UAE chefs taste sweet victory

Amass of 2,500 people wearing chef whites – hats and all – broke a Guinness World Record on Friday, while at the same time attempts were being made to break another record involving desserts – definitely one for the sweet toothed.

“Ask people where you get local Emirati food and they will send you to a Lebanese restaurant.” This is as much Uwe Micheel’s problem as it is his motivation for attempting this world record feat. As president of the Emirates Culinary Guild and director of kitchens at the Radisson Blu, the last two nights have been a restless few for Uwe, along with his wife Annette.

But if they were sleep deprived, you wouldn’t have been able to tell due to their energetic commitment in ushering folks in, handing out white uniforms and instructing everyone to write down their details so they can receive a participant certificate after the ‘big’ event.

As part of an initiative by the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing and Emirates Culinary Guild over the past few months, the duo have been busy organising a programme in an attempt to surpass an already set culinary milestone in the Guinness World Record books, while at the same time creating a brand new one.

Chefs preparing the traditional Emirati dessert during the record breaking event.

The event was held at Meydan racecourse from noon to evening on Friday with the grand culinary gathering being the first of many events to bring Emirati cuisine closer to the UAE residents, as well as commemorating the seventh accession of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

For the record, literally

In May last year 2,111 people dressed in white at Daejon, South Korea and set the record for the most people in chef’s clothing gathered in one place at one time. But, this year, thanks to Uwe and Annette’s dedication, this record was broken by the assembly of at least 2,500 people in white – eighty per cent of whom, according to Uwe, were chefs and their families, hotels workers as well as those in the service sector who wanted to feel part of an exercise less routine and more grandiose than staying at home on a Friday.

In comparison to last year’s record breaker, which Annette said was a hot and humid day, this year’s pleasant January afternoon made the victory even more sweet.

A swarm of popcorn on a lawn, if you care for that sort of imagery, is what the crowds in chef whites and hats emulated, all uniformly milling against that backdrop of Dubai’s Meydan racecourse. All it required was a deliberate blurring of vision.

Amid the buzz of the day, the scene was one of excitement with participants milling about, posing, taking pictures and socialising with others in the trade. “Chefs are like family, they stick together,” said Annette – a baker of divine cakes herself.

All the victorious 2,500 in chef whites had to do was stay in the stands for the essential five minute countdown to beat the record and as they eagerly waited for the final second to draw in, cheers rang out from the crowds as they performed variants of the Mexican wave.

People enjoying the traditional Emirati Luqaimat,

As for the second part of the record breaking attempts of the day at Meydan, Uwe and Annette were overseeing the baking of the largest amount of desserts in one place. And as velvety as a delicious cake frosting, the mega-bake went off smoothly.

But this is where Uwe’s gripe about authenticity comes in. He said he wants more people to know, feel and taste one of the Emiratis finest desserts – dumplings fried in sugar and rolled in a garnish of date syrup, topped with pretty much anything you wish including sesame seeds, desiccated coconut or chocolate. Or to those who may know it, Luqaimat.

The crowds, judging by talking to a handful of them, were thrilled to be a part of this “Reunion for all the chefs in the UAE” as Roderick Peridiguerra, executive chef at ADIFC – Abu Dhabi Inflight Catering Service said. Beaming from ear to ear, he was at the stands with his wife and three children; all dressed in white, all pleased to be there, all posing for pictures, all fans of Luqaimat.

The number game went like this: 25 organisations participated in the Luqaimat cook out, including 23 hotels, and the Dubai World Trade Centre, that alone, in just three days managed to produce, with only 15 pairs of chef hands, 20,000 Luqaimat, contributing majorly to bringing up the total to 73,055.

The jury is still out on whether this will indeed set the record, but as Kirsty Bennett, adjudicator for the Guinness World Records said, it looked promising.

There’s just that little matter of ascertaining, as per their criterion, whether the entry (the number of Luqaimats) was measurable (yes), whether it was significant (yes), and whether it can be judged on a world scale. Watch this space.

nivriti@khaleejtimes.com