Chefs from various F&B establishments discussed the rise of local produce and the rising fad of organic ingredients at the Caterer Chef & Ingredients Forum 2015.
“There has been a 275% rise in local farm produce from in and around the UAE. A farm in Sharjah, that is about two hectares in area, has assumed an important position for our group of restaurants as we source a lot of ingredients from there. The family-owned farm use natural methods of growing vegetables and we are happy with the produce,” said Akshay Nayyar, corporate chef-EMEA, Sanjeev Kapoor Restaurants.
Nayyar was addressing the topic ‘Local, Organic & Sustainable – Keeping Up with the Supply Issue’ at a panel discussion that was moderated by Naim Maadad, chief executive officer, Gates Hospitality. The panel was completed by Izu Ani, head chef, La Serre Bistro & Boulangerie; Dirk Haltenhof, resort executive chef – F&B production, Madinat Jumeirah; and Sascha Triemer, vice president, culinary, Atlantis, The Palm.
In the past, chefs have not been open to local produce but many of them are keeping an open mind to what’s on offer at the local markets. “I visited a local market recently at Al Awir, and was pleasantly surprised with the local ingredients on offer there. The price point as well was very competitive, and I would recommend chefs to visit the local markets more often,” said Ani.
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However, Ani is not going to accept ingredients blindly, “I will not buy local for the sake of it, I will invest to make my customers happy and not the economy.”
Meanwhile, Haltenhof spoke about what farmers in the UAE should cultivate, “It doesn’t make sense to grow pumpkins, which will require as much water as an entire swimming pool to grow just one of them.”
“At Madinat Jumeirah we have our own little back garden where we cultivate herbs, chillies and baby tomatoes. We educate our guests about it and more often than not we are appreciated for our efforts,” he added.
For a lot of the produce that the UAE or its neighbouring countries cannot grow, chefs need to be extremely careful from where and how they source.
“More importantly they need not get drawn into the organic fad, mentioning the word organic on the menu does not translate into demand from guests,” said Sascha. Almost all of the chefs unanimously agreed with his sentiment.
“Another aspect we need to consider is whether people would be ready to pay the extra premium for organic dishes. The answer is no, it’s often expensive on account of the cost of ingredients,” said Nayyar.
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