Lost in the dessert

As a growing number of highly-skilled pastry chefs take up positions in the region’s kitchens, the Middle East is fast becoming a hub of culinary innovation and intriguing design. Ben Watts speaks to pastry chefs to find out what’s fuelling the dessert explosion

As the region’s hospitality industry catches up with the high standards set in the USA, Europe and the Far East, one section of the backroom team is beginning to turn heads around the world.

The region’s pastry chefs are becoming a force to be reckoned with at an international level, as Shangri-La Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri, pastry chef Ajmal Salim is keen to point out.

“Considering how many hotels and outlets there are in and around the Middle East, the standard is incredibly high,” says Salim. “I’ve travelled to America, Switzerland, Europe and Far East Asia, and I know where we stand: we are right there, and we can compete with any other country in terms of our pastry skills.”

The region’s diners are increasingly expecting to be ‘wowed’ by their dessert selection, as well as their main course.

Renaissance Dubai Hotel assistant pastry chef Achala Weerasinghe says it can be hard to point to exactly what the Middle East diner looks for in a dessert, due to the diversity of cultures found in the region.

“All diners look for a dessert that will complement their meal,” observes Weerasinghe. “Hopefully they will leave the hotel with memories of rich, sweet, melt-in-the-mouth desserts that make them come back wanting more.

“On an à la carte menu, the desserts have to be able to complement the main courses and at the same time be exciting,” he says.

“There are only the adventurous few that will step beyond the norm and try out a dessert that is truly out of this world; the rest always look for that homemade taste.”

Daniel Mayor, pastry chef at Radisson Blu Hotel, Kuwait, says that due to the popular tradition of oriental pastries in this part of the world, general demand tends to move towards sweeter desserts.

However his best sellers are bucking the regional trend, generally being of European style and origin.

Mayor comments: “In the pastry shop of the Radisson Blu Hotel, Kuwait, traditional European cakes such as apple pie, sacher cake, tiramisu and berry mousse cake are the best sellers. But I believe this preference is symptomatic of the guests we see coming to the property — in our case, mainly international business travellers.

“I have also noted that desserts with chocolate as main ingredient are very popular, maybe because chocolate is perceived as a luxurious product in the region,” he remarks.

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Promoting sweets can be a tough challenge according to pastry chefs; especially with main course menus stealing the limelight.

Renaissance’s Weerasinghe says that a pastry chef’s artistic touch does this job for him.

“There is only one technique a pastry chef can use to promote their desserts and that is through the eyes,” he explains.

“I make sure that the garnishes I use are from fresh and fine ingredients — from the fruits and berries that I use, to the chocolates that enhances the look of the dessert.”

Radisson’s Mayor notes that nowadays desserts have a role to play in advertising the hotel’s offering.

“We have regular dessert speciality weeks in our coffee shop reflecting the seasonal tastes and then those specialties are promoted in the local media and within our hotel outlets,” he notes.

“We do not really have a dessert menu in our fine-dining restaurant, but a classical dessert trolley is served in our Chinese restaurant.”