HYDERABAD: Food in Hyderabad has always been the talk of every individual, be it a weekend or a holiday most of us would want to enjoy the time with friends and family, not to forget with some great food. In order to keep this spirit up, Prego, the signature Italian restaurant at Westin, Hyderabad has come up with a concept of a ‘Journey to the Mediterranean’ with Chef Alexandre Kerbouz.
The chef who is visiting the city for the very first time is waiting to share the magic of flavours with the guests who would love to be a part of this magical food journey starting from May 12 to May 21. We get in touch with the chef and know more about his passion towards food and the magic he would be creating on a plate at the restaurant.
On asking him about his journey and his love for food, Chef Alexandre shares, “I have been working in this industry for the past 27 years now. I started off when I was 14 years old. I started with stalls for more than 10 years, I worked in places like the USA, Canada, China, Mexico, Europe and Japan. When I started working in Japan, food started to inspire me. My food is Mediterranean but it has Japanese inspiration.”
Recounting on what has inspired him to be a chef he says, “It was completely by luck. One day I was playing football with one of my friends and he asked me to help me in the kitchen and that is how I started off and it started to inspire me. My specialty is to make fish and in this special festival I will be making salmon which is very special. I cook it in the oven and it tastes wonderful and I would say that this dish is my specialty.”
Mentioning about the menu he says, “I am going to cook special Mediterranean food some of which include Bourguignon which is a dish soaked in red wine. This is a really old French recipe. In France we cook everything in wine so we also have Salmone in Crasta, L’ham couscous and Risotto which is one of my biggest specialties because I have learnt this in Italy which was about 15 years ago and this is a very old recipe. Everyone makes it but no one knows the real risotto which I am going to make. If someone wants to try the real risotto they can come here and have it. It’s an a la carte menu, people can order whatever they want from the 6-7 course menu which include, appetizers, salad, soups, main course and desserts which will include both vegetarian and non-vegetarian.”
Working everywhere in India and now coming to Hyderabad for the very first time, he mentions, “I have worked all around in India and now this is my very first time. I don’t know anything about this city but I am aware about the specialty of the city which is biryani. I would be trying biryani and I would love to move around to get the best taste of food the city can offer.”