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Excitement is growing as the kingdom prepares to turn ‘So French’ and celebrate the 2017 edition of the European nation’s promotion week which starts today.
Bernard Regnauld-Fabre, the ambassador of France to Bahrain, will be outlining the full calendar of events and welcoming a high-level delegation from the Alsace region at a press conference later this morning.
And GulfWeekly was invited to sample of taste of what’s to come with a culinary session at the Swiss-Belhotel Seef Bahrain with special recipes provided by an award-winning French chef who is part of the visiting party.
Chef Jean-Paul Bostoen from the 3-star Michelin L’ Auberge de I’lll restaurant in Illhaeusern, will be giving a culinary demonstration and food tasting on Sunday at the Swiss-Belhotel as well as working alongside the hotel’s own celebrated executive chef Holger Lang for three days during the celebrations.
Incidentally, both chefs gained experience in some of the very same kitchens during their careers. Alsatian dishes from the region of Alsace, on the border of Germany and France, exemplify the rich, hearty dishes characteristic of the area’s unique cuisine - a top culinary destination for travellers from all over the world.
Located along the river Rhine across from Germany and Switzerland, Alsace has long been known for the high quality of its cooking, from home kitchens to cozy bistros and brasseries to some of the top-rated restaurants in France.
Based on locally-grown crops, farm-raised animals, and wild game from the forests n fields, traditionalAlsatian cuisine reflects the rustic simplicity of rural life, influence by next door Germany - to which Alsace has belonged at different times in history - but with a decidedly French twist. Modern Alsatian restaurant chefs have sought to reduce the butter, cream and lard so prevalent in past preparations, and to lighten the heavy casseroles that once characterised the cuisine.
Most of the region’s modern chefs, however, remain true to their roots, using fresh, local ingredients in creative ways that still pay homage to the established traditions of Alsatian cooking.
Thankfully two of the Szecowka family members were famished as Stan Jnr and I had run 5km in the morning at Amwaj Islands’ charity Colour Run (little Stan did 6km as he so finished the earlier kids race), and we’d rushed back for a much-needed shower and change of clothes, before heading to our dining destination with the good lady wife, Kathryn, as driver and chief listener of running commentaries about her two exhausted men suffering like heroes from numerous aches, pains and strains.
We needed building up and Chef Holger and his team had been busy preparing a feast with plenty of wholesome ingredients and Vitamin C to boost our metabolism and raise our weary spirits.
It started with a refreshing Salade de Maatges – herring salad with crème fraîche,a delightfully flavoursome dish which we dipped into with vigour and which proved to be incredibly moreish.
I popped into the kitchen to watch Chef Holger put the finishing touches to the Fleischschnacka aux Legumes – noddle roulade with lamb, veal and vegetables. This dish is a work of art and looked like a Swiss Roll, but instead of cake and cream it had cleverly been created with meat & veg, ingeniously rolled snail-like in fresh pasta, splashed with a warming broth and more strained vegetables as it was plated.
Fabulouslyfilling... but of course, there was more to come. Chef Jean-Paul recipe for Choucroute aux trois poisons - sour cabbage with three rieties of fish, ney sea bream, red snapper and red mullet, was a French take on a popular dish familiar to Germans like Chef Holger, as well as folk from Switzerland, Poland and Russia.
In fact, Kraut is a German word recorded in English from 1918 onwards as a derogatory term for a German, particularly a German soldier during World War I and World War II.
Its earlier meaning in English was as a synonym for sauerkraut, a traditional Central and Eastern Europen food finely-cutcabbage that has been fermented.
It’s a staple winter favourite because it boasts high levels of dietary fibre, aswell as significant levels of vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K and various B vitamins. Furthermore, it is a good source of iron, manganese, copper, sodium, magnesium and calcium, in addition to contributing a moderate amount of protein to your diet.
Not to everyone’s taste, I might add, but prepared in this manner, withthe superbly cooked fish, made it a filling addition to the menu, and it was delightfully decorated with mussels. And, in true trooper fashion, we still made room for dessert.
And this time Swiss-Belhotel Seef’s pastry chef Edwin Ocampo did the property proud byproducing a magnificent sweet cake called Kougelhopf, cut and dished up warm from the oven.
It crumbled magnificently when touchedby the fork and melted in the mouth. French Week is set to be, culinary-speaking, exquisite.
Chef Holger in partnership with Chef Bostoen will present an Alsation dinner buffet on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at BD12 net, including soft drinks and Jean-Paul will also stage a culinary demonstration and food tasting costing BD14 net, on Sunday at 6pm with limited seats available.
For more details and to book call 66310039.
