12th April 2013
November 2007: Global marketplace
Alongside a showcase of speciality food and drink from around the world, the Craft Guild of Chefs took to the stage at this year's World Food Market presenting culinary demonstrations with a global flavour
Returning for its third year, the World Food Market took place from November 21-22 at London's ExCeL, offering visitors a chance to source speciality products from more than 20 different countries.
At the centre of the show, the World Kitchen Live – organised by the Craft Guild of Chefs for the second year running, offered a taste tour of international food cultures, with chefs from a range of ethnic backgrounds showcasing their national cuisine in a purpose built theatre kitchen, sponsored by Equip Line.
Starting in Europe, Bernhard Engelhardt, group executive chef for Seasons Foods, demonstrated 21st century German cooking with dishes including veal with wild mushroom spätzle, slow braised belly pork schnitzel with red cabbage and bread dumplings followed by Kaiser Schmarren – a pancake dessert with mulled fruit and fresh cream.
Introducing a Mediterranean flavour, Maurizio Elefante, head pastry chef at Daisy Desserts, prepared dishes he enjoyed as a child growing up in Italy, from gnocchi with octopus to vanilla panna cotta with wild berry compote.
Pub chef and barbecue expert Mathew Shropshall took to the stage to demonstrate how he attracts his customers at the Royal Oak in Kings Bromley, Staffordshire, with a number of quick and easy ethnic dishes using spice bags.
Barry Crawford, senior sous chef at Christopher's American Grill in London's Covent Garden presented a session on Native American cooking, with barbecued lamb and tamale.
According to Crawford, tamale is a traditional Native American food consisting of steam cooked corn meal dough, which is often filled with meat, cheese and sliced chillies. The tamale is generally wrapped in a corn husk and teamed until firm, says Crawford, but the recipe he uses at Christopher's is a more refined version using butter, which originated from Sante Fe, New Mexico.
Andy Twells, Compass Group executive chef and general manager at SAP, looked at the influence Indian food has had on British cuisine. Using British produce while reflecting the techniques of Indian cookery, he showed how to combine spices and marinades without masking flavours. He produced cannon of Welsh lamb with yogurt masala, garlic and cardamom potatoes, sprouting broccoli with a rose and saffron vinaigrette, and spiced tomato chutney.
“The art of traditional Indian cuisine is embedded in the use of spices and marinades along with slow and fierce cooking methods. However the subtlety of combining these methods while allowing the natural flavours and textures of core ingredients to shine through can be lost if appreciation and respect is not given to each process,” says Twells.
“Through the use of complementary spices and marinating techniques, we can create a global fusion of flavours and finishes to give customers a real choice. Perhaps this will encourage a new generation reared on the kebab and curry experience to evolve and try something different yet with a familiarity of flavour,” he adds.
Fellow Compass chef Dennis Mwakulua from Fujitsu HQ cooked up a feast of African flavours in his session, showing how British dishes can be fused with African influences. “To make African cuisine palatable in this country, the key is to combine traditional east African ingredients with traditional English dishes, which can then be presented in a modern way,” says Mwakulua. To demonstrate this, he prepared tamarind braised Norfolk pork belly with coconut and cardamom sweet potato.
Indian cuisine was back on the menu when Vijay Anand, executive chef at Patak's Foods, prepared dishes including seared scallops with coastal Malabar sauce, with potato and pomegranate chaat.
A chef duo from the Royal Garden Hotel – Ricki Idris and Samir McHeik – focused on Chinese and Lebanese cuisine respectively, and finally Mark Read and Lee Chin Soon from Awana restaurant in Chelsea offered a taste of Malaysia.
At the centre of the show, the World Kitchen Live – organised by the Craft Guild of Chefs for the second year running, offered a taste tour of international food cultures, with chefs from a range of ethnic backgrounds showcasing their national cuisine in a purpose built theatre kitchen, sponsored by Equip Line.
Starting in Europe, Bernhard Engelhardt, group executive chef for Seasons Foods, demonstrated 21st century German cooking with dishes including veal with wild mushroom spätzle, slow braised belly pork schnitzel with red cabbage and bread dumplings followed by Kaiser Schmarren – a pancake dessert with mulled fruit and fresh cream.
Introducing a Mediterranean flavour, Maurizio Elefante, head pastry chef at Daisy Desserts, prepared dishes he enjoyed as a child growing up in Italy, from gnocchi with octopus to vanilla panna cotta with wild berry compote.
Pub chef and barbecue expert Mathew Shropshall took to the stage to demonstrate how he attracts his customers at the Royal Oak in Kings Bromley, Staffordshire, with a number of quick and easy ethnic dishes using spice bags.
Barry Crawford, senior sous chef at Christopher's American Grill in London's Covent Garden presented a session on Native American cooking, with barbecued lamb and tamale.
According to Crawford, tamale is a traditional Native American food consisting of steam cooked corn meal dough, which is often filled with meat, cheese and sliced chillies. The tamale is generally wrapped in a corn husk and teamed until firm, says Crawford, but the recipe he uses at Christopher's is a more refined version using butter, which originated from Sante Fe, New Mexico.
Andy Twells, Compass Group executive chef and general manager at SAP, looked at the influence Indian food has had on British cuisine. Using British produce while reflecting the techniques of Indian cookery, he showed how to combine spices and marinades without masking flavours. He produced cannon of Welsh lamb with yogurt masala, garlic and cardamom potatoes, sprouting broccoli with a rose and saffron vinaigrette, and spiced tomato chutney.
“The art of traditional Indian cuisine is embedded in the use of spices and marinades along with slow and fierce cooking methods. However the subtlety of combining these methods while allowing the natural flavours and textures of core ingredients to shine through can be lost if appreciation and respect is not given to each process,” says Twells.
“Through the use of complementary spices and marinating techniques, we can create a global fusion of flavours and finishes to give customers a real choice. Perhaps this will encourage a new generation reared on the kebab and curry experience to evolve and try something different yet with a familiarity of flavour,” he adds.
Fellow Compass chef Dennis Mwakulua from Fujitsu HQ cooked up a feast of African flavours in his session, showing how British dishes can be fused with African influences. “To make African cuisine palatable in this country, the key is to combine traditional east African ingredients with traditional English dishes, which can then be presented in a modern way,” says Mwakulua. To demonstrate this, he prepared tamarind braised Norfolk pork belly with coconut and cardamom sweet potato.
Indian cuisine was back on the menu when Vijay Anand, executive chef at Patak's Foods, prepared dishes including seared scallops with coastal Malabar sauce, with potato and pomegranate chaat.
A chef duo from the Royal Garden Hotel – Ricki Idris and Samir McHeik – focused on Chinese and Lebanese cuisine respectively, and finally Mark Read and Lee Chin Soon from Awana restaurant in Chelsea offered a taste of Malaysia.