THE CHEFS LUNCH.......

Travel the World, and kitchens remains the same, it’s the people who differ. Passion for food is from the heart and that is hard to teach, you can inspire but some things you are just born with. You have it or you don’t. I have seen some who want it, but cannot find it for the life of them, and thankfully I have also seen many who REALLY GET IT- the passion running through their veins. 

No matter where I work though one thing always eventually comes up. The subject of CHEFS MEALS. Everybody wants what the chef eats. In larger operations and busy establishments the Chefs may eat separately to others. Some think Chefs are being rude by doing this, but in reality they often work longer hours, and stop quickly for a meal when time allows. Its not like we can stop to eat between 12 till 2 like everyone else, we are feeding everyone else at that time. So when others go back to work, its is only then they see us, sitting enjoying a delicious concoction of our own hand.  We get interrupted because they are back at work, they enjoy their meal times without interruption, they never consider that for a minute.

Many times we simply have to grab a snack and carry on our merry way, so busy the kitchens, functions, parties and demands of the rest of the world standing in our way. But still people wish to talk about what the Chefs eat, the fact we don’t join others in the staff canteen.

Yes we are lucky to eat very well.. And I for one appreciate what I get... its always YUM..

I eat the food which I serve to others, and always will. So there is no doubt I eat well (self praise is no praise at all..haha) and I am not at all fussy. Good food is good food.. Some may criticize that philosophy...

But even those who state I want.. I want what you are having , usually follow it with

But no Green vegetables..

I do not eat chicken...

I am a vegetarian...

No oil or salt.....

No spicy ...

So the truth is, in reality,  you DO NOT want what I am having.

You just want what you want; which you already get, just you get it at a normal meal times.

CRAB AND AVOCADO SALAD

Beatiful sweet crab meat stuffed avocado, tangy light lemon moyonnaise and fresh herbs....

BLACK OLIVE BAHRAIN

Layers of Black Olive Sponge, Orange Harissa Gellee, Labneh Mousse, Crisp Black Olive Sable Base and Roasted Walnut Tuile. Very Nice to Eat, and leaving you wanting more. The right balance of all the senses. Crunchy, Sweet, Sour, Salty and Spice.

 The Bahrain Flag

Black Olive Sponge, Orange Harissa Gellee, Labneh Mousse, Crisp Black Olive Sable Base and Roasted Walnut Tuile

PEKING and anything!!!

Two words I love in the same sentence... PEKING...... and anything. Today we have Prawns. Crisp fried prawns with a Peking, Honey Hoi Sin glaze, fresh cucumber and bok choy. Yep, so simple but so yummy.

I Remember That!!!!!

Food should inspire memories of a place in your life, or a time that is cherished. There is nothing more I love, than tasting a dish and a flood of memories come back of my carefree childhood or a being in a place like Paris. The ingenious Pastry Chef I am currently lucky enough to work with, does this to me on a regular basis. Memories of taste and smell that makes me think, to pin point the exact time and memory, followed by a smile. Food can inspire so many things. As a Chef I am still working on my oeuvre dish, my life’s work. A plate of peace and a side order of silence, with a sprinkle of happy memories, then the World would be a greater place.  Food can fix almost anything. Some people may disagree, and say some crazy things like exercise, but we all know true happiness is in the food.

Yes, coconut crumbed prawns with fruit curry sauce.... No doubt very early 90's, but hits it out of the ball park when it comes to flavour combination that inspire memories.

Memories of France, Duck Rillette

Nothing reminds me more of working in France, than Confit de Canard (confit duck) personally I love it. To take such a treasure of flavour and set it in a mould, slice it cold as you desire more and more is second to none in my book. The taste of warm crust bread and succulent mouth watering duck is a match made in heaven.  Served with a Black olive Chutney, Spicy Harissa for a little kick and roasted walnut tuile, it is everything a Chef would want for his final meal, if asked such a question..

Look Out Chef!!! VIP's

So there I am preparing vegetables, when I am still faces with an age old conundrum. After many years in the Kitchen, I am still to this day faced with the same sentence. No matter which country or how many kitchen you may have worked in, it is as International as I Love You. A Waiter or Manager coming to the kitchen or staff meeting to say these words “we have VIP guests”  which still counters the same answer, “All guests are VIP.” I have cooked in many countries for some of the World’s most influential and famous people and all guests are treated as VIP. All guests eating at our restaurants and hotels should feel like a VIP, if only just for an evening. Any paying guest is a VIP... Good food, good service and good atmosphere. Correct seasoning, presentation and consistency. It is not rocket science, which we may tackle in a later blog.

Crab and Avocado with Pea Puree

Schrodinger’s Kitchen

Upon recent conversations with a close work colleague about Schrodinger’s cat theory of how everyday object could explain quantum mechanics.  A cat is penned up in a steel chamber, along with the following device (which must be secured against direct interference by the cat): in a Geiger counter, there is a tiny bit of radioactive substance, so small that perhaps in the course of the hour, one of the atoms decays, but also, with equal probability, perhaps none; if it happens, the counter tube discharges, and through a relay releases a hammer that shatters a small flask of hydrocyanic acid. If one has left this entire system to itself for an hour, one would say that the cat still lives if meanwhile no atom has decayed. The psi-function of the entire system would express this by having in it the living and dead cat (pardon the expression) mixed or smeared out in equal parts.

 This explained.

If you put a Chef or a team of Chefs  as we always travel in packs, in a Concrete room ( Kitchen) with Gas, Fire, Electricity and Water all running at the same time in high volume for hours on end in extreme heat,  under  the correct circumstances one could look at the Schrödinger theory as a Kitchen. On paper without looking in, are the Chef’s alive or dead. All these elements combined are a recipe for a real life quantum entanglement.

This maybe just a Chef’s perspective of over thinking a conversation over coffee, but to create good food many topics are talked about, on many levels that might spark a new creation. 

Live and Eat Well..