Four chefs, one desert island: what do they cook in order to get home?

IT'S THE UAE capital's premier food festival and Taste of Abu Dhabi is looking to take it up a notch this weekend for it's fifth anniversary at the du Arena, Yas Island. Cooking challenges, master classes, live music, and culinary delights being served up from sixteen of Abu Dhabi's best restaurants, what more could you foodies ask for? Doors open from 4pm on Thursday, November 8, for an evening of international music celebrating the best of British with former Girls Aloud singer Nadine Coyle; Sarah Ikumu and tribute band The Bootleg Beatles. That's before we even get to the cooking. Chefs such as Gary Rhodes, Sanjeev Kapoor, Reza Mahammad, Jenny Morris, Eric Lanlard and Hattem Mattar will be hosting the Al Ain Farms & Kibsons cooking challenges or master classes at the Crate & Barrel Chefs' Theatre throughout the event, while restaurants including Coya, Abu Jad, Bouchon Bakery and Shang Palace will be showing their wares.
To get in the mood, we'd thought we'd ask four of the most effervescent celebrity chefs on the festival roster: Jenny Morris, Sanjeev Kapoor, Fathima Ahmed and Eric Lanlard a couple of questions to whet our appetite.
You're on a desert island. You (somehow!) have access to any five ingredients in order to concoct a meal you hope will convince a passing ship's crew to take you home. What are they and what do you cook?
Eric: My five ingredients would be chicken, fresh tarragon, cream, mustard and potatoes and I will make the French classic, Poulet a l'Estragon. My Mum was an amazing host and a brilliant cook. She was very good at cooking theses rustic dishes, which are uncomplicated and have a phenomenal aroma which will bring any sailors to my cookout and offer me a ride back home.
Jenny: Garlic, lemons, olive oil, chilies and soy sauce. I would catch whatever the sea has to offer, including seaweed, and make a delicious sushi/ ceviche seafood platter, dressed with my five ingredients. I'm sure I could seduce the ship's cook's taste buds with my fresh offering. I would be seduced!
Sanjeev: I would present them with a dish that unites all of India: Khichdi. It is the nation's comfort food and a staple diet made with dal (lentils) and rice as the basis. It needs minimal ingredients. It is consumed during celebrations. I am sure the ship's crew will feel loved and convinced to take me home.
Fathima: Garlic, pasta, tomato, salt and fresh basil - the ingredients for an amazing pasta pomodoro, the ultimate comfort food. It's a one pot meal and one of my most requested dishes by kids and adults.
If you HAD to go on holiday with another famous chef who would it be and where would you go?
Eric: I would go on holiday with Marco Pierre White. He has always been my food hero and I know he will take me to the best hidden places in France and Italy.
Jenny: It would be my good buddy Reza Mahammad. We would eat and cook our way across Asia. We have similar passions for Asian food and love the balance of flavours, textures and colours.
Sanjeev: I would probably travel with Australian chef Gary Mehigan because of his love for Indian food. We would have a lot discuss and learn from each other. And what better place to explore each other's culinary offerings than Abu Dhabi, a cultural melting pot?
Fathima: I'd probably go on holiday with Gordon Ramsay. He's extremely entertaining and adventurous, so I'd be keen to see not only what he'd be cooking but also what else he'd get up to! I'd probably go to South Africa, to see what he'd make of our local cuisine.
You're flying down to Abu Dhabi, what do you hope NOT to see on the in-flight meal menu?
Jenny: Offal! The only time I eat offal is when I cook it myself.
Sanjeev: I have been trained to appreciate and not criticise. When you are up 30,000 feet, you have to keep in mind techniques that help serving food where passengers do not experience any problems. Having said that, with today's technology, it is possible to serve five-star food in-flight!
How does it feel to be coming to Taste of Abu Dhabi?
Eric: I am a regular visitor to the capital with my work commitments. Each time I visit there is something new to try. Food festivals are great to learn about cooking or baking from your favourite chefs and to discover new places to eat, ingredients, equipment at the same time as having fun and eating well.
Jenny: I love Abu Dhabi and have been privileged to have opened the first Taste of Abu Dhabi show and have been a part of the show ever since. Food festivals connect people to new food trends and restaurants.
Sanjeev: Food festivals are a great place to attract food-lovers. A major responsibility for us chefs is to showcase to people, who take out time to attend them, the best of international cuisines. Cooking demonstrations help them experience various cultures through food. Taste of Abu Dhabi delivers this flawlessly every year!
Fathima: Food festivals are a great way to expand our food skills and knowledge as well as a good way to encourage the less adventurous amongst us to try new and exciting flavours since we can sample various dishes we wouldn't normally order.
Your ability to cook mysteriously vanishes, what do you do? What other hidden talent do you possess you reckon you could parlay into a career?
Eric: That would be a disaster, as from the tender age of five I made it my mission to become a patissier! I suppose I would move to something very creative, glamorous and in the luxury goods area. But maybe I should just retired and travel the world as that is my second passion after baking.  
Jenny: I would grow food. I'm passionate about my garden and grow herbs, fruit, flowers and vegetables. Oh, and I would try my hand at doing comedy shows.
Sanjeev: I would be an architect. I have always been very passionate about design. I also love spending my spare time playing my acoustic drum set!
Fathima: Well, I can't paint or sing or anything like that, so I guess I'll have to rely on my ability to be a great declutter-er (is that a word?) and organise and clean cupboards. It's a weird talent but I can do it pretty well.
Check out www.tasteabudhabi.com for info and tickets.
david@khaleejtimes.com 

• Food and Dining