Today (October 8, 2013) food and beverage professionals from across the Middle East’s respected restaurants are gathering in Dubai to attend the second annual Caterer Middle East’s Chefs & Ingredients Forum.
Hosted at the InterContinental Dubai Festival City, head chefs and food and beverage managers from across the region have come together to discuss the opportunities for growth and debate key challenges facing the food and beverage industry.
For anyone who isn't able to make today's event, the Caterer Middle East and Hotelier Middle East teams will be keeping you updated on all the interesting news and views as they surface throughout the day in our LIVE blog below, so make sure to stay logged on.
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To find out more about the Caterer Middle East’s Chefs & Ingredients Forum make sure to check out our event preview detailing exactly what you can expect to see and hear about today.
To keep in touch during the event you can message us on twitter at @CatererME and use the hashtag #CMEChefs13 to join the conversation.
09.00: Our day kicks off with our first panel session entitled 'A Taste for Quality' that is moderated by Naim Maddad, chief executive officer of Gates Hospitality.
Naim is joined on stage by Christian Gradnitzer, group culinary director, Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts; Michel Jost, executive chef, Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi; Cladys Magagna, executive chef, Fairmont Bab Al Bahr; Tomas Reger, chef for hire; and Amrish Sood, speciality chef, Rang Mahal.
Topics being tackled on stage include how to plate up consistently good food, sourcing the best of the best, and do diners even care?
Christian from Jumeirah gets the discussion started by reminding the panel that 'the magic of every restaurant is the atmosphere it creates - food is not always the first priority'.
There is a lot of love from the panel for international casual brands, with many admitting that they frequent them regularly, with the panel holding up the success of the Cheesecake Factory as an example for the market.
9.40: The next panel is titled 'Food Wars' and is moderated by Emily Herbert, executive chef at Ultra Brasserie. Joining her is Hugh Sato, executive chef at Okku; Cyrille Troesch, executive chef of the Capital Club; Paul Frangie and Roberto Segura Gonzales, head chef of The Act in the Shangri-La Hotel, Dubai.
In this panel or team of experts are debating the value of certain food types, classifications and origins – and how much they actually add value to your business?
Cyril from Capital Club admits that there is a lot of confusion on the market with organic food, and it is chefs responsibility to educate. However, organic food won't be able to drive the market because it is not yet daily available and too expensive with organic at around 65% cost.
The most important thing for chefs continues Cyril is to 'be aware when things are in season and build our menus around that.'
However he goes on to describe Dubai's fish market in Deira as a 'massacre' with no inspectors on site telling buyers that Hammour is in danger or protected.
The consensus of the panel seems to be that the market is don't yet ready for organic food, and should instead be concentrating on local and sustainable produce. With most declaring that if you have to fly food from outside the GCC then it loses it benefit.
Roberto from The Act Dubai admits that the mango from Peru on his menu is only in season for six months, so 'I remove it from the dish the rest of the year', with the rest of the panel asking him to try Pakistani or Sri Lankan mangos instead.
Talking about expirimental food, Hugh from Okku declares that this will always be there 'but it will never be more important than taste. Customers want it to taste good. If the chef forces their taste on the customer there will be problems, what they want you have to give them'.
10.00: Our third panel session for the day is called 'Large Scale Catering' and is going to cover... large scale catering.
Moderated by our very own Caterer Middle East editor Devina Divecha, who is joined on stage by Uwe Michel, director of kitchens at the Radisson Blu Dubai Deira Creek, as well as Colin Campbell, corporate Chef, Abela & Co.
Large scale catering presents a series of challenges not faced by your typical Chef, our panel discuss how supply chain issues and having to set up remote kitchens, creating flavour with reheated food, and health and safety regulations, affects what the hotel sector can learn from mass-catering, and vice versa.
At the end of this panel, it's time for our delegates to move to the foyer for our morning break, and take the opportunity to network with their fellow professionals, sharing pastry recipes and other industry tidbits.
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