Apple Strudel, Vanilla Custard, Ice Cream

If you have more than twenty restaurants and you got to change all the menus within the same month it can, no, it is a huge task. Just think about; for each menu you got the get the data like sales mix, analyze it, get the new brief for the new menu to-be-created, pricing, seasonal ingredients and trend. Either follow trends in the market or for some restaurants set trends. When I write a dessert menu I need also to take the rest of the menu in consideration; each restaurant has its own Chef de Cuisine with their own style and this has to go more often in line. Then there are other decision makers, more important ones who will make the final call what goes on the menu and how it will come to the guest. Yes, the Executive Chef!

Banoffee Cheese Cake, Chocolate sauce, Ice Cream

One menu in the making for some days was for the “Wharf” Restaurant at Mina A Salam. It had to be simple, tasty and a GastroPub feel. Generous portions, desserts our guests would love to eat at any time of the day and feel good about it; comfort food, not super styled super dishes. Apple Raisin Strudel with Vanilla Custard, Hockey Pockey Ice Creamon a oversized deep plate. Fresh, simple and satisfying. Banoffee Cheese Cake with warm chocolate sauce and Vanilla Ice Cream. I would eat that once a day if I could! Mud Pie with whipped cream, caramel sauce and Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Mud cake, whipped cream, caramel sauce, Ice Cream

After all that fine tuning and twee king, only our guests will tell me if this menu is successful or not. Sadly, working in such an environment where tourists come and go I hardly get any feedback so I got to go back to the sales mix analysis to find out…

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Italian is not always about pasta and pizza; risotto and gnocchiare maybe not as famous but they are certainly one of the best dishes with most variety in preparation. Today I like to present gnocchi made of potatoes, the way I like it best. A simple ragout of beef with garlic and tomatoes, fresh basil and lots of  grated Parmigiano.

Gnocchi is the Italian name for a variety of thick, soft noodle or dumpling. They may be made from semolina, ordinary wheat flour, potato, bread crumbs, or similar ingredients.

The word gnocchi means “lump”, and comes from nocchio, a knot in the wood. It’s been a traditional Italian pasta type of probably Middle Eastern origin since Roman times (Imperium Romanum). It was introduced by the Roman Legions during the enormous expansion of the empire into the countries of the European continent. In the past 2000 years each country developed its own specific type of small dumplings, with the ancient Gnocchi as their common ancestor. In Roman times, gnocchi were made from a semolina porridge-like dough mixed with eggs, and are still found in similar forms today, particularly in Sardinia. One variety, gnocchi di pane (literally bread noodles), is made from bread crumbs and is popular in Friuli and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. Another variety from Trentino-Alto Adige/Sudtirol is spinach gnocchi, called strangolapreti. This translates to “choke the priest.” The use of potato is a relatively recent innovation, occurring after the introduction of the potato to Europe in the 16th century.

Gnocchi are eaten as entrées (primi piatti) in Italy or as alternatives to minestre (“soups”) or pasta.

Gnocchi are widely available dried, frozen, or fresh in vacuum sealed packages in supermarkets and Italian specialty stores. Classic accompaniments of gnocchi include tomato sauces, pesto, and melted butter (sometimes fried butter) with cheese.

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No where else in the world are weddings the biggest highlight like in the Arab community, hundreds of thousand of Dollars is spent not only on one but on several events per couple. Lavish event organizers having huge business, entire production companies are flown in from around the globe just to stage a wedding. Aircrafts full of flowers from Kenya and Holland cater the floral theme of each wedding. Thousands of guests attending these gala events and entertainer from the Gulf region and from the international circuit keep those weddings going.

Just yesterday we had a top VIP wedding, Bin Laden from Saudi Arabia, one of the richest families in KSA and perhaps famous with their name. No wonder that a wedding cake is of utmost importance when spending close to a Million Dollar for this special day.

For weeks we planned, designed and executed six wedding cakes for upcoming wedding packages over the summer month. They where in different sizes and all named on French Names like Agnes, Denise, Isabelle, Madeleine, Odette and Sophie for easy distinguish amongst our clients.

Sheikh Ahmeed-World Trade Center

Al Jaber- Abu Dhabi

Al Jaber – Abu Dhabi