Aromas and flavours

Aromas and flavours

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7 MIN READ

Chef Marion Lovell, executive chef, Al Maha Resort and Spa, gets the cauldron bubbling with a blend of contrasting ingredients fired by her global experience.

When executive chef Marion Lovell thinks of creating a new recipe, she first thinks of the colour, texture and aromas she'd like to assimilate in it.

She is inspired by the scents of lavender, elderflower and saffron, and works hard to merge and contrast a riot of flavours to tickle the palate.

In less than the six months that she has been at the breathtakingly beautiful eco-resort and spa, Al Maha, off the Dubai-Al Ain Highway, she has, like a magician, been pulling rabbits out of the hat in a manner of speaking.

Combining modern Arabian flavours with avant-garde international influences, she dishes up gastronomic hits one after the other.

Standing in her cosy kitchen, she seems to be like a mother who presents her creations with obvious pride to her family as we get to sample some of her dishes, course by course, which offer a wonderful glimpse into her world of inexhaustible culinary ideas.

Normally a foodie's imagination may struggle a bit to get the picture and taste of a Chicken and Lemon Soup with Parsley Chlorophyll Foam or Pan-fried Duck Breast with Honey Truffle Potatoes and Burnt Orange Sauce or a Chilled Chocolate with Lavender.

But once you get into Lovell's kitchen, the struggle ceases.

Says Lovell: "Simplicity is key in my approach. I like to use basic ingredients to create dishes whereby the food speaks for itself.

"For example, Seared Scallops Marinated in Cinnamon and Orange and accompanied by a warm Burghul Salad with Fresh Lime Sauce - it is one of my new signature dishes which makes a wonderful main course. It is a delicious blend of flavours and techniques from the Middle East, Europe and Asia."

Racing to the top
Born and raised close to the sea in Bristol, UK, Lovell is a food nomad in every sense of the term. She took up cooking at the age of 16 and became the youngest female chef at 23.

Her profession has taken her from Britain to France, Australia, Barbados in the Caribbean and many other countries. It is this top-notch international experience that she brings to the kitchen of Al Maha.

A part of Lovell's brief is to sustain the Al Maha philosophy, with attention to the menu that is customised to every guest's taste.

Lovell narrates the manner in which she creates menus, researching and experimenting all the time: "The first reference point at Al Maha was the desert. I wanted to combine the colours, smells and textures of the desert set against an Arabian experience.

I imagined were I to be a Bedouin living in a tent, what stuff could I work with? Next, I thought of the stuff that I had worked with and what could possibly be brought down here. Even before I came to Dubai, my recipes were created.

"I would work in the kitchen, create new stuff, taste it and make notes. I think of a smell or a colour of a flower to create a flavour. I deconstruct and then reconstruct to create a new dish.

"For instance, I thought a lot about how I could use elderflower, lavender and dandelion in my cooking. I think aromas have a special link with food. Look at saffron.

"It is basically the filament of the crocus flowers. Those tiny filaments are capable of transferring the passion of the crocus into the dish; so small yet so strong in aroma and flavour.

"I love to mix and match. I believe texture and colours add flavour to a dish. I play around with hot and cold, sweet and sour, salty, rough and smooth and other such contrasting concepts in my food."

For instance, in the Fillet of Beef with Onion and Marmalade, the beef filling was hot while the marmalade cold or in another creation, the salty grilled goat's cheese complemented beautifully with sweet and smooth textured flavours of caramelised figs.

It is too hot in the kitchen!
Lovell thinks of her kitchen as a camp where she has to get her staff of 60, which includes 16 chefs, to work with military precision. And yes, she is a tough lady.

"I call my staff the 'kitchen brigade' as they execute exactly according to my notes and translate my imagination into actual creations."

She works hard to keep fit as she believes her job requires her to be on her feet all the time.

"I think it is my responsibility to stay fit. I exercise as much as I can. It is a whole commitment. To be a chef, you must be physically and mentally disciplined, stay organised and focused," she says.

A typical day in Lovell's life begins at seven in the morning when she arrives in the kitchen.

She takes up hands-on teaching and training of her staff, working on the intricacies of bringing alive the recipes on the menu. Her desk in her office is strewn with papers full of handwritten notes and on the walls are pinned printouts of flowers, their aromas and their qualities.

During lunch time, she spends a couple of hours in the kitchen to ensure everything is moving as planned. Then she takes her two-hour break before returning to the kitchen to supervise dinner preparations.

As an executive chef, she believes it is important for her to jog her imagination, draw from her experiences and continue to create new recipes as well as train a generation of new chefs in the art of exotic cooking.

"A part of my philosophy in life is that if you desire, you can leave a footprint. A part of my footprint is to create good professional chefs here who can recreate Arabian flavours."

No glass ceiling; only an open door
Although she is one in a small brigade of female executive chefs in the world, Lovell remains unfazed by it.

"I don't think at the time I was really aware of it. I am a very achievement-oriented person. I wanted to be an executive chef as soon as possible.

"At that point in time there just weren't any female chefs. I am a very practical person; I take things apart and put
them together. I love food and I thought this job would allow me to experiment a lot."

As a female chef, Lovell does not believe her career was limited by her gender.

"I don't think there is a glass ceiling. The door is open as long as any woman is willing to go in and do her best. I do not look at the male-female aspects of my job. I am a chef. I am big built and have strength and am willing to work very hard. I think the respect you get at the end of it is worth every sacrifice!"

What she loves most about her vocation is the opportunity to see the world. "Seeing new places has been the high point of my life as an executive chef. I love travelling, experiencing new cultures and meeting new people."

It is important, she says, for a chef to understand and respect the tastes of her/his guests and cook to please their palates.

"I cook for my guests because I think the customer is king, at least that is what I followed in my own restaurant. If a guest does not like a flavour, I'd change it.

"Too many chefs work for themselves. You have got to listen to the needs of your customer."

It is also important, she says, to understand that although food is eaten in response to a very primordial and basic need - hunger - it evokes a complex response because of the numerous associations attached to it.

"People often ask me: 'What is so special about food that it can make someone so passionate about it?' I think it is because food induces an experience. Food is the focus of an experience with the person you are having it with. That is why all the festivals around the world are so focused around food."

What is more important in a recipe - presentation or taste? Lovell believes that taste must be given priority although she works hard on the presentation.

"Some chefs and restaurants just lose the plot. I would like to believe that a beautiful-looking dish is one that gives you exactly what you want in terms of taste as well.

"Some of the best foods I have eaten have come in simple paper bags like the fast food in Hong Kong. It's about the experience.

"At the end of the day, food is a basic need. If you put me on a desert island with basic food, I can survive. However if you lose the festivity associated with food, you lose the most important aspect of life."

Ashta Cream with Raspberries and Orange Blossom

Ingredients

For making cinnamon biscuits:

  • 150 gms of soft butter
  • 75 gms soft brown sugar
  • 200 gms plain flour
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • Salt, a pinch
  • For Ashta Cream:
  • 600 ml milk
  • 50 gms sugar

For Ashta Cream Fondant:

  • 200 gms Ashta Cream
  • 50 gms caster sugar
  • 10 ml water
  • 100 gms double cream
  • 1 vanilla pod
  • 2 gelatine leaves, soaked in cold water and squeezed out

To garnish:
Raspberries, washed and dried
Blueberries
Vanilla pod stalk, oven dried

Method
Cinnamon biscuits: Cream butter, sugar, salt and cinnamon until soft and smooth. Stir in flour a little at a time, and knead into a dough.

Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for an hour. Roll out the dough to 2-3mm thickness and cut out desired shapes. Place on a greased baking tray and bake in a preheated oven at 1750C for 12 minutes.

Ashta Cream: Bring milk to a boil, stirring constantly, and allowing it to simmer gently. Skim the froth from the top of the simmering milk into a separate bowl until all the milk is used up (this is Ashta cream). Mix in sugar and refrigerate the cream for two hours.

Fondant: Scrape out vanilla pod seeds by splitting the pod down the middle and running a small knife along the inside of the pod.

Keep the empty pod for garnish and add the seeds to the cream; whip until fairly stiff. Add the sugar to the water and boil until it has dissolved completely.

Remove from the heat and add the gelatine. Stir this mixture into the Ashta cream and then fold in the whipped cream. Half fill small cylindrical moulds with the cream mixture and cool immediately.

To serve: Turn Ashta Cream out of the moulds and place one small round on each cinnamon biscuit. Decorate, raspberries and blue-berries and the dried vanilla pod. Sprinkle with icing sugar.

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