Marina Walk @ Dubai Marina & JBR

Since long time decided to go again to Dubai Marina to check out its progress.

Wow,and progressed it was,what a beautiful area,so peaceful and so many restaurants with terras to have the perfect chill out on your off day!

Each terras was full as also the weather was fantastic,a nice breeze and perfect temperature.

Had some lunch in the Butcher Shop and had a great afternoon just chilling like back home in Europe!

For sure i will return in this paradise under construction!

Best regards Sebastiaan

 

 

 

Amateur Photography in progress

Being a great photography enthusiast/hobbyist,and get to know slowly the basic principles of photography,such as:light(especially daylight),aperture,shutterspeed,and offcourse the equipment.

I have a Sony A350 with a 18-70mm lens,with F3.5-5-6 possibilities.

Its a complete starters kit and i am well aware that this is “children’s play”in comparison to whats out there,like the Nikon and Canon monsters with 51 focus points full frame and many more professional options.

Now luckily i got the chance to work with some great food photographers and the end of the story is that its only about a few things to sort out:

Lighting,

Type of camera up to your budget and goal of your photo’s

But what counts the most must be the glass,and thats the lens!

Even though you have such a great machine but not a great lens,you are still lost.

Now for me,a beginner with slr digital,getting the hang of it more and more,and it becomes now a real fun time spender.

Now on the road to get the most out of the A350 from Sony!And hopefully you enjoy the photo’s,

will do my best to keep improving the pics!

Keep you posted,

Regards Sebastiaan

Candied Flowers from Flor&Flor

Visiting a pastry chef seminar in Grand Hyatt last week,which was organised by EMF,who is the distributor for Barry Callebaut Chocolate,PCB Creations,Flor&Flor,Capfruit,Stephan food processors and many more in Dubai.

Demonstrations were given by:

Emmanuel Ryon (World Champion Pastry,Best Ice Cream Worker of France)

Philippe Bertrand (Best Chocolate Worker of France)

Philippe Marand ( Technical Advisor Cacoa Barry)

Very interesting new creations and on the end a presentation of Chocolate Showpiece.

After that we could have a look what the suppliers brought as new assortiment!

PCB Creations showed some kickass new decorations possibilities,for example marshmallow sheets which you can buy with personnel logo’s or trendy print.

And new crunchy decoration niblets in gold,zilver,ruby etc.

Then i had a look at Flor&Flor and as you can see in the picture above they provide some cool stuff!!

Edible,candied roses,jasmine,lavender,whole roses etc.

And even they developed candied flower segments which are resistents against moisture,so suitable in cremes,ice creams,mouses etc.

Here in Dubai i didnt see them yet,but back home we used them alredy for years,so hopefully soon you will find some creations with this new “ingredient/garnish”

Best regards Sebastiaan

F1 @ Yas Marina Circuit Abu Dhabi

Lucky to get a ticket for the first F1 in Abu Dhabi’s brand new Yas Marina Circuit!!

Also it was the last race of the season and the champion was already decided,but still 80 million eyes on the first ever race in Abu Dhabi!

Once arrived you hear every single person saying”wow”!!

And i must say it is something really unique if you see this complex with your own eyes.

A huge track with a yacht harbor in the middle and off course the Yas Hotel what opens the 5th of November.

The track looked amazing and proved to be very very fast with a lot of overtaking possibilities.

Also there was a special light system as it was world first day into twilight race.

In the morning and afternoon it was the Porsche cup what was doing trials and time-lapse,and the 3d final testlaps for the F1.

At 5pm,everything was ready for a ear-destroying,rubber burning spectacular qualifying race.

Hamilton grabbed the pole and the 2 RedBull cars got 2nd and 3d.

For sure a must see next year if you are a car/race lover as the track is something you have to see once in a life time!

Hope you enjoy my pics below,

Regards S

Pastry in Europe ‘09,”a must have!”

When i recently found out the making of this annual pastry magazine,i could not wait to lay my hands on of them.

Because when i just started in the pastry,i was lucky enough to be featured in Patisserie&Desserts part 2,which is a sweet version of Culinaire Saisonnier  magazine,which mostly features,Netherlands,Belgium and France.

Now a days that magazines became a collectors items which get sold for almost 10 times the original price!(Luckey i have part 1-8 safely at home,haha.)

Now years later a special edition came on the market;Pastry in Europe,which features the most best pastissiers/chocolatiers/glaciers/bakers/confectioners etc. from whole Europe!

Which is very cool,as there is no other magazine on the market which is all about pastry as Pastry in Europe.

It shows new techniques,new presentations,plated desserts,traditional breads and cakes,licorice(as this we consume with tons in the Netherlands!)

A absolute must have as a pastrylover,pastry chef or just pastry enthusiast!!

Check quickly the link to Pastry In Europe to get yourself also a copy of this kickass Magazine.And make already a reservation for your Pastry in Europe 2010,which is coming soon!

http://www.pastryineurope.com/index/pastry_in_europe/

Pleasure reading and enjoy some snaps below!

p.s. Thanks a lot Joost for sending me the magazine,i loved reading it,keep up the amazing work!!

Regards S.

 

Crepes Suzette ‘09

When the chance was there to make a dessert for another upcoming cookbook,i could not wait!

But not easy to come up with a original take of a dessert in just few days.

When i was thinking of a desserts,my mind crossed the idea of using a “classic”dessert but to put it in a new jacket.

Crepe Suzette is a very classic dessert,what still is a winner if it’s done properly with the “on table preparation”.

I took the components of “Crepe Suzette” which are: Crepes,sugar.oranges and Grand Marnier,

and try to present the whole idea in a different way.

With the crepes i made a “terrine” layered with a very thin layer of orange marmelade and put in the chiller under pressure (in a steel frame with weight on top)

After a few hours,i cut the terrine in rectangular shapes and caramelized it with sugar.

Then with orange juice,vanilla and grand marnier a jelly,fresh orange segments and a crunchy chocolate coated vanilla parfait on top.

Then ala minute we flambes the whole dish with Grand Marnier .

Photography done by Mr.Nigel Brand (http://www.nigelbrandphotography.com/)

Foodtasting & Banqueting

Many times we provide food tastings for the organizers of functions which are planning to do a functions in our banqueting facility.

From top to bottom:Lemon/Merinque Tart with Raspberry Sorbet and raspberry coullis.

Second,a “classic”raspberry trifle with salted hazelnut croûton.

Third,a Lemon foam,with Valrhona Ivoire “Namalaka” and a juice of fennel,green apple,cellery and ginger,with raspberry rhubarb jellies.

Enjoy and regards S.

Balloon Galore!!!

Sometimes we get crazy requests,and this is one of them.The day before yesterday we were asked to provide the guest with a sorbet served in a iced balloon!

Nice idea for ala carte or vip guest upto 100 max.But this time we have to provide it for 11oo guests!!!

And all this with 3 days notice,great!!

After getting plans together,where to store so many trolleys and in which freezers?!!

To fill the balloon is one thing,but to time the exact thickness of the outer shell of the ice is an other!

4/5 hours in the freezer and a half hour in the blastfreezer was the trick we found out.

After take the frozen balloon cut the latex and lay it side ways on the stove,to burn a nice flat opening to remove the excess water,and put it a few seconds on the base to provide a stable side to stand.

When the service is ready for pickup,take out of freezer,place on a napkin and fill the ice with crushed ice and place your small dish with sorbet.

For an extra wow effect you could add dry ice and make hot before service pickup.

See below the fun we had with prepping the ice.

Regards S.

Restaurant

With the family having over in Dubai,we decided to have a look in Pierchic Restaurant.A Restaurant with many awards and when we received “the  Pierchic experience” we knew also why they got many awards!

Excellent service,excellent ambience,and outstanding food!

Chef Chris Graham rocks behind the stove here at Pierchic and if there was any Michelin guide here in Dubai,i am sure they would be proud owners of a star or two.

With 9 courses,a lot of wine and a stunning dining experience richer we heading back to Al Qasr.

Wauw, truly an amazing experience and if you come one time to Dubai,you should try it!

Panasonic Lumix DMC LX3

Finally got the chance to play with a new toy named:Panasonic DMC-LX3.

Wauw,what a kickass performance in such a little case!

It’s very convenient to find such a performer in small size,cause its way more easy and confortable  now to make action shots at work.

Shots of the Panasonic i took with my Sony Alpha A 350.

P.s the shots of Ramadan Kareem are the first trial shots with the Lumix.

Cheers CW from Sugarhead for advise for te Lumix!

Best regards S,