This Mumbaikar brings his passion for seafood and molecular gastronomy to the kitchen.
With over 12 years of cooking experience, chef Angad is an asset to the five-star Sofitel Bahrain Zallaq Thalassa Sea & Spa, where he works as chef de cuisine.
Having studied at one of India’s well-known culinary schools, he was exposed to the UK market early in his career, and, coming from India’s coastal region, he has a passion for seafood.
Chef Angad believes in progressive cooking with strong basics and is a fan of experimental and molecular styles. As well as Tapas, he is responsible for French fine-dining eatery La Mer, where he has catered to events such as the Goût de France – a 15-course degustation menu that won rave reviews.
An eye for detail, exploration of food and a desire to take gastronomy to another level are among his key strengths and he says that, as a Mumbai boy, seafood is frequently on his mind and his post has given him the chance to explore local Middle Eastern seafood and different styles of cooking.
Chef Angad prides himself on consistency, customer satisfaction, adaptability and the ability to be part of a team. He is dedicated to training and developing his staff and hopes, one day, to take the reins as executive chef.
Here he shares two favourite recipes.
Tuna Tartare
Ingredients
• 50g tuna
• 40g water melon
• 5g lime zest
• 5ml lemon juice
• 10g sea salt
• 2g toasted sesame seeds
• 5g citrus cream
• 2g Sevruga caviar
• Micro herbs for garnish
• 2 pc orange segments
• 2 pc grapefruit segment
• 2 pc pomelo segments
• 4g black olives
• 5ml extra virgin olive oil
• 10g olive soil (made by drying the black olives)
Method
• Compress the water melon in a vacuum pack machine. Marinate water melon with lemon and orange zest. Finely dice the tuna, marinate with sea salt, lemon juice and olive oil. Toast sesame seeds in a hot pan.
• To assemble the dish, arrange compressed water melon on the plate, top with black olive soil and arrange the diced tuna.
• Add three to four drops of citrus cream, arrange Sevruga caviar and a few micro herbs on top of the tuna.
• Garnish with few pieces of grapefruit, orange and pomelo.
Seafood Freekeh Casserole:
Ingredients
• 30g sand lobster
• 10g clams
• 10g calamari
• 20g prawns
• 10g green peas
• 20g red mullet fillet
• 2g squid ink crisp
• 3g cucumber pickle
• 15g butter
• 100ml fish stock
• 60g freekeh
• 15g diced onion
• 3g micro herbs
• 10g diced tomato
• 10g baby carrot
• 10ml basil oil
Method
• Add butter and diced onion to a pan and cook till translucent; add freekeh and sautée for four to five minutes. Add fish stock and cook for a further 15 to 20 minutes, until it is almost cooked, and set aside.
• Prepared one fillet of red mullet by slitting the skin to open it up and season with salt, pepper and olive oil. Cook under a salamander or high-temperature grill.
• Top the red mullet with pickled diced cucumber.
• Peel and blanch baby carrots and shock in ice cold water to retain the colour.
• Heat butter in a pan and add diced lobster tail, calamari, prawns and green peas and cook till done. Season with salt and pepper.
• To assemble, place the seafood freekeh on the plate and top with red mullet fillet and pickled cucumber. Garnish with baby carrot, clams and micro herbs and squid ink crisp.
• The squid ink crisp is made with equal parts of cornflour, whole wheat flour, water, oil and squid ink, all poured on a hot surface to get the desired effect.
