Where do MasterChef winners go? Why, they write cookbooks and open restaurants, of course. And then they come to Abu Dhabi on food tours.
One-time project manager Shelina Permalloo, who won the UK show in 2012, epitomises our reality TV-obsessed lives. Through the series, she dug deep into her Mauritian heritage to turn out inspiring, eclectic fare, finally winning with a menu of octopus on marinated fennel and ginger, mutton curry with a chilli pumpkin roulade and mango cannelloni filled with lime curd.
If just the descriptions have you salivating, you’ll want to motor down to Taste of Abu Dhabi at Yas Island this weekend, where Permalloo cooks some of her favourite recipes over five sessions at the Al Ain Dairy Cooking Challenge and at the Etihad Chef’s Theatre.
Last year, the dream came full circle for Permalloo, who opened her first restaurant in Southampton. Lakaz Maman, which means Mum’s House, focuses on modern Mauritian street food, and she runs the restaurant alongside her husband Rachid, and her mum Shila. In the meanwhile, she’s also cranked out two books, Sunshine on a Plate and The Sunshine Diet.
We shot her some questions via email last week.
Have you been to Abu Dhabi before?
I haven’t but I have travelled to Dubai and Kuwait so I’m looking forward to finding out more about this region and in particular find the best food spots.
What are you looking forward to at Taste of Abu Dhabi?
I always look forward to the people I meet at all the cooking shows I do, I love inspiring people to cook differently. At Taste of Abu Dhabi I’ll be doing live cooking demonstrations as well as a cook-along.
What are you most passionate about cooking?
My specialism is in modern Mauritian food, which is the perfect mix of Indian, African, Chinese and French cuisine... [a] true melting pot.
Describe your culinary style in three words.
Fresh, fragrant and colourful
Your role model in the kitchen is...
My mum. She always effortlessly cooked us amazing food growing up and she will always remain a role model for me. That’s why I named my restaurant Lakaz Maman, which means Mum’s House in Creole Mauritian.
What’s one thing you learned from a cookbook?
I don’t think I can pinpoint one thing. I’m an avid cookbook collector and seek inspiration from all cultures and cuisines.
Your finest moment as a chef so far?
I think the proudest moment was the day I first opened my restaurant; having people come in to taste my food made all the hard work worthwhile.
The most challenging moment of your culinary career...
Probably cooking for the Prince of Thailand. That was the most amazing but most challenging cooking moment of my life.
Your biggest culinary inspiration?
I seek inspirations from the grandmas, mums and aunties that taught me how to cook and they continue to inspire me.
Three ingredients you’d take to a desert island?
I’m hoping it’s a tropical desert island then I’ll be very happy. I’ll just take some garlic chili and coriander seeds to plant.
One ingredient people don’t use enough?
I always see people using only the leaves of coriander but they rarely use the stalks. It’s packed full of flavour and fragrance and I love putting them in at the beginning of a stew or curry.
One thing you really hate about running a restaurant?
The hardest part about running a restaurant is that you never switch off. I just had a little girl and even with her I haven’t been able to keep away from the restaurant. When you run your own business it’s a 24-hour job, in fact it actually feels like I have two babies to look after.
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Don’t miss it!
Tickets for Taste of Abu Dhabi start at Dh65, and are available at tasteabudhabi.com.
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RECIPE
Sweet Potato Halwa (Extract from The Sunshine Diet)
There are variants of halwa across India, Pakistan and the Middle East. The thing that usually links all these together is that they are very sweet, very dense and usually scented with rose water or sometimes orange blossom. In all its guises, halwa is most definitely a celebratory dessert usually reserved for family gatherings, weddings and other festivities. I’ve taken out a lot of the ingredients that typically make this very dense and rich (such as the ghee, milk, butter and sometimes even eggs) and have instead used cooked sweet potato to get that sweet and dense texture without the extra calories.
Ingredients
1 tbsp coconut oil
2 sweet potatoes, cooked and peeled
75g unrefined golden caster sugar
Pinch of salt
5 green cardamom pods, crushed
1/2tsp rosewater
Handful of chopped pistachios, hulled
Handful of chopped flaked almonds
Coconut flakes
Greek yoghurt , to serve
Gold leaf , to decorate
Micro flowers, to decorate
Method
Using a potato ricer, mash the potatoes.
Heat the oil in a heavy based saucepan and add the sweet potato and allow to cook for three to five minutes until it darkens in colour. Add the salt, sugar, cardamom and cook for a further three minutes until the mixture gets very dense and sticky. Add the rosewater, stir and remove from the heat.
Mix in the almonds and pistachios.
To serve, place in a decorative glass and top with toasted coconut, Greek yoghurt and for a touch of decadence, some gold leaf.
