I had a letter last week asking me if I was offended when the girl for whom I had planned to prepare steak tartare refused to eat it. The answer is no. I am not easily offended. Rudeness offends me, and the girl in question was very well-educated so refused my culinary advances with great grace.
I am often accused of being crabby and unreasonable, of shouting and throwing people out of my restaurants. It is true, I have thrown people out of my restaurants, but only when they have been rude - mainly to the staff - which is something I can't abide. And I have also thrown people out for being too rowdy. I always feel very sorry for a couple who are out for a romantic dinner and there is some braying loudmouth next to them showing off. But I have to defend myself when people accuse me of ranting and raving. I don't shout and swear, unlike some chefs I could mention. You see, I believe that self-control is true power - if you can control yourself you will always make the right decision and do things for the right reason. I never shout and I never get angry because that is akin to weakness.
Now, you may have noticed the use of the word "crabby" earlier. This was put there to bring me seamlessly onto the subject of today's column: Cornish crab cakes. This is one of my favourite recipes; it is one of those dishes that looks so sophisticated and complicated but in truth is extremely easy. It is so full of flavour, the tartness of the grapefruit blending perfectly with the crabmeat and the mayonnaise. And I adore the texture of the crab cakes - that crispy exterior and the smooth interior.
These crab cakes are a great dinner party starter because you can prepare the actual cakes and pop them in the fridge until it's time to eat. I'm a great believer in preparation; but its importance is something I learnt only later in life.
If I had been more prepared before visiting the girl who refused the steak tartare, perhaps with a crab cake or two as a backup, who knows what might have happened...
MAKE IT YOURSELF
Cornish crab cakes
INGREDIENTS
800g Cornish crabmeat 1 small red onion, minced
1 egg
125ml mayonnaise
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp lemon juice
5g parsley, chopped
5g chives, minced
20g breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper to taste
METHOD
1. Pick through the crabmeat to ensure it is free of shell and cartilage.
2. Mix all the ingredients together, adding the breadcrumbs last. Season with salt and pepper. 3. Mould the crab mix into 6 rounds using a round cookie cutter. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to pan fry.
Cucumber and grapefruit salad
INGREDIENTS
For the grapefruit
200ml water
100ml lemon juice
250g sugar 3 star anise
2 grapefruit
For the cucumber
2 English cucumbers
100ml grape vinegar
100ml water
100g sugar
10g ginger, sliced
2 sprigs fresh dill
METHOD
1. Bring water, lemon juice, sugar and anise to the boil; pour the hot lemon mixture over the segmented grapefruit and let macerate in the refrigerator overnight.
2. Bring vinegar, water, sugar, ginger and dill to the boil; cool to room temperature.
3. Let the cucumber, seeded and cut into ribbons, marinate in the vinegar mixture for 30 minutes.
TO ASSEMBLE
50 ml vegetable oil
6 crab cakes
Mayonnaise
Marinated cucumber
Macerated grapefruit
1/2 head frisée lettuce
3 radishes, sliced thin
1. Pan fry each crab cake in the oil until golden and crisp on both sides.
2. Spoon a line of mayonnaise on a plate and place the crab cake on top.
3. Drain the liquid from the cucumber and grapefruit, then toss in a bowl with the frisée lettuce.
4. Place the salad on top of the crab cake and garnish with radish slices.
SERVES 6
Company%20Profile
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Where to buy art books in the UAE
There are a number of speciality art bookshops in the UAE.
In Dubai, The Lighthouse at Dubai Design District has a wonderfully curated selection of art and design books. Alserkal Avenue runs a pop-up shop at their A4 space, and host the art-book fair Fully Booked during Art Week in March. The Third Line, also in Alserkal Avenue, has a strong book-publishing arm and sells copies at its gallery. Kinokuniya, at Dubai Mall, has some good offerings within its broad selection, and you never know what you will find at the House of Prose in Jumeirah. Finally, all of Gulf Photo Plus’s photo books are available for sale at their show.
In Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi has a beautiful selection of catalogues and art books, and Magrudy’s – across the Emirates, but particularly at their NYU Abu Dhabi site – has a great selection in art, fiction and cultural theory.
In Sharjah, the Sharjah Art Museum sells catalogues and art books at its museum shop, and the Sharjah Art Foundation has a bookshop that offers reads on art, theory and cultural history.
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
