At My Kuwaiti Table

At My Kuwaiti Table makes a welcome return to the airwaves with an episode recorded pre-Covid.  Chaitali and Lavinia talk to Shafiqa Al Mutawa, philanthropist and owner of Spring Flows Foundation, a charitable organisation selling vintage and designer clothes for charity. The team sample fashionable vintage gems whilst tucking into a delicious spread of machboos and kupa. 

AMKT has the delightful Dr Zainab Al-Meraj sharing our space this episode and she has bought us the tastiest of blackcurrant and apple crumbles to get us talking tech, female entrepreneurs, mentorship, and motherhood! We hear how this Kuwait University Assistant Professor, founder of Tech Maker Kuwait and lead on Google Developer Kuwait, aims to build technical communities to benefit all.

AMKT is excited to host the enlightening artist Shurooq Amin for a brave conversation about life, art, activism, education and poetry.  The lady whose name means Sunrise opens up to Chaitali B Roy and Lavinia and kicks of the 2020 AMKT season in style, with homemade mince pies, not unlike the Kuwaiti Mamoul, to feast upon.          

A festive seasonal special - this week the AMKT team host AMKT whilst tucking into Sicilian Cannoli (not Cannelloni). We talk about our journey as podcast hosts and creators and we talk about our audio adventures in Kuwait.  Enjoy!

AMKT brings you a vibrant talk about art education at the prestigious Dar al Athar al Islamiyyah Cultural organisation. This episode we join Chaitali B Roy and Lavinia Davenport as they talk with Dr Susan Day, the Education Director of the Dar museum.  We hear about her early career and how she ended up in Kuwait.  Susan proudly tells of her work to create four successful museum-based education programmes: Children's Art Workshops, Docents, Junior Docents and Family Day events.   Susan brings us, undoubtedly the best oat raisin cookies in town - apart from her mother's of course - which we munch into as we talk up a storm.

Welcome back to AMKT for the second series. And what a welcome we had - a table laden with Japanese culinary delights.  So please join, Chaitali B Roy and Lavinia Davenport as they meet with Keiko Mutoh, owner of Kei Japanese Restaurant in Kuwait City.  We hear about Keiko's childhood growing up in Kuwait, moving back to Japan for studies and then returning to Kuwait to run the the restaurant establish more venues.  Stay tuned and enjoy the audio feast.

Our AMKT encore episode, join Chaitali B Roy and Lavinia Davenport as they talk traditional Arabian handicrafts with Zeri Crafts founder, owner Laila Al-Hamad. Whilst enjoying ginger tea and a delectable date cake hear how Laila moved from working with the UN and took to reinvigorating the traditional craft scene in Kuwait - preserving Bedouin handicrafts and techniques. She also is an avid supporter of rejuvenating Kuwait's old buildings and supporting heritage projects in the region as a whole.

Join us for a special mid-morning feast courtesy of Zainab Garashi, Chair of Kuwait's Engineers Without Boarders for tales of inspiration in the world of engineering.  Listen to Chaitali B Roy and Lavinia Davenport as they talk buildings, women in the industry and sample the delicious offerings that Zainab bought for us to try from her friend's restaurant Horoof!    

We welcome the creative force that is Diana Sfeir to AMKT this week. Diana is a theatre designer, actor and teacher as well as heading up her family construction and design company M.S.G.  Growing up in Lebanon and then relocating to Kuwait in her teens Diana brings a taste of home for us to try with halloumi, and a Lebanese pizza called Manoushi, with fragrant zaatar. Diana talks about her journey to where she is now - acting and production designing for top shows in Kuwait.

Dr Al Anoud Al Sharekh, researcher on youth and gender demographics, GCC Security, Bi-cultural trends, Arab Feminist theory and an advocate for Women’s rights in the region joins Chaitali B Roy and Lavinia Davenport At My Kuwaiti Table this week. This enlightening half hour covers Al Anoud's life and studies and how the sweet cookies she serves up reminds her of her youth.  She talks about taking on the challenges many women face and advocating for their rights, most specifically heading up Abolish 153, which looks to campaign for the abolition of the honour killing code from Kuwait's penal code.

This week on AMKT Sara Akbar, doyenne of the oil fields and engineer extraordinaire, shares her recipes, love of cooking and the oil wells of her youth with Chaitali B Roy and Lavinia Davenport. We hear about how Sara's childhood influenced her career path and led her to become the leading lady of the Kuwaiti engineering and energy world. Now as the CEO of OilSERVE, sitting on the Board of Trustees of the Silk City and Boubyan Island development authority for the project Madinat al-Hareer, Sara takes Kuwait into a bright future.

This week's AMKT is a Mother's Day special, bought to you in association Costa Coffee, sees radio Presenter, entrepreneur, host, and purveyor of all things fashionable Tamara N Saab join the gang. She will be talking Motherhood and life with Chaitali B Roy and Lavinia Davenport. This emotional episode sees Tamara praise her Mother's strength and fortitude - battling through the shock of Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS) and surviving the virus.  Tamara has a special message for all mothers and we get to share her mother's own special carrot cake recipe.

This week At My Kuwaiti Table's Chaitali B Roy and Lavinia Davenport talk to environmentalist, social campaigner, and beach clean-up guru Latifa Al Wazzan.  Tasting delicious Petit Four biscuits and a delectable date cake, the ladies find out all about green issues.  Latifa is leading the charge to make Kuwait a more ecologically aware country and champions all things eco-friendly, from recycling to stopping the proliferation of single use plastics.  So join them as they talk big issues whilst enjoying a taste from Latifa's past.  

This week our Kuwaiti Table hosts Shaikha Al Arfaj, General Manager of Pace (architecture, engineering and planning) and founder of Harmony House, a Meditation Centre in Rumaithiya, Kuwait.  She brings tranquility and calm to the podcast and as she serves us up a delicious aubergine dish and tells us about the satvik way of cooking.  We hear more about her great achievements in life and how she balances her time and herself gathering strength from her mediation practice and her work with Harmony House.    

Join presenters Chaitali B Roy and Lavinia Davenport at our Kuwaiti table this week as they share the best chocolate cake in the world with Abrar Alebrahim and talk about architecture, recycling, diamonds and stars. Abrar is as multifaceted as a precious gem; she is an architect leading a team to construct Kuwait's Terminal 2 International Airport, she is a jewellery designer, and an entrepreneur who is heading up a wonderful Travel architecture festival in Al Shaheed Park this February.

This week Chaitali B Roy and Lavinia Davenport get to spend time with the erudite Nejoud Al Yagout as she recites her poetry and talks about her childhood growing up in Italy, Pakistan and China. She discusses her life as a writer and the creative spirit along with her love of Palak Paneer.

Join presenters Chaitali B Roy and Lavinia Davenport at our Kuwaiti table as they talk to Balsam Al Ayoub, champion athlete and former professional fencer, mother, filmmaker and an activist for female empowerment through her fashion line and organisation Balsam International.  Balsam shares dates, dessert and stories of her childhood and becoming a social entrepreneur championing women to be the best they can be.