Serena Williams serves it hot in Dubai

Dubai: Serena Williams considers herself a “baby chef”.

It’s hard to imagine that the No. 1 world women’s tennis champion isn’t the best at everything she does, but on Monday afternoon, she insisted that she’s nowhere near the level of expertise of celebrity chef Silvena Rowe.

“I love cooking,” she said. “I’m not great, but I always try new recipes.”

The star athlete, in town to compete at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, got to show off her skills and get her hands dirty in the kitchen with Rowe on Monday afternoon.

The “kitchen”, however, was more of a makeshift work station, set up outdoors by head chef Eric Vasta of Nomad restaurant at Jumeirah Creekside hotel, where the players are residing during their stay in Dubai. At first sight, the station seemed like nothing more than a polished picnic table, but closer inspection revealed it had a grill built right into the middle of it — handy both for barbecuing food and devouring it.

“Everything looks so fresh,” Williams admired, taking in the spread of spices, vegetables and poultry set out in front of her. “The mint!”

Surveying ingredients

Though she was standing with Rowe amongst a flurry of cameras that were ready to capture their every interaction, she paid them no mind, clearly accustomed to the extra attention. Instead, she let herself survey the ingredients they would be working with, and some just for show: four chicken legs that were already seasoned and precooked; containers of natural sea salt and red chillies; baskets of fresh lime, orange and strawberry; enticingly fresh pomegranate, apple blossom flowers and, indeed, those mint leaves.

Before Williams arrived, Rowe gave us a rundown of what was on the menu.

“I understand Serena loves chicken, and it’s a very nice lean meat. [In the UAE] we have very good free-range local chickens, so we’re using a free-range chicken,” she explained.

“[You] basically crush a lot of herbs and spices, and you end up with this delicious, fragrant, perfumed shawarma sauce. I marinated the chicken overnight and we will just simply grill it for her. And then I will make a very light, modern type of fattoush. The dressing is pomegranate molasses, lemon, olive oil, and to top it all off, I’m gonna put a healthy helping of chia seeds, because she needs her strength on the field.”

When it came time for action, Williams didn’t hesitate before picking up a pair of tongs and helping Rowe set the chicken legs onto the flaming grill to get them to a nice colour. As they waited for the poultry to brown, they moved onto the salad.

No instructions needed

“Does that go on top?” Williams asked, but it was more of a rhetorical question; she was already moving ingredients into the designated bowl, working quickly and efficiently without the need for step-by-step instructions. “Do we use a lot of zaatar? Oh, it tastes a lot like liquorice.”

After adding some pomegranate into the bowl, she poured some of the seeds into her palm and picked at them for a snack, throwing them all back in one go moments later. Rowe presented Williams with a small helping of chia seeds; the fact that they’re known for their health benefits didn’t get past the athlete, who sounded pleasantly surprised. “This is very healthy stuff!”

But asked by Rowe if she was on any sort of diet, Williams wagged her finger with a significant smile.

“I don’t use the d word — bad word. I eat just enough, I try not to eat too much. I’ve been doing this for a long time, I think I my body’s used to it now,” she said, presumably referring to her physically demanding schedule and athlete’s metabolism. Comparing herself to her sister, Venus, she added: “I’m the thick one.”

Rowe, with more than five cookbooks and a long line of culinary television appearances — including shows such as Come Dine with Me, Saturday Kitchen and Great Food Live — shared the story of how she used to be a competitive tennis player in her home country, Bulgaria. However, she was too competitive for the sport and found herself breaking down into tears often upon losing.

“Aw, I used to do that — I used to cry a lot,” Williams admitted sympathetically. And what does she do now when the results on the court aren’t what she had hoped for? “Go back and try to stay chill.”

High hopes

She seemed to have high hopes for the tournament in Dubai, but maintained that she was trying not to overthink it in the meantime.

“I hope [I win]. I want to,” she said, later adding, “We’ll see. I don’t want to put pressure on myself. I’ll do the best that I can.”

When it came time to dig in and taste the starter and main dish she had a hand in putting together, Williams took a seat with Rowe and the two clinked their glasses of watermelon juice together to the tennis star’s good fortune.

“This is really good,” she said, tasting the chicken first. “It’s picked up all the flavours. It’s so crispy. I love it when it’s crispy like this.”

Rowe was pleased with the compliments, but was sure to bring up the fact that Americans are quite good at barbecuing as well.

“That’s our one thing,” Williams laughed, her comment tinged with sarcasm. But when asked about her guilty pleasure food, she looped right back to crispy poultry. “I’m American, so fried chicken — anything from the South. I try never to eat it.”

And back to the meal at hand — how was the appetiser? “The salad is so refreshing. It tastes like you’re on an island.”

Love for Dubai

Dubai might not be an island, but the warm climate seemed to make up for it. Sitting beneath an umbrella shielding her from the hot February sun, and surrounded by picturesque greenery, Williams said she loved coming back to the city.

“It’s such a great place to be … I’ve been to two malls, [but] I’m trying to get to know the city a little better.”

Rowe, who has only been in the city for six months, asked if there was something that Williams had yet to experience in the UAE that she was eager to get to.

“I heard you can pretend to skydive?” Williams asked. “I’m scared of heights, so I’d like to pretend skydive.”

Being as in demand as she is, however, Williams might not get the chance to pretend to skydive this time around. She could barely finish her meal before she was being hurried to take her seat for another interview.

“This is the last bite,” she promised, having a quick last taste of her chicken. “It’s so good!”

The star, forced to leave her plate unfinished, answered a few interview questions before having a final chat with Rowe off-camera. She was escorted off and away to her next commitment, but not without waving a smiling goodbye to everyone she was leaving behind.