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Dubai: It was an unusually chilly night at Dubai Media Amphitheatre on Wednesday, so it was lucky that some of the city's best chefs were there to heat things up for the opening of Taste of Dubai, a four-day food festival.
It's a chance for Dubai's foodies to meet the chefs behind their favourite restaurants, taste signature dishes for a fraction of the price, and then pick up some gourmet ingredients to recreate the magic at home.
In the live cooking arena, chefs from Gordon Ramsay's Verre fought it out against the Italians from Certo in a raucous pasta cooking challenge under the watch of British super-chef Gary Rhodes. Rhodes, who opened his first restaurant in Dubai last September, has been involved in the Taste of London festivals - the inspiration behind the UAE version - for several years.
"The moment I heard about this, it seemed like it would be one of the most important days of the year. I'm delighted to be here," Rhodes said. He will be spending the next few days doing cooking demonstrations and manning the outpost of Rhodes Mezzanine at the festival, where guests can watch him cook up delicacies such as White Tomato Soup, Braised Beef and Iced Lemon Chiboust.
"You won't necessarily find these in the restaurant. The main course I brought from back home. We decided to give it an English theme - I'm hoping people will enjoy it, particularly on a slightly chilly evening like this," Rhodes added.
The main attraction, of course, is the food itself, with 14 restaurants offering samples of their signature dishes. Graze on tasters such as Indego's rich and complex truffle lamb korma, the salty-sweet chicken pastilla by Momo and Richard Sandoval's modern take on the classic Mexican dessert flan.
Matt Pickop, head chef at Verre, shared his "simple" food philosophy, something that seemed to be very popular with the crowds. "I like to go for simple flavours which are eye catching and catch your taste buds," he said while passing out pots of his raspberry and vanilla bean trifle. "I chose some English-oriented dishes, because I'm an Englishman and I like my trifle." Don't hold that against him - his boss, Gordon Ramsay, is behind the current resurgence in British cooking, and it's taking the world by storm.
A few steps away is Pisces, where chef Willi Reinbacher was luring in customers with Beluga caviar and surprising them with fennel. "Many people think they don't like fennel," Reinbacher said of the vegetable, which he serves with grilled salmon.
"I cook it at a very low heat for six hours, and it becomes a beautiful compote without the aniseed flavour." It's a real eye-opener, as is the smoked scallop that Reinbacher conceals under a foamy pea soup, inspired by his native Austria.
Demonstrations
Reinbacher, like Rhodes, will be doing demonstrations during the festival, along with Sanjeev Kapoor, Antony Worall Thompson and Vineet Bhatia. Don't be afraid to go to the front for a taste of their finished dishes.
It's unlikely anyone can make it through all the dishes - there are a total of 42 - priced at 4-8 "Dellas", the festival currency. Dh100 buys you 20 Dellas.
Taste of Dubai takes place nightly from 7pm until tomorrow, with day sessions today and tomorrow from noon-5pm. Entrance is Dh150.
Review: Did taste of dubai bring food to life?
Food is passion. Food is art. Food is being. Taste of Dubai attempts to bring this to life with fine dining - an education for the taste buds. Does it succeed?
Well, with 15 top chefs presenting their signature dishes from Greece to Japan, doing a blind review of the event was not a punishing task.
I started with vegetable dim sum and deep-fried chicken balls in sweet and sour sauce by Chef Shiyang Xu 'Sunny'. The steamed dumplings were a trifle uninspiring, but the sweet and sour sauce had a nice tangy resonance. Was it a moment of divine culinary inscrutability? No.
Chef Vineet Bhatia's coconut and truffle lamb korma followed this. Despite the firepower that practically blew my head off, the silken smoothness of the gravy was tangible. To stop the ringing in my head, I had to follow it up with a desert by Bhatia - a golden gulab jamun in saffron kheer, an embodiment of sweet temperance.
Quite a tough act, indeed, as most Indian sweets are largely about achieving a sugar high as quickly as possible.
Chef Matt Pickop's raspberry and vanilla bean trifle followed a similar principle - keep it simple and it usually tastes good.
The highlight of the evening was Chef Gary Rhodes' white tomato soup followed by braised beef.
The soup was delicate, with a light blend of tomatoes and cream - a revelation in culinary skill. The beef braised with caramelised onions was ... well, worth the journey to Dubai Media City.
- Anupa Kurian, Readers Editor
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How would you compare the choice of cuisines on offer in the UAE? Which is your favourite food? Do you think there is enough awareness about different foods in the country? Tell us at letter2editor@gulfnews.com
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