In a report for Dubai POV, CNN meets celebrity chef Vineet Bhatia who reveals his latest sweet creation made for Ramadan and inspired by local ingredients.
Bhatia is one of Dubai’s most well-known chefs, with two restaurants in the city. He tells CNN about why he loves his job, “What I like the best about being a chef is that you can let your creative juices flow. You can cook what you feel like cooking. You can imagine food, think in your mind and then put it onto a plate. And eventually when you give it to a guest, you see that big smile. That is what makes a chef happy.”
Bhatia, who opened his first restaurant in Dubai in 2005, discusses the significance of using local produce,”It’s very important that the local culture is also embedded into our cuisine here.”
For Ramadan, Bhatia has been making camel milk tarts and he takes CNN to a camel farm to see where his ingredients come from,”To come here in a place like a farm and get to see the camels around you and to be able to feed them. You know there’s some kind of a bond or a connection you have. That connection I take it on and give it to my guests. And its all through food, it’s the love of food.”
The chef talks about the camel ranch and its importance to his recipes,”This farm they almost have 9000 livestock and they produce almost 5000 litres of camel milk every day. It’s phenomenal to have a product like this based in Dubai that you can use to create some wonderful dishes.”
Back in the kitchen, the camel milk is used to make the dessert and Bhatia describes why his special ingredient works so well, “I personally feel that camel milk is a lot healthier and it’s got very subtle flavours of its own and it gels very well with Indian desserts. So, its our little tribute to Ramadan.”
Watch now on CNN:https://edition.cnn.com/videos/tv/2021/04/21/dubai-chef-vineet-bhatia-camel-milk-spc-intl-.cnn