Tomorrow will see the return of Taste of Dubai, the yearly food festival held in the amphitheatre area of Dubai’s Media City. With 26 different restaurants serving up sample-size portions of signature dishes, a theatre boasting a tightly packed schedule of Michelin-starred chef appearances and an interactive cookery school, where participants can cook alongside their favourite chefs, food lovers are certainly going to be well catered for.
While the live music and dedicated Kids Zone (complete with bouncy castle and tropical rainforest) mean that the event promises to be a fun day out for all ages, the festival also offers a great opportunity to truly size up Dubai’s ever increasing food landscape.
After all, when else can you enjoy a starter from Rhodes Mezzanine, try a main course from Nobu and eat dessert courtesy of Rivington Grill all in one sitting, while also scoping out some of the city’s newest restaurants – the Ivy, Gaucho and Toro Toro – without spending vast sums of money?
Although the likes of Gary Rhodes, Vineet Bhatia and Richard Sandoval are firmly established as festival favourites, this year there will also be a number of new faces on stage.
Aarti Sequeira won Food Network’s popular reality television show the Next Food Network Star in 2010 and went on to host Aarti Party, a cookery programme that showcases her take on Indian and American dishes.
Being part of Taste of Dubai is particularly important to the Indian-born Sequeira, whose family moved to Dubai when she was two months old and remained there for the following 18 years.
“I remember the markets: the fish market, the fruit and vegetable market, Karama, the gold souq – they were authentic, real, rough around the edges. I loved them all so much and I really miss them,” she says. “Even now, I think I’m drawn to farmers’ markets in the States because I’m trying to recapture that feeling of walking around Dubai’s many markets.”
Sequeira, who trained at the New School of Cooking in Los Angeles and worked as a CNN news producer before entering the Food Network competition, attributes her love of cooking to her family.
“I grew up with a mother who believes that if you want something to eat, you should make it,” she says. “We love eating out, but to be able to make something delicious, with your bare hands? It’s a point of pride in our family.”
Asked to describe her cooking style, Sequeira says, “A real reflection of who I am: an Indian girl, who grew up eating everything from shawarma to beef rendang in Dubai, then moved to the States where she learnt the joys of Sloppy Joes, sushi and tacos. Ultimately, I’m interpreting all of that food through my Indian soul, so while my food is by no means traditional Indian food, it does have that overarching influence.”
The Michelin-starred chef Atul Kochhar has visited the region on numerous occasions and will be opening a restaurant in the JW Marriott Marquis on Sheikh Zayed Road later this year. like Sequeira, he is no stranger to putting a unique stamp on traditional Indian dishes; in fact, along with Vineet Bhatia (a festival regular), Kochhar is credited with reinventing, refining and modernising Indian cooking.
Kochhar will be cooking at the Philips Chefs’ Theatre at 3pm on Saturday and is hoping to shatter a few preconceptions about the cuisine.
“Despite what people think, it is neither hot nor unhealthy. Eating hot food is people’s personal preference and not a national obsession. It is also healthy – it just depends on how you perceive and follow the cooking – there are zillions of salads and millions of steamed recipes across India’s cuisine,” he says.
Also making his Taste of Dubai debut is the Italian restaurateur and celebrity chef Aldo Zilli, who says he is thrilled to be in town.
“Taste has been my favourite food festival since the start and Dubai is one of my favourite places in the world, so put the two together and it is a marriage made in heaven,” he says.
After taking part in the UK reality television series Celebrity Fit Club in 2005, Zilli lost a substantial amount of weight and was forced to reassess his approach towards cooking and eating. “The show was a big learning experience with my relationship with food and drink. It meant that I was inspired to shed weight and become an inspiration for others,” Zilli says.
As a result, his next two cookery books, Zilli Light and Fresh and Green, were written with a healthy-eating theme in mind. the dishes he will prepare at Taste of Dubai will reflect this attitude, featuring fresh, homemade pasta and plenty of fish. his top tip for cooking and eating healthy? Use plenty of herbs and spices.
Zilli will be cooking live in the Philips Chefs’ Theatre at 6pm tomorrow, at 3pm and 6.20pm on Friday, and at 4.40pm and 8pm on Saturday.
Sweetcorn and chicken soup
Difficulty: EasyPrep time: 20 minutesCook time: 1 hourCook’s tools: CheeseclothServes 4-6
For the soup
1 leek, green parts too, if you have them, sliced in half, thoroughly washed1 carrot, chopped in half7cm piece fresh ginger1 tsp whole coriander seeds1 tsp whole black peppercorns2 chicken breasts on the bone, with skin3 (400g) tins creamed corn2 chicken stock cubes, crumbled3 tbsp finely chopped ginger4 spring onions, chopped finely, white and green parts (reserve some green for final garnish)1 tsp sesame oil56g corn flour60ml cold water2 egg whites1 tsp unseasoned rice vinegarSalt and freshly ground black pepperSoy sauce, for serving
Pour 2.25L water into a big stock pot and bring to a boil over high heat. While it’s rising to temperature, throw in the leek, carrot and piece of ginger. place the coriander and peppercorns into a small square of cheesecloth. Tie with kitchen string and add to the pot.
Skin the chicken breasts, remove any excess fat and throw the chicken breasts into the pot. allow the whole lot to come to a boil, and then turn it down and simmer, covered, until the chicken is cooked and tender, 20-30 minutes.
Remove the chicken and allow to cool. Strain the stock and discard the leeks, carrots, ginger and cheesecloth sachet.
Return the stock to medium heat. Add the creamed corn, bouillon cubes, ginger-garlic paste, spring onions and sesame oil. Keep the soup at a gentle simmer while you remove the chicken from the bone and shred finely using a fork (or you can just slice it really thinly).
Turn up the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil. in a small bowl or measuring cup, mix the corn flour with the water until smooth. Add half to the soup while stirring. allow to boil until it’s thickened to the soup consistency of your liking (if it doesn’t thicken, add the remaining slurry).
Turn the heat back down to medium. in another small bowl, beat the egg whites with a little water. Stir the soup in circles as you add the egg whites in a steady stream; it should form pretty white wisps on the surface of the soup.
Thai red curry mac ‘n’ cheese
Difficulty: EasyPrep time: 20 minutesCook time: 15 minutesServes 6-8
For the mac ‘n’ cheese
450g elbow macaroni70g butter5 tbsp plain flour1 (115g) jar Thai red curry paste470ml whole milk470ml single cream (alternatively, use 1.1L whole milk instead of both milk and cream)225g Monterey jack cheese, grated225g Cheddar cheese, grated
For the crumb topping
3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs30g butter, meltedSalt and freshly ground black pepper
For the mac ‘n’ cheese, bring 4.5L of water to a boil in a large pot. Salt generously and then add the pasta and cook to box instructions, usually six to seven minutes. Drain.
Meanwhile, in another large pot, melt the butter over medium-to-high heat. Whisk in the flour and continue whisking until it deepens in colour and releases a light toasted aroma, about one minute.
Whisk in the Thai red curry paste and when fully combined, pour in the milk and cream (or all milk, if using). Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, and then turn down to a simmer. Simmer until the mixture thickens, whisking occasionally, about five minutes.
Off the heat, whisk in the cheeses and stir until melted. Add the pasta and toss to combine.
Turn your grill on.
For the crumb topping, toss the panko with the melted butter and season with salt and pepper.
To assemble, pour the mac ‘n’ cheese into an oven-proof casserole dish, sprinkle with the breadcrumb mixture and put under the oven grill until browned, about one minute.
• Recipes from Aarti Sequeira’s Aarti Party, courtesy Food Network
Follow Arts & Life on Twitter to keep up with all the latest news and events @LifeNationalUAE
• Taste of Dubai begins tomorrow and continues until Saturday. To book tickets, visit www.tasteofdubaifestival.com
eshardlow@thenational.ae
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, it is very simple to make and it’s wont spoil your healthy eating. The only hard time I was having is taking the skin off the pumpkin and then shredding it, which made a mess, but end result was totally worth it.
). When you are done mixing it, sprinkle some cinnamon on top. Like this:
A question exists as to who really created Wiener Schnitzel. while the Viennese (from Austria) are credited with this classic veal dish, the Milanese (from Italy) claim that as far back as 1134, when a banquet was given for the canon of Milan’s ancient Church of Sant’ Ambrogio, the menu included “lombolos cum panitio,” breaded veal scallops.
The famous French writer and philosopher, Voltaire, used an offer of veal stock instead of traditional fatty sauces, called gravy, to entice his friend to come and visit him, during the mid-1700′s. Voltaire wrote to his friend Saint-Lambert, “come to Ciety [where Voltaire was living] where Madame du Chatelet [his cook] will not let you be poisoned. There is not a spoonful of gravy in her cooking: everything is made with blond de veau [obtained by boiling veal shanks in water with carrots, onions, celery and a chicken carcass. We will live one hundred years and you will never die." [Voltaire did live to be 84.]