The challenge:

The zombie apocalypse has just hit. Your friends decide to come to your house for the night, before heading out to the safe house the next morning. It’s a long way away, so you guys need a good dinner.  You also want to make sure you get rid of all the perishables before you go. You have the following ingredients:

Eggplant, Blue cheese, Hammour fillet, Chicken drumsticks and a watermelon.

The rules:

– You’re allowed one sous-chef/zombie lookout person.

– You can only use your gas stovetop. The electricity is out in the house.

– You can also use what you currently have in your pantry. Let’s face it; leaving your house to buy groceries is not an option at this point unless you want to join the ranks of the undead or be immortalized on the menu at zombie dinner parties. We won’t judge.

SO, WHAT’S ON THE MENU?

Appetizer: Marinated eggplants with garlic (I read that garlic keeps the zombies away, so I stocked up on a year’s supply. It turns out that garlic works only with vampires. Note to self: never rely on wiki for apocalypse survival guidance.)

Main: Fried hammour with traditional spice mix on a bed of boiled white rice (zombies or no zombies; I WILL have mutabbaq. Well, a loose interpretation of it.)

Dessert: A platter of blue cheese, wheat crackers, marinated green olives and raw walnuts (just because the world has been shot to hell, doesn’t mean we can’t eat like bourgeoisie refugees!)

WHO WOULD BE YOUR SOUS CHEF/ZOMBIE LOOKOUT PERSON AND WHY?

My brother Ali. He has a unique ability to turn chewing gum into an amuse-bouche, or use it as glue to turn paperclips and twigs into arrows. He would thrive in a zombie apocalypse. He’d be a warrior-cum-master chef.

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR WEAPON OF CHOICE?

Hattori Hanzo’s sword (this is what happens when you’re a fan of Tarantino and The Walking Dead.)

DO YOU THINK THAT YOU COULD SURVIVE A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE?

Look, if I can survive Ramadhan in July, I can survive anything!