Jessica Prealpato spent the first few hours after touching down in Dubai sampling dates. The award-winning chef, who was named The World's Best Pastry Chef 2019 at The World's 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremony, works at chef Alain Ducasse's eponymous restaurant in Paris and is one of the brand ambassadors for the France Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.
Given the country’s rich culinary heritage, its pavilion will offer up a dessert whipped up by Prealpato, who is known for using only fresh, seasonal and locally grown produce. Her penchant for replacing sugar with naturally sweet ingredients is what led her to taste date after date in a bid to find one that could elevate her creation for the world fair.
She talks to The National about her culinary aesthetic and what she hopes to bring to Expo 2020 Dubai.
The Expo dessert
“Using local products is very important to me. For the dessert I’m planning to create for the Expo 2020 in Dubai, I did not want to import a single ingredient from France or anywhere else,” says Prealpato. “Accordingly, I used black ajwa dates from Saudi Arabia to create a syrup, which is poured over other locally available ingredients such as watermelon – roasted with honey and cardamom – semolina and tarragon.”
As I am committed to healthier and environmentally friendly food, I am proud to promote the French 'art de vivre'
The end result is a crunchy explosion of flavours that is at once naturally sweet, light and incredibly refreshing.
Culinary aesthetic
Prealpato is the creator of the desseralite concept (which is also the name of her popular book). Desseralite is a play on chef Ducasse’s naturalite cooking style, which indicates using only locally grown and seasonal ingredients in their most natural form.
In the realm of pastry, this means avoiding heavy cream, sugar and dough whenever possible, and instead using naturally sweet ingredients such as fruit.
Given the UAE’s hot climes, Prealpato says: “I wanted to create something very refreshing, which is why I’ve used watermelon. However, when I landed in Dubai, I discovered the fruit is not as sweet as it is back in France. This is why I have included date syrup.
"I also chose ajwa dates both for their sweetness and sacredness. So while I have frozen the watermelon to make it more crunchy, I chose not to decompress, dehydrate or otherwise alter the natural consistency of the dates, to retain their sacred aspect."
This was also an opportunity for Prealpato to work with spices, which are not part of French cuisine.
Next on her wishlist is to whip up a dessert made from avocados.
Expo 2020 brand ambassador
The France Pavilion is being built on the motto of “France, Lightspeed Inspiration”, and aims to incorporate an environment-friendly architectural style, as well as to showcase talent and companies that play a role in implementing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Prealpato’s penchant for natural ingredients is perfectly in keeping with this.
Of the ambassadorship, she says: “This is an opportunity for me to represent the culinary daring that has become an important part of the France’s cultural heritage. As I am committed to healthier and more environmentally friendly food, I am proud to promote the French ‘art de vivre’.
“This will also be a significant opportunity for me to initiate a more holistic conversation on sustainability on an international level – a subject reinforced by the France Pavilion.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
THE NEW BATCH'S FOCUS SECTORS
AiFlux – renewables, oil and gas
DevisionX – manufacturing
Event Gates – security and manufacturing
Farmdar – agriculture
Farmin – smart cities
Greener Crop – agriculture
Ipera.ai – space digitisation
Lune Technologies – fibre-optics
Monak – delivery
NutzenTech – environment
Nybl – machine learning
Occicor – shelf management
Olymon Solutions – smart automation
Pivony – user-generated data
PowerDev – energy big data
Sav – finance
Searover – renewables
Swftbox – delivery
Trade Capital Partners – FinTech
Valorafutbol – sports and entertainment
Workfam – employee engagement
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New process leads to panic among jobseekers
As a UAE-based travel agent who processes tourist visas from the Philippines, Jennifer Pacia Gado is fielding a lot of calls from concerned travellers just now. And they are all asking the same question.
“My clients are mostly Filipinos, and they [all want to know] about good conduct certificates,” says the 34-year-old Filipina, who has lived in the UAE for five years.
Ms Gado contacted the Philippines Embassy to get more information on the certificate so she can share it with her clients. She says many are worried about the process and associated costs – which could be as high as Dh500 to obtain and attest a good conduct certificate from the Philippines for jobseekers already living in the UAE.
“They are worried about this because when they arrive here without the NBI [National Bureau of Investigation] clearance, it is a hassle because it takes time,” she says.
“They need to go first to the embassy to apply for the application of the NBI clearance. After that they have go to the police station [in the UAE] for the fingerprints. And then they will apply for the special power of attorney so that someone can finish the process in the Philippines. So it is a long process and more expensive if you are doing it from here.”
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Madrid Open schedule
Men's semi-finals
Novak Djokovic (1) v Dominic Thiem (5) from 6pm
Stefanos Tsitsipas (8) v Rafael Nadal (2) from 11pm
Women's final
Simona Halep (3) v Kiki Bertens (7) from 8.30pm
HWJN
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Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Pathaan
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The biog
Simon Nadim has completed 7,000 dives.
The hardest dive in the UAE is the German U-boat 110m down off the Fujairah coast.
As a child, he loved the documentaries of Jacques Cousteau
He also led a team that discovered the long-lost portion of the Ines oil tanker.
If you are interested in diving, he runs the XR Hub Dive Centre in Fujairah
The Travel Diaries of Albert Einstein The Far East, Palestine, and Spain, 1922 – 1923
Editor Ze’ev Rosenkranz
Princeton
Gifts exchanged
- King Charles - replica of President Eisenhower Sword
- Queen Camilla - Tiffany & Co vintage 18-carat gold, diamond and ruby flower brooch
- Donald Trump - hand-bound leather book with Declaration of Independence
- Melania Trump - personalised Anya Hindmarch handbag
6 UNDERGROUND
Director: Michael Bay
Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Adria Arjona, Dave Franco
2.5 / 5 stars
