Call of the kitchen

With 15 years' experience preparing delicacies to tempt even the sweetest tooth, it is no wonder the delights executive pastry chef Elias Chaaya, pictured right, produces at the Gulf Hotel are among the best on the island.

The 34-year-old, Lebanese national, who joined the Adliya venue eight months ago, said: "Working for a huge operation with so many outlets such as the Gulf Hotel requires the constant introduction of new ideas in recipes as well as in decorations and buffets setups.

"With the team I have here, we are always striving to achieve the best."

Prior to coming to the kingdom he worked at leading name in French luxury gastronomy Len™tre Paris, in Saudi Arabia for six years.

He comes from a family of chefs and, despite completing his Baccalaureate in philosophy and initially planning to study law, he found the call of the kitchen too strong

He said: "Passion for cooking runs in the family with my grandfather, father and brother in the same field.

"I even tried to study law at university for two years but I couldn't resist it so I started a part-time job in pastry and since then there has been no looking back."

From there he went on to study hotel management and started out in the business at the Al Bustan Hotel in Lebanon. He later moved to Noura Est Pastry in Beirut where he had the chance to work with some of the best French chefs for about 10 years.

Through his career, he has had various opportunities to prepare meals for VIP guests and celebrities including Queen Rania of Jordan, Saudi King Abdullah's daughter, Jacques Chirac and various other presidents, prime ministers, heads of state as well as catering for VIP concert goers who turned out to see George Michael at a concert in France.

Chef Elias hopes to some day prepare pastries at a worldwide event with lots of celebrities in attendance to appreciate his efforts.

He said: "In the future I hope to retire in Lebanon where I would like to open my own pastry shop and with God's will, transfer it into a franchise."

Chef Elias mostly specialises in French pastries and bakery and can also be found in the cold kitchen occasionally.

He said: "My favourite cuisine has always been pastry with a preference for the bakery and ice cream sections.

"I feel a good dessert reflects a good combination in taste, texture and decoration."

Here he shares one of his favourite recipes with GulfWeekly readers.

Orange rice pudding with caramel cream

A Orange flavoured rice pudding:

Round rice 140g

Milk 550g

Sugar 120g

Orange peel 1

After rinsing, boil the rice in hot water for 10 minutes, then place in a saucepan with the milk, sugar, orange and vanilla.

Cook over low heat for 20 minutes.

B Orange flavoured custard cream:

Milk 200ml

Fresh cream 200ml

Orange peel 1

Egg yolk 100g

Sugar 110g

Bring cream, milk and peel to the boil. Separately beat the egg yolk with the sugar, add over the boiled items and cook again at 85 degrees Celsius. Strain through and cool quickly.

C Caramel cream:

Sugar 200g

Cream 140ml

Whipped cream 400ml

Caramelise the sugar, pour the liquid cream and after it cools down mix it with the whipped cream.

To serve: Mix the rice pudding with the orange cream and fill two thirds of the serving glasses, then add caramel cream to top and decorate with Isomalt sugar and chocolate.