Masgouf is not grilled directly over the flames like most fish. Instead, it stands beside the fire, slowly cooking from the heat of the glowing embers.
The large fish is first opened and cleaned, then seasoned and positioned upright near the fire. It is left to cook gradually while the chef carefully watches both the flames and the fish.
Here, grilling is more than simply a cooking method. It is part of the story. Even the waiting time is not an incidental detail, but part of a ritual associated with an Iraqi dish that families have carried with them to cities around the world.
Dubai is one of those cities, and Masgouf has written a story of its own there, attracting food lovers in an emirate renowned for its extraordinary culinary diversity.
Over the years, Iraqi Masgouf has found its way onto Dubai's dining tables far beyond the Iraqi community. Emiratis and residents of many different nationalities have discovered the dish.
While its essential preparation remains rooted in fish, fire, patience and experience, the social setting surrounding it has changed. Masgouf has travelled from riverbanks and traditional Iraqi gatherings to a multicultural city where cuisines from across the world meet around the same table.
Decades of Experience
For Chef Azad Mohammed's family, the story of Masgouf dates back to 1973 in Iraqi Kurdistan, where the family first began preparing the dish.
In 1999, they moved to the UAE, bringing with them decades of accumulated experience through their restaurant, Kabab Erbil Iraqi.
The move was more than a change of workplace. The craft remained within the family, with knowledge passed from one generation to another. Preparing Masgouf gradually became part of both the family's professional expertise and its collective memory.
Masgouf has traditionally been associated with river fish and its distinctive method of cooking beside an open fire, making it an important part of Iraqi food culture.
Yet the significance of the dish extends beyond its ingredients. Preparing it requires space, time and an open flame, while the cooking process itself becomes part of the experience for those waiting to eat.
The fish is cleaned and opened before being positioned close to the embers so that the heat reaches it gradually. The chef must continuously monitor the fire because temperature, distance from the heat and cooking time all play essential roles in determining the final result.
For this reason, preparing Masgouf resembles a craft learned through practice and observation rather than a recipe that can simply be reduced to a list of ingredients.
Azad told Emarat Al Youm that managing the fire, selecting the right fish and preparing it correctly are inseparable from the quality of Masgouf. He explained that the experience accumulated by his family over many years has helped them preserve the method they originally learned in Iraq.
Part of what makes the craft distinctive is that much of its knowledge is never written down.
A chef learns how to read the fire, when the fish needs to be moved closer or farther away, and how to observe its transformation throughout the cooking process. Over time, these details become practical knowledge passed between generations.
Azad noted that such skills cannot be mastered quickly because they depend on years of experience. Not every type of fish is suitable for Iraqi-style Masgouf either, as differences in the texture and structure of the flesh affect how well the fish can withstand this particular cooking method.
Understanding the characteristics of each fish, he emphasized, is therefore an essential part of the chef's expertise.
Carrying a Sense of Place
Like many traditional foods, Masgouf carries more than flavour. It carries something of the place where it was born.
The method of grilling, the aroma of burning wood, the wait beside the fire and the gathering of people around the finished fish all form part of the memory associated with the dish.
When Masgouf travels to another city, it is not only the recipe that travels. The way it is eaten and the stories surrounding it travel as well. The dining table becomes a small space in which something of the original place can be rediscovered.
In Dubai, Masgouf has found a new audience among the city's diverse population.
According to those running the restaurant, its customers are not limited to Iraqis. Emiratis and residents from different nationalities also come to experience the dish.
Its growing popularity therefore reflects a broader movement of food between cultures.
This does not mean Masgouf has lost its Iraqi identity. On the contrary, its arrival on new tables demonstrates how food can become a gateway to another culture.
The experience may begin with a dish, but it can lead to discovering a different way of cooking, gathering and celebrating food.
Numbers That Tell a Story
The scale of the operation also reveals how much work is required to preserve this traditional cooking method.
According to Azad, between 100 and 150 fish are prepared every day, with each fish weighing an average of approximately four kilograms. That translates to roughly 400 to 600 kilograms of fish daily.
These figures do not represent the overall consumption of Masgouf in Dubai. Rather, they reflect the scale of work at the restaurant Azad describes.
Even so, they offer an insight into the nature of the craft. Hundreds of kilograms of fish must be cleaned, prepared, positioned and grilled through a process that relies heavily on manual skill and constant supervision of the fire.
At a time when speed has become a defining characteristic of many modern kitchens, Masgouf retains a slower rhythm.
The fish needs time. The fire requires attention. The customer has to wait.
Perhaps that patience is itself part of what makes the experience distinctive.
Masgouf has become one of Iraq's most recognizable culinary symbols — a dish deeply associated with the country and with the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
For some diners, the relationship with Masgouf can even become part of their weekly routine.
One customer summed it up simply: "I never miss Friday."
The remark speaks about more than food. For many families, Friday is traditionally a time for gathering and spending time together, and a particular dish can become so closely connected with that weekly rhythm that it turns into a ritual people look forward to.
The Journey Continues
In Dubai, where cuisines and cultures from around the world intersect, Masgouf has found a new audience without abandoning the elements that define it: fish, fire, time and experience.
Between the glowing embers and the dining table, the dish continues its journey.
It is more than a meal. It is a craft carrying the memory of a place, a cooking tradition passed from one generation to another, and a piece of Iraqi culinary culture that has crossed borders to find a home in a city where many cultures meet.
Resource : emaratalyoum