A hint of good things to come at Taste of Dubai

The beauty of Taste of Dubai lies in its simplicity: sampling bites from a spread of restaurants across the emirate, all in one spot at Dubai Media City. This year, 14 out of 30 eateries are first-time participants in the three-day festival, each serving mini appetisers, main courses and desserts. Three are some of the latest restaurants to grace our shores – the French-Indian import La Porte des Indes at The Address Dubai Mall and the home-grown concepts Café Belge at The Ritz-Carlton, DIFC and St Tropez Bistro at Mall of the Emirates.

Alongside the restaurant stalls, every day at hourly intervals, the Chefs’ Theatre programme rotates visiting celebrity chefs and resident gurus and includes a series of cooking masterclasses and Q&A sessions, where visitors can grill the chefs on sourcing ingredients, techniques and share their personal kitchen nightmares.

Headlining Taste of Dubai this year and the Chefs’ Theatre are two culinary masters in different fields. Opening the festival is the United Kingdom-based French chef turned tutor, Jean-Christophe Novelli, who will demonstrate recipes from his latest cookbook Simply Novelli.

Novelli, who is looking forward to mingling with visitors of different nationalities, gives us a sneak peek of what to expect: “I will introduce guests to a new way of cooking without using salt. This is a massive problem and a very important topic, especially for hot places like Dubai. I use this method at my cooking academy.”

The antidote to salt comes from another Frenchman, also a UK resident, and the king of all things sweet – the patissier otherwise known as Cake Boy, Eric Lanlard. “I’m going to show some recipes from my latest cookbook, Chocolat, as well as a few tried and trusted favourites from my previous books Home Bake and Tart It Up!”

Meanwhile, the Food Network personalities Reza Mahammad and Jenny Morris return for the second consecutive year, while Siba Mtongana travels from South Africa to make her debut.

For a flavour of classic Belgian cuisine, chef Ron Pietruszka from Café Belge will show off his take on Dover sole à l’Ostendaise, with baby spinach, mussels, king crab and grey shrimps. Across the border to France, seafood will continue to prevail with David Cagle of St Tropez Bistro cooking poached lobster with pan-seared scallops and baby-leek truffle broth. Lovers of game should head to chef Vishal Rane’s session, where he will demonstrate one of La Porte des Indes’s signature dishes, kath kozhi mahe – a stir-fry of guinea fowl with curry leaves, shallots and onions.

Other resident chefs, such as David Miras of The Luxury Collection’s Al Maha resort in the desert, take inspiration from their homeland. “I will cook a veal dish with asparagus and Maroilles sauce. Maroilles is a cheese close to my heart, produced 10 miles [16 kilometres] away from my hometown, Ferrière-la-Grande in Northern France.”

• Taste of Dubai runs from today March 13-15 at Dubai Media City Amphitheatre. From 4pm until midnight on March 13; from noon to midnight on March 14 and noon to 11pm on March 15. Entry tickets from Dh90, kids under 12 go free. Visit www.tasteofdubaifestival.com

artslife@thenational.ae

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The chef

If there’s one chef you must see, it’s the visiting French master chef and restaurateur Jean- Christophe Novelli, who runs an award-winning cooking school in Hertfordshire, the United Kingdom. Pick up some home-cooking tips from his masterclass de­monstration in the Chef’s Theatre on Thursday, March 13, at 7pm, Friday, March 14, at 4.30pm and Saturday, March 15, at 5.20pm. He also opens the festival on Thursday, March 13, at 4pm.

The restaurant

Despite living in the UAE, we don’t often eat local cuisine, what with the choice of Emirati res­taurants being rather limited. The good news is, Radisson Blu Deira Creek will open Aseelah later this year, a restaurant dedicated to serving authentic Emirati fare. There will be a stall at the festival, so grab the opportunity to taste signature dishes of spiced tikka dajaj, fragrant samak machbous and delectable luqueimat.

The entertainment

In between eating, stop by the entertainment stage to tune into Adrienne Hughes, the diva of soul with powerful vocals. Daily per­formances throughout the three-day festival.

* Samantha Wood