The authorities in Dubai have been getting themselves into a bit of a muddle over chefs who like to add a dash of alcohol to their recipes.

The Falafel Mafia blog notes that cooking with alcohol wasdeclared illegal in 2003. But there was little or no effort to enforce the ban until last week, when a letter sent to hotels warned: “Use of alcohol in preparation and cooking of food is strictly prohibited. Display and sale of food products containing alcohol as an ingredient is strictly prohibited.”

Now. following discussions with leading chefs, municipality officials say this was just a "misunderstanding". Apparently, it's OK after all to serve alcohol-laced dishes so long as they are clearly labelled as such on the menu and are "segregated" from other food.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 23 March 2010