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Taste of Dubai 2011

Large quantities of butter for flavour and colour, a hands-on approach for preparing, testing and tasting, and tantalizingly delicious food were the common ingredients in the demonstrations by Michelin-starred celebrity chefs at the Taste of Dubai Festival. Otherwise, the range of food and the style of presentation were quite different.

The first demonstration I attended was by Vineet Bhatia from the restaurant Indego by Vineet at Grosvenor House in Dubai, Rasoi, London, and a string of restaurants across the globe. Indego’s unassuming Head Chef John Sinjobi assisted Bhatia who has two Michelin stars and is a pioneer of contemporary Indian cuisine.

The menu, herb-infused tawa chicken, beetroot upma and Punjabi kadhi, he explained, was chosen not just for its balance of flavours but also for colour: vibrant red beetroot, intense green herbed chicken and vivid yellow turmeric-flavoured kadhi. The plated food sang of India in all its tumultuous colour.

This was a relaxed open presentation from a very likeable and engaging chef who involved the audience at all times. A dozen volunteers rushed forward to help him on the podium, including children, who were obviously fascinated by the experience. Bhatia spoke about his passion for cooking and how the most important ingredient in any successful dish was love of food.

Spices must be added in a certain order, he believes – whole spices in hot oil (add a little moist ingredient quickly – such as chopped chili or minced garlic so that the spices won’t burn); next, one of the four powders that more than anything determine the colour of the food – chili powder, cumin, coriander and lastly turmeric. The aromatic garam masala mix, which has essentially been cooked already, should only be included at the very end to maximize the flavour.

Vineet added a tablespoon of butter to his semolina-based beetroot upma just before serving to give the dish a smooth silky flavour. He warned against cooking butter for too long to avoid a heavy oily finish – an aspect of traditional Indian food that is not appealing.

Like all the chefs, Bhatia encouraged using fingers to taste, check whether the food is cooked and when plating. He pointed out that raw meat when pressed with a finger will be soft like the ball of the thumb, whilst cooked meat will feel much firmer to the touch, more like the base of the third finger on the back of the hand.

Since the demonstration, I have been delving through Bhatia’s cookery book, Rasoi: New Indian Kitchen, with great delight, determined to enjoy the sensual delights within its stylish black and orange covers.

Richard Philips was a man on a personal mission, much more remote, very precise, politely demanding of his assistants, and at all times the professional chef, TV personality and owner of four restaurants in Kent. The first, Thackeray’s in Tunbridge Wells, earned him a Michellin star when he was only 29.

To be fair to Philips, he did seem to be working flat out and had just rushed over from doing a demonstration at the Miele stand. His menu was a classic one, foie gras with smoked aubergine caviar, roasted baby onions and crisp polenta. Philips insists that foie gras is now produced in a more animal-friendly manner and let’s hope that he is right.

Butter was used to great effect not so much to brown the succulent fried foie gras as it has has enough oil and flavour already, but to carmelise the onions, to cream the polenta, along with marscapone, and to give the solidified polenta cake that lovely noisette colour and flavour. Not exactly a dietary staple, this dish, but Philips did drain off excess butter on kitchen paper.

Jun Tanaka, critically acclaimed executive chef from Pearl in London, I am sure is on his own mission, but he managed to demonstrate his two classical French dishes with a disarming manner whilst effortlessly juggling numerous pots and pans. I was intrigued with his monkfish poached in spiced red wine (3 parts red wine, 1 part port, cardamom pods and black pepper) served with creamed leeks.

To check that the fish is cooked, he gently inserted a toothpick in the thickest part– this will meet with resistance if the fish is not cooked and slide through effortlessly if it is done. The fillet emerging from the poaching liquid is a gorgeous deep red on the outside, contrasting with the pearly milkiness of the flesh.

To clean the leeks, Tanaka slit them down the middle but not all the way through the bulb and held them upside down in a bowl of water. He used some of the green stem, sliced finely, rolled in flour and deep fried, as a garnish to offset the creaminess of the white bulb to which crème fraiche had been, added and ruefully admitted that he frequently burned this garnish (oil too hot).

Tanaka’s second dish was venison in saltcrust with  garlic roast potatoes and creamed horseradish. Two tips here, parboil the potatoes before finishing in butter (lots of it!) and don’t season them until they have achieved that lovely golden colour, otherwise they will stick to the pan. Tanaka also recommends using fresh horseradish mixed with crème fraiche.

Since the venison was cooked in a saltcrust (a paste of flour, salt and water), Tanaka could not employ the finger test to check whether it was done, but he had cleverly put a hole in the top of the saltcrust through which he stuck a thin skewer and pressed it to his lips _– this will be warm if rare – and hot if medium rare – well-done is not in his repertoire! I am looking forward to discovering what his book, Simple to Sensational, has to offer. This was written in the wake of his TV series, ‘Cooking It’.

Gary Rhodes, the ultimate ambassador for British cuisine, needs no introduction. He is also well respresented in Dubai with restaurants such as Mezzanine at Grosvenor House and Rhodes Twenty10 at Le Royal Méridien.

He certainly drew a huge crowd and, helped by his assistant Wayne, who looked like a younger version of the maestro, he cooked the most ambitious menu. However, much had been prepared ahead and, the ultimate pro, he put on a good show without giving too much away.

Rhodes menu was influenced by a recent trip to China: warm sesame glazed duck with an orange and maple dressed salad, steamed seabass, soft spring onion potato with leeks, ginger and soy vinaigrette, and iced lemon meringue, except, of course, for the dessert, which is not a Chinese staple.

Even though I love duck I was a little underwhelmed by this dish – unlike a lot of food that I have experienced in China, there seemed to be too much going on and the addition of a barbecue sauce to the duck confit did not appeal. The sea bass on the other hand, should be very easy to do at home and looked delicious. Rhodes placed a couple of slices of ginger under the parchment-wrapped fish fillet before steaming.

Ginger strips were softened in water them and placed with the spring onion in a colander before pouring hot olive oil over the lot. The oil cooked the vegetables and a little of the infused oil was added to flavour the soy vinagrette (soya sauce, fish sauce and water).

Busily soaking up the atmosphere at the Festival and queuing for the delicious food at the numerous kiosks, I missed some other demonstrations and was particularly sad to miss out on demos by Suzanne Husseini, the Canadian/Arab cook who is causing quite a sir in this part of the world. However, I have booked my ticket for her cookery demonstration and book launch at the upcoming Literary Festival, so watch this space!

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