Pressbook Constance Festival Culinary 2024

5/23/24, 1:01 PM

Constance Festival Culinaire 2024: A Foodie's Paradise In Mauritius - Great British Chefs

The teams for the Régis Marcon trophy begin developing their dishes in the kitchen

Then began two full days spent in the kitchen, as the teams meticulously developed their dishes, experimenting with different ideas and getting to grips with the produce. One of the trickiest customers for all of the chefs proved to be the Mauritian speciality of taro leaves, which need to be cooked carefully and for a long of time before they're edible – when undercooked they can cause a slight burning sensation in the throat! ‘Rohit initially had this idea of making a roulade using the taro leaves,’ explains Rob, who during these two days was also having to prepare for The Deutz Trophy, a solo Champagne pairing competition that the Michelin-starred chefs were also taking part in. ‘We tried it out and realised that the taro leaves on the inside of the roulade weren’t cooking properly, so we had to scrap the idea and start again. That’s just part of the process though.’ Before the chefs knew it, the day of the competition was upon them and after a few fnal words of wisdom from Rob and his fellow chefs – he tells me that he was very specifc on how Rohit should manage the pass when plating up his eight portions – it was all down to Rohit and his competitors to prepare their dishes within a four-hour time window. Once the judging panel, which included Régis Marcon himself and last year’s winner Romuald Fassenet, were in place, the dishes began to arrive alongside a cacophony of banging drums, claps and celebratory squeals. It was immediately striking how much variety there was on show despite the core ingredients being the same in each dish; shrimps were served both raw and cooked, taro leaves puréed and infused into sauces and sea bass grilled and cooked sous-vide. Rob and Rohit’s fnal menu consisted of conft shrimp with spiced chickpeas, taro leaves, tamarind sauce and curry leaves,

https://www.greatbritishchefs.com/features/constance-culinaire-mauritius-2024

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