Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,- : On December 8th, Liz Stevenson – Consultant Pastry Chef based in Dubai – was traveling to Riyadh and then to Jeddah to host pastry workshops for Chefs, Home Bakers and food influencers. The event took place at the House of Grill at the 5star Fairmont Hotel of the capital and at Multaqa fine dining Restaurant in Jeddah respectively on December 9th and 10th. Guests had the opportunity to participate to a workshop highlighting French Cream in pastries. The workshops were followed by an afternoon tea where participants had the chance to taste the Chocolate Mousse and the Pear Tart with Caramel, Smoked Vanilla and honey ganache on a sable Breton, the two recipes previously prepared in live by the Chef.
Speaking at the event, Liz Stevenson said: “European cream is the secret to enhance recipes and bring out the best flavours in pastries. EU and French cream is an essential ingredient and a staple product in kitchens around the world. There is a huge variety of technique to use it. With its superior quality and unique characteristics, I wouldn’t have used another cream for the pastries I prepared today.”
According to the latest research from CNIEL, the French Dairy Board, Saudi Arabia imported 12,921 tonnes of EU cream, totalling over SAR150 million in 2018 with 3,964 tonnes only for French cream. In addition to the KSA, several other countries in the Middle East have seen the popularity of European dairy exports increase in the last decade. The UAE imported 8,702 tonnes in 2018 with 3,533 tonnes for French only. While Kuwait and Lebanon have seen this value of EU cream imports in 2018 increase to SAR29.4 million and SAR44.7 respectively.