Elli’s Kosher Kitchen, the United Arab Emirates’ only kosher food establishment, received an OU hechsher prior to the visit of the Israel-US delegation to the United Arab Emirates this week. As YWN reported, Rav Yissachar Dov Krakowski, the head of OU Israel, was flown in by the UAE to oversee the preparation of kosher food for the US-Israeli delegation. Elli Kriel of Elli’s Kosher Kitchen partnered with OU Israel in preparing the food. Kriel’s business was certified by OU to serve the food to the delegation this week and she will receive a permanent OU certification in October when she moves her business to its own premises. Kriel, who moved with her family from South Africa to Dubai in 2013 for her husband’s business, provided kosher food to the Jewish community and travelers on an informal basis over the years. She assisted Orthodox Jews by hosting them in her home, including Rabbi Yehuda Sarna, the Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Community of the Emirates, Rabbi Michael Shudrich, the Chief Rabbi of Poland, and Rabbanim of the Johannesburg Beth Din, and catered food for business people attending conferences in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. With my friend Khalifa and Rabbi Krakowski at the event last night in Abu Dhabi