Chef Sherif Namzy: He plays football, too

Chef Sherif Nazmy, a 43-year-old Egyptian with more than 20 years of experience in the Food and Beverage (F&B) industry, is currently executive chef at Majlis Al Sultan, an Arabic-Mediterranean restaurant serving authentic and delicious cuisines from around the world.

Chef Sherif is in charge of the day-to-day operations and management of Majlis Al Sultan’s kitchens to provide diners with the best dining and hospitality experiences possible. Aside from that, he collaborates closely with the team he handpicked from across the Arab world, and at the same time, experiments with various ingredients to provide an unforgettable gastronomic experience to all customers.

He has been in the UAE for 16 years and began his culinary career at the age of 14 after being inspired by his father, a highly skilled chef. In 2003, he started out as a chef at the Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at Nile Plaza in Egypt and was soon promoted as Junior Sous Chef.

Throughout his career, Chef Sherif worked in luxury hotels in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Between 2008 and 2013, he worked at Cairo’s highly acclaimed Michelin star fine dining restaurant Sachi Heliopolis; Jumeirah Group, Burj Al Arab’s Al Iwan Restaurant, and Madinat Jumeirah’s “Sho Fe Ma Fe.” Chef Sherif also led the Sachi Heliopolis team to a 3-star Michelin rating.

Chef Sherif was the executive sous chef at the Al Hamra Residence Hotel in Ras Al Khaimah, where he led the culinary division for six years and contributed to the development of restaurants in the marine, yacht, and golf clubs. He oversaw the opening of Al Hamra Residence’s Sea Breeze Restaurant, an upscale beachfront dining destination. He is currently a member of the Egypt Young Chefs Club. Asked why he chose a career in gastronomy, Chef Sherif said: “I am passionate about the environment of restaurants and kitchens; and the greatest reward is the enjoyment of customers. I enjoy and reflect on the entire process — buying ingredients, preparing them, cooking and serving food, and building and working with a fantastic team. One of the biggest upsides is creating innovative menus for different occasions.”

Chef Sherif enjoys keeping up with trends in the food and beverage industry and learning more about the local culture, cuisines, flavors, and ingredients. He makes it a point to use locally sourced spices and produce to create and present authentic Middle Eastern dishes with a modern and creative twist.

There’s also more to the chef than cooking. He is a member of a football sports league. He enjoys attending local festivals and even going out to eat as a means of furthering his research and development.

“I am passionate about restaurants and kitchens; and the greatest reward is the enjoyment of customers. One of the biggest upsides is creating innovative menus for different occasions.”

So, you’ll know where to find him if you don’t see him in the kitchen.

Manuel Jose Caicedo – from cook to executive chef

Atalented cook, who has risen from the ranks, is Habtoor Grand Resort, Autograph Collection’s new executive chef.

Chef Manuel Jose Caicedo secured his post degree in Culinary and Kitchen Management from the University of Culinary School in Barcelona and holds a wealth of international experience and knowledge in cooking and managing multiple cuisines.

From being a cook to an executive chef across Latin America and Spain, Chef Manuel has successfully worked his way up in the kitchen by handling different roles and has now continued his culinary journey in Dubai as the executive chef working with different brands.

Chef Manuel has worked as executive chef at Jumeirah Group/ Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts and as an executive culinary producer at Paramount Hotels & Resorts, where he gained a world of experience. He worked as the executive banquet chef at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Dubai where he successfully led the culinary department and oversaw the operations.

Prior to that, Chef Manuel had the honour of working in Spain at RitzCarlton Hotel Arts alongside Paco Perez – a prominent chef with five Michelin stars, and Sergio Arola – a Spanish chef with two Michelin stars.

He was also part of the team at El Racó D’ en Freixa, where he developed creative menu ideas. Chef Manuel is experienced in opening new restaurant venues and hotels in Madrid, Tenerife and Barcelona and has catered up to 3000 guests.

A goal-oriented professional with expert culinary knowledge in multiple cuisines, including Spanish, Continental, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern, Chef Manuel is responsible for leading the operations, planning, organization and management of food preparation at the resort.

He is also the creative brain behind menu planning and recipe design, and ensures consistent quality in food production that exceeds the guest expectations. Chef Manuel has successfully worked his way up in the kitchen by handling different roles and has now continued his culinary journey in Dubai as the executive chef working with different brands.

Cooking with Doc Daffodils

Dr. Daffodils Guevarra is a seasoned doctor working for the past 13 years at Prime Medical Center’s Reef Mall Deira Branch.

“I try to tackle work/life balance by doing activities like cycling, cooking, reading, and exploring UAE during the weekends and non-working hours,” she tells Food Trip Magazine.

“I found out that cooking, as a hobby, is my version of a happy pill and an even better coping mechanism for stress.”

Doc Daffodils say she loves cooking for family and friends - Filipino dishes like adobo, pinakbet, chicken caldereta, as well as other international dishes that tickle Filipinos’ taste buds – cajun seafood shrimps, pesto pasta and pesto salmon, among others.

In this post, she shares how to cook green pesto salmon.

Ingredients good for 2 people - 2 pcs salmon, green pesto,green beans, fresh basil, cherry tomatoes, vegetable stock cube, lemon, black pepper, olive oil, salt and water.

‘I found out that cooking, as a hobby, is my version of a happy pill and an even better coping mechanism for stress.’

How to cook - After preheating oven to 200 C, place salmon in baking tray. Cut salmon in middle making a longitudinal slice for you to insert the pesto in. With a spoon, fill the cut with your pesto. Season the salmon with black pepper and bake the salmon in oven for 15 minutes.

While salmon pieces are in the oven, drizzle a pan with olive oil and butter, then put the cherry tomatoes in. Cook for five minutes or until tomatoes start to turn brown. Dissolve your vegetable cube in 150 ml boiled water and pour it into the pan. Cook until sauce begins to thicken.

Meanwhile, cut the beans into bitesize pieces and chop the basil leaves. Cook the beans in a pot of boiling water for five minutes and drain.

Add the beans and basil to your pan of cherry tomatoes and mix. Season it with salt and pepper then add 1.5 tablespoon of lemon juice.

Remove excess sauce from the pan and you can serve your lemon butter sauce separately.

Serve the pesto salmon in a nice plate with the green beans and tomatoes and lemon butter sauce to the side.

Enjoy!

How to prepare the perfect chicken satay

There’s a thousand and one way to make the all-time fave Chicken Satay. But there’s only one that works.

Chicken satay is an appetizer staple on any Vietnamese restaurant menu. It’s a concoction of flavours -- the unique taste coconut milk, curry powder and turmeric pairs deliciously with peanut dipping sauce.

Foodies suggest that the boneless skinless chicken thighs be marinated for at least two hours but experts say they prefer it done overnight.

Foodies suggest that the boneless skinless chicken thighs be marinated for at least two hours but experts say they prefer it done overnight.

This marinade is extremely fast to throw together and extremely flavorful.

In Dubai, a specialty, award-winning restaurant, Vietnamese Foodies, is having its free cooking classes for Dubai-based foodies, which was initially launched last month and will be running till April.

The family-owned eatery is offering a series of free monthly workshops for aspiring Vietnamese foodies at the restaurant’s Nakheel Mall, Burj Vista and Dubai Hills Mall branches. The workshops are free and open to adults and teens and take place at the dates below from 3:30pm.

Among the workshops is one about Chicken Satay Wraps & Portobello Wraps, where participants learn how to prepare marinade for chicken satay and portobello wraps, how to properly marinade, make the skewers and grill chicken satay. They will learn how to make lettuce wraps and dipping sauce for the wraps. As with all workshops, attendees will also enjoy the fruits of their labour.

Those wishing to attend may register via Whatsapp on +971 50 958 0014. All attendees will make these quintessential Vietnamese favourites alongside Vietnamese Foodies own team of chefs.

Vietnamese Foodies’ founder and executive Chef Lily Hoa Nguyen said Vietnamese Foodies began with “sharing a love of fresh, authentic and delicious Vietnamese cuisine through cooking classes which is why we’re so excited to offer this calendar of classes to our customers.”

For more information, visit www. vietnamese foodies.com.

The people that you meet each day