A pioneering champion of the organic and sustainable produce movement in the UAE, Chef Didier Gusching, Executive Chef at Kempinski Hotel Ajman, delivered a guest lecture on ‘Sourcing Local Arabic Product: Does Anything Worthwhile Actually Grow Here?’ as part of the The Gourmet Abu Dhabi Industry Forum – Arabian Hospitality in Abu Dhabi, held at the Armed Forces Officers Club and Hotel on February 16. Chef Gusching was joined by Tom Norberg, Executive MBA 2011, London Business School and also with the cooperation of Etienne Harro, Director of Pierre Cagnaire restaurant IHG Dubai. Norberg and Harro are very passionate and also known as leaders in the area of the organic and sustainable produce movement in the UAE.
Already well known in the pro-organic community for his work at the Jebel Ali Golf Resort and Spa – where he pioneered the ‘Magic garden’ project to grow herbs and garden vegetables to meet the hotel’s fresh produce needs – Chef Gusching has brought his indomitable and infectious spirit to Kempinski Hotel Ajman, where he has begun his second project – the K-Bio Garden – and is currently also pursuing a sustainable and organic food concept at the hotel’s Beach Comber restaurant, utilising locally grown and sourced products.
“The common belief that there is no local production in this region is wrong. The true challenges that operators are facing are to find local products of consistent quality, in sufficient quantity with a proper chain of supply,” said Chef Didier during his recent lecture. “The environmental and cost impacts of foreign imports are substantial. With the increasing debate on carbon footprints, this is currently a subject of strong interest. All around the region, some operators are trying to change the current situation like Six Senses, Baker and Spice, or myself when I created the “Magic Garden” in Dubai and with my current work at the Kempinski Hotel in Ajman,” added Chef Didier.
The K-Bio Garden aims to replicate Chef Didier’s success with the Magic Garden project while the Beach Comber Restaurant’s new sustainable menu offerings aim to highlight locally grown and sourced ingredients, and showcase regionally unique flavours of vegetables and fish and quality local produce.
“Our guests want to pay for basil that tastes like basil, tomatoes that are ripe and tasty. The region, relying mostly on import, has accepted a system where purchasing departments dominate the food supply rather than the chefs and this is not a healthy practice for our consumers. This approach drives quality down. This is the true importance of local produces – they offer a fairly cheap alternative of high quality in order to keep costs in line without affecting the final result, producing dishes that taste what they should taste like!” said Chef Didier.
Chef Didier concluded that assistance from government agencies to local organic producers, and more hotels and restaurants getting staff, management and even guests involved in efforts such as the K-Bio Garden will help instigate the change needed in the UAE’s F&B industry towards greater acceptance and utilization of organic and sustainable produce.