ROMAIN CASTET

Romain Castet learnt how to make his very first dessert, a traditional Tarte Tatin, and thanks to his father. At a young age, he was responsible for making this French-style apple tart whenever guests visited his family at their home. It was the guests’ expression of delight at tasting his dessert that sparked his passion for sweet indulgences. As his parents owned a restaurant, Romain was immediately immersed in the culinary landscape. He started his career as an apprentice working as a Pastry Chef de Partie at Lenôtre, a renowned luxury patisserie in Paris. With a desire to travel the world and further polish his craft, Romain moved to Australia for a year and worked in various restaurants and bakeries. In 2009, he was invited back to the catering team of Lenôtre Paris in the capacity of Pastry Sous-Chef. In 2012, he moved to Fairmont Monte Carlo in Monaco as Senior Chef de Partie. After a few months, he led a three months task force at the newly opened Fairmont Baku, Azerbaijan, where he was responsible for the entire pastry department by providing staff training and curating the menu. In 2014, Romain moved to Fairmont Dubai in the capacity of Pastry Chef and soon after became Executive Pastry Chef. In addition to becoming an Executive Pastry Chef at the age of twenty-nine, Romain’s career highlights include working alongside celebrity chefs such as Philippe Joannes, Jean Christophe Jeanson and Amaury Guichon. Romain has an array of achievements under his belt, including the launch of the first pop-up chocolate room at Fairmont Dubai. Launched over the festive period in 2016, Romain converted an empty retail space into a scene taken from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. A true master of his craft, he is also known for creating the biggest chocolate Easter egg in the UAE, which was 2.5 meters in height and stood in the lobby of the Fairmont Dubai. Always looking to be the best that he can be, Romain aims to compete among professionals and gain the title of “Un des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France”, a prestigious French award. Romain is the Executive Pastry Chef at the Sofitel Dubai The Obelisk and brings his indulgent creations to Bijou Patisserie.

The French adaptation of the traditional British afternoon tea; Le Gouter is a traditional French menu consisting of savoury and sweet; served in a Jewelry Box that the guest opens with the Bijou key to discover the beautiful selection of food jewellery.

choux crumble with hazelnut praline cream and rose water jelly

My twist with the traditional Paris-Brest, I rename it Paris-Dubai, a crispy choux pastry crumble in the shape of a wheel with tasteful Hazelnut praline cream and a chocolate feuilletine base, and a touch of rosewater.

white egg cloud with vanilla bean sauce and salted caramel sauce

A legendary and classic French dessert - Ile Flottante, fresh light white egg meringue with a traditional rich vanilla sauce, hazelnuts, pistachios and caramelized almonds.

pssion fruit compote and mango chilli mousse

This dessert is all about Chef Schilo’s love for Kusama, a beautiful replica of Kusama pumpkin made with a white chocolate shell; garnished with a passion fruits compote, fresh mango mousse with chilli and mango sorbet on the side.

dark chocolate 63% sphere with mango passion caramelizes and coconut ice cream

Inspired by the shape of a coconut, it is reproduced with a beautiful 63% dark chocolate and garnished with a very light French meringue and a vanilla white chocolate ganache. Topped with a whipped ganache with fresh caramelized mango, fresh passion fruit and coconut ice cream.

The recipes are presented in a clear and easy-to-follow way, with ingredients, methods, preparations and photographs of the dishes. The recipes are arranged by type of food. All measures are level unless otherwise stated. Centimeter - cm Cup - c Deciliter - dl Fluid Ounce – fl oz Gram - g Kilogram - kg Liter - ltr Milligram - mg Milliliter - ml Ounce - oz Pound - lb Quarts - qt Tablespoon - tbsp Teaspoon - tsp

MEASURE EQUIVALENT 1/8 teaspoon a pinch 3 teaspoons 1 Tablespoon 1/4 cup 4 Tablespoons 1/3 cup 5 Tablespoons plus 1 Teaspoon 1/2 cup 1 cup 8 Tablespoons 16 Tablespoons 1 Pound 16 Ounces

8 Fluid ounces 1 Cup

1 teaspoon 5 ml 1 tablespoon 15 ml 1 cup 240 ml 2 cups (1 pint) 470 ml 1 oz 28 grams 1 pound 454 grams

5 ml 1 teaspoon 15 ml 1 tablespoon 30 ml 1 fluid oz 100 ml 3.4 fluid oz 240 ml 1 cup 1 liter 34 fluid oz 1 liter 4.2 cups 1 gram 0.035 ounce 100 grams 3.5 ounces 500 grams 1.10 pounds 1 kilogram 2.205 pounds 1 kilogram 35 oz

Conversion from Fahrenheit to Celsius: C = (F - 32) / 1.8 Conversion from Celsius to Fahrenheit: F = C x 1.8 + 32 Fahrenheit Celsius Gas Mark 275F 300F 325F 350F 375F 400F 425F 450F 140C 150C 165C 180C 190C 200C 220C 230C

475F 240C

Ratios

1 ounce ¼ cup grated 40 grams 6 ounces chips 1 cup chips 160 grams cocoa powder 1 cup 115 grams

1 cup flour = 140 grams 1 cup sugar = 150 grams 1 cup powdered sugar = 160 grams 1 cup heavy cream = 235 grams

1 cup all-purpose flour = 4.5 oz 1 cup rolled oats = 3 oz 1 large egg = 1.7 oz 1 cup butter = 8 oz 1 cup milk = 8 oz 1 cup heavy cream = 8.4 oz 1 cup granulated sugar = 7.1 oz 1 cup packed brown sugar = 7.75 oz 1 cup vegetable oil = 7.7 oz 1 cup unsifted powdered sugar = 4.4 oz

gas mark 1-cool gas mark 2 gas mark 3-very moderate gas mark 4-moderate gas mark 5 gas mark 6-moderately hot gas mark 7- hot gas mark 9 gas mark 10- very hot

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS ARE COPYRIGHT COVER: ©FOODSTORYMEDIA AND ENDO 2-3: ©CHEFS IMAGES 4-5: ©DTCM 14: ©CHAKALL 15: ©EMMA PEARSON 16-23: ©INES DURAND CHATTI 24: ©HEINZ BECK 26: ©VIKAS KHANNA 28: ©BRASSERIE BOULUD / SOFITEL DUBAI THE OBELISK 32-33: ©3FILS 34: ©ROBERTO’S 35: ©SOFITEL DUBAI THE OBELISK 36: ©FOLLY 37: ©MYTHOS KOUZINA & GRILL 38: ©IZU ANI 39: ©SILVENA ROWE 40: ©TAIKO / SOFITEL DUBAI THE OBELISK 41: ©COYA 42: ©PRISM 27: ©MATHIEU PÉROU 44: ©MASTI 45: ©TAIKO / SOFITEL DUBAI THE OBELISK 46: ©FRANCESCO ACQUAVIVA 49: ©ROBERTO’S 50: ©BRASSERIE BOULUD / SOFITEL DUBAI THE OBELISK 51: ©PRABA MANICKAM 52: ©GOLDFISH 53: ©BURJ AL ARAB JUMEIRAH 54: ©HATTEM MATTAR 55: ©JUMEIRAH AL QASR 56: ©ROKA 57: ©THE NINE / SOFITEL DUBAI THE OBELISK 58: ©CÉ LA VI 59: ©ARMANI HOTEL DUBAI 60: ©LITTLE MISS INDIA 61: ©ALICI 62: ©JUMEIRAH AL NASEEM 63: ©KINARA BY VIKAS KHANNA 64: ©ARMANI HOTEL DUBAI 65: ©ALICI 66: ©JUMEIRAH MINA A’SALAM 67: ©JOHN BUENAVENTURA 68: ©MINT LEAF OF LONDON 69: ©JUMEIRAH AL NASEEM 70: ©JUMEIRAH AL QASR 72: ©JUMEIRAH AL NASEEM 73: ©BURJ AL ARAB JUMEIRAH 74: ©BURJ AL ARAB JUMEIRAH 75: ©BOCA 76: ©FRANCESCO ACQUAVIVA 77: ©JA THE RESORT 78: ©MINT LEAF OF LONDON 79: ©ARMANI HOTEL DUBAI 80: ©TAIKO 81: ©ARMANI HOTEL DUBAI 82: ©REFORM SOCIAL & GRILL 83: ©21 GRAMS 84: ©JUMEIRAH AL QASR 85: ©MASTI 86: ©JUMEIRAH MINA A’SALAM 87: ©ISOLA RISTORANTE 88: ©21 GRAMS 89: ©JUMEIRAH AL QASR 90-91: ©ROKA 92: ©SUSHISAMBA DUBAI 93: ©JUMEIRAH AL NASEEM 94: ©STARS N BARS 95: ©BLACK TAP 96: ©THE THAI KITCHEN 97: ©TAVERNA GREEK KITCHEN 98: ©CARNIVAL BY TRÈSIND 99: ©JUMEIRAH EMIRATES TOWERS 100: ©MAZINA 101: ©ROBERTO’S 102: © UMBERTO ESPOSTO 103: ©THE MEAT CO 104: ©LOLA TABERNA 105: ©BABA GRILL DUBAI 106: ©MIYAKO 107: ©CLAY 108: © LDC KITCHEN + COFFEE 109: © LUIGIA 110-115: ©SOFITEL DUBAI THE OBELISK photo credit