses, they spend their time behind the counter in prayer. "My shop has three stitching men working full time, maybe 18 hours each day for Eid and Ramadan," said Mohamed Islam, 50, a Pakistani tailor at Shahzad Tailoring and Embroidery. To meet demand, he works from 11am until 3am each day, often spending more than 15 hours to embroider a single dress. That attention to detail and dedication to customers gives the traditional market an edge over modern shopping malls.

"You can find anything here and it's cheaper," said Mona Essa, 24, an Emirati secretary from RAK. "In the malls there's not many shops or selection there. It's easier here." Perhaps no place does better business in Ramadan than Malek Karak, the city's most popular take-away tea cafe, where sales double to 3,000 six-ounce cups of cardamom tea a night during the holy month. With no evil donkey to bedevil them, and the day's fasting well behind them, people on Kuwaiti Street feel ready to indulge.

@Email:azacharias@thenational.ae