Mum's recipe for success

COOKERY classes are simply child's play for one enterprising mum who has set out to make family fare healthier in the kingdom.

Belgian freelance chef and Bahraini resident Audrey Pravata has started teaching youngsters how to cope in the kitchen passing on nutritional tips to the chefs of the future.

And, the services of the 32-year-old mother-of-two from Janabiyah, are now in growing demand. She explained: "Children are curious about ingredients and want to taste everything. I teach them to prepare simple but healthy meals. I have children who are picky eaters at home but after my class they wipe away an entire bowl of gezpatio soup with gusto."

Although Audrey has only recently started cooking classes for children and adults, she has already established her niche as a freelance chef under the banner of 'Art Cuisine at Home', a venture she launched seven months ago. Today, not a weekend goes by where she is not planning and preparing a delectable dinner menu for her clients at their homes.

"I propose a menu for my client and after consultations and initial changes I go about procuring the ingredients. I arrive at my client's house two hours before the party with my crockery and ingredients and the whole dinner which is served in individual courses takes about seven hours to prepare and serve.

"But it takes an entire day to organise, buy and pre-prepare. When the plate comes back into the kitchen empty, that is when I know that the guests have enjoyed my cooking!"

Audrey's love affair with food is evident in her penchant for creating a tantalizing dish. Armed with the best available ingredients she whips up a feast for her customers and creates an innovative meal that would give the leading chefs on the island a run for their money. She describes her job as the 'flavour' in her life.

"When you buy a good product then you don't need to add a lot of spices to cover the bad taste of a bad product. Here in Bahrain it is not easy to find good quality products but I have sourced local contacts that provide me with fresh produce. Additionally, I go to the central market to buy fresh fruits and vegetables," she explained.

Although Audrey's preparations are healthy using the best available ingredients she does not hesitate to use butter and cream albeit in moderation and says that the key to using less fat lies in the way the food is prepared.

Audrey's passion for cooking began at the age of eight when every morning for eight consecutive weeks she would wake up early every weekend to prepare chocolate mousse until she perfected the art of concocting the perfect dessert.

"The satisfaction was immense and I told my mother then that I wanted to study at a food school," she said.

Audrey studied the art of cuisine at 'L'Ecole Hotlier de Spa' in Belgium and went on to complete a course at a 'Jonfosse', a school which teaches how to prepare healthy food. She has worked in the dining rooms of several restaurants in Belgium and also as a manager of a boutique specialising in foie gras.

She moved to Bahrain in 2007 with her husband, Paul, and two children, Ella, eight, and Samuel, five, both pupils at the French School.

She dabbled with several projects like training staff in the dining room at the Latin Quarter and cooking with a French chef to prepare theme dinners on a boat at the Yacht Club before branching out on her own. She now employs two people, a head waiter and another Belgian lady who acts as her assistant in the kitchen, to do dinner parties at her clients' homes.

At home, Audrey prepares daily meals with love and affection which is evident by the aromas wafting from her kitchen.

"My children love to eat and as soon as they come back home from school. They ask me what I've cooked on that day. Paul is forever opening the saucepan to smell and see what I have prepared but I think that Samuel will grow up to do what I'm doing today because when he cooks he has a good feeling with the ingredients and Ella just loves to help."

Chocolate mousse

Ingredients for 6:

320gm dark chocolate

30gm unsalted butter

6 eggs

1 pinch of salt

Here are a few tips which, when followed, will help you turn out a perfectly smooth and airy chocolate mousse:

Only use really fresh top quality organic free-range eggs.

Never over-heat chocolate as it will split and turn grainy. Heat gently over a pan of barely simmering water which mustn't come into contact with the bowl of chocolate.

Place your chocolate mousses in the fridge for two hours to set, but remove them half an hour prior to serving as they will then be soft and beautifully gooey.

Use only the best quality chocolate

Method:

Separate the eggs, placing the whites into a roomy bowl.

Break the chocolate into small pieces and put them in another roomy bowl set over a pan with a centimeter of barely simmering water.

Add the butter and allow both to gently melt. Stir occasionally.

In the meantime, add a pinch of salt to the egg whites and whisk to the soft peak (floppy) stage. In a separate bowl, break up the yolks.

When the chocolate and butter have melted and have been allowed to cool for a couple of minutes stir in the yolks.

Cut and fold in the whites in three batches until seamlessly combined.

Pour into ramekins and refrigerate for a couple of hours to set.