I am here to day with spirit of regeneration for future and passion for food. My dish is "Reflection of nature" it is strongly represent who I am, where I come from,and my roots with culinary journey as chef. I work local cultureand usage of domestic produce. This greatly inspire me to explore more of my own home cuisine and interpret it modernly in my own way. wish by the recipes I serve, my folks will support this idea to value our cuisine and be proud of it specially for Future Generation.

Growing up, lamb was, and still is, an expensive commodity. In my home lamb always went hand in hand with a special occasion. The preparation of the lamb dish was always tasked to my grandmother who would always take great care and would never dare leave anything to go to waste. This dish is a tribute to her and how she inspired me to pursue cooking professionally and the special memories we shared, showcasing the skills and techniques I have acquired while being a chef locally, and abroad.
 

I wanted to showcase the authentic Egyptian cuisine, using contemporary twists and techniques to re-imagine traditional components like bessara, dukkah and taro. “It’s simply Egypt on a plate”. Memories of bessara served when meat was scarce, slow cooked lamb as a celebratory feast with families gathering around a floor tray and his grandmother’s taro inspired this dish, which presents taro in sheets and sous vide lamb with textures of dukkah.

Without dreams we reach nothing,
Without love we feel nothing
In order to reach your dream,
you need determination, discipline, self-effort
and self-confidence to make your dreams come
I believe that Culinary work is art and love.

The power of flavor in simplicity with my love for fusion. Throughout my journey as a chef, I have never really appreciated my own skill because as a chef, you always feel like you can do better. I rather found comfort in how people reacted to my dishes when they ate them and so therefore with this dish, I embrace the produce the earth gives us, I want each and every little component to be felt with every bite for what it is! With this dish I embrace my skills and I appreciate the simplicity.

The dish itself express completely south eastern turkish cuisine where the people eats lamb, mix spices and local carbs such as barley, chickpea etc. . this dish explain the culture and the life style of people in the region. Handmade clay pot by the Anatolians and raised ships by the shepherds feeded naturally. In this this you will find all the richness of region given by the nature to us. The cooking method absolutely how people use to do many years ago. Slow cooking technique in clay pot.

I wanted to create a dish that can live on a high class fine dining menu, made with “cheap”, attainable, everyday ingredients that I grew up eating at least once a week. It is so important to remember that knowledge, skill and technique counts for so much, a roast potato, a soft boiled egg and an average plate of pasta have so much potential if you know how to work with them.

My personal experience has made me believe that life always start at the end of your comfort zone.
Few years ago, I choose to leave my comfort zone in France, in order to travel through Africa and middle east, this has made me the chef I am today.
My signature dish is built around this idea.
I have selected unusual products that will make my guest living, I believe, a unique experience.
As I always lived near by the sea; I choose to build my identity exclusively around seafood.

The Strandveld ecosystem dish is a representation of the coastline along Southern Africa. The plate is designed by me and handmade by Corinne de Haas from the Potters Gallery in Kleinmond, South Africa. The plate is inspired by a rock at the Cape Agulhas coastline, the most Southern point of Africa. The dish has a variety of indigenous medicinal fynbos plants which grows in this ecosystem.

I want to express South African Terrior!

 

This dish conveys African traditional dishes in a modern way or style, where by sorghum it's the main source our traditional beer dishes so fermentation of it and burning it to make an ash it says alot of smoke and natural flavors involved. The use of kudu its our Afrikaans way of making family barbecue and eating fresh meat with its juices and braai flavors.

As, we are from green belt of India. We have abundance of this grain (pearl millet) commonly known as bajra, consumed from decades. This is power packed food having lots of nutritional values, essential amino acids, low cholesterol, carbohydrates, multiple proteins, magnesium,zinc.
This is very nostalgic to me, whenever I used to have this, I just lost in it. Just like a baby gets cotton candy.This is the perfect option for vegetarians to get all nutrients whenever non vegetarian wants to have.

The history of hunting and gathering food was practised to enable us to meet needs for survival.Terrior determined what grew best across various season and influenced our dining practices.Ingredients were bartered from all over the country yet some remain native to the Indian subcontinent .With a strong marine position, a strategic approach to introduce new world ingredients was conducted in 15th century by Vasco Da Gama.These ingredients are now staple in the Indian cuisine we know.

Bobotie is a traditional dish that most South Africans know, especially the Afrikaaners. As with anything, everyone has their own version of it and believe theirs is the only right one. My version is rooted in the dish my mother used to make for us growing up, but through my culinary journey I have found my own interpretation for it, while still holding true to that core memory. I’m presenting it with the memory of having the dish for dinner one night and then on a sandwich for lunch the next.

I really like the lamb in spring time I use to live in London and I still remember the flavor of rhug estate.
I think is a great product.
It was spring time when I decide to do this plate so I decide to use peas.
Also in spring I like the freshness of the product, so peas combine with mint give you a flavour of freshness.

just to show everything that I have learned in each country that I have traveled, worked, its food, its culture, its people, so that, like us as a cook, it fills us with experience to create new dishes and in this dish I want to show the mixture of all the techniques and styles, combined with my Peruvian origin.