The beachside restaurant at Hilton Abu Dhabi welcomes guest chef Martha Williams from September 28 until October 6 with her special menu of Cape Malay cuisine.
Abu Dhabi, 17 September 2018: Celebrated chef Martha William will take over the kitchen at Vasco’s restaurant with the Cape Malay Food Festival.
Hilton Abu Dhabi welcomes all to enjoy the best of South African cuisine from September 28th until October 6th with a special menu that celebrates the culinary roots of the Cape Malay community.
The food festival at the nautical-themed beachside restaurant brings traditional recipes that have been passed on for generations in the multicultural city to the foodies in the Abu Dhabi.
Martha William, guest chef at Vasco’s, said: “Food is an incredibly important part of Cape Malay culture. Our food reaches into a rich history and our culinary traditions have travelled down foodways stretching around the world. This is what makes Vasco’s the perfect venue for people in Abu Dhabi to try out Cape Malay’s cuisine.”
Evolved from the 17th Century, these dishes are unique to the Western Cape of South Africa. With a cooking style that was built by constantly adapting to the influences of the times, Cape Malay’s food is often spicy and aromatic.
“Early Indian and Malay settlers in the Cape developed our creative, indigenous cuisine. The food is also tied to the small details in local lifestyles, the nuances of which I’m thrilled to introduce to our guests at Vasco’s,” Chef Martha said.
Known for creating authentic flavour-filled dishes, Martha’s favourite food to prepare reflects her Cape Malay heritage. This includes dishes like bobotie (a baked beef-mince dish using spices and topped with egg) and pickled fish (firm white fish typically pickled using curry spices), which appear on the special menu at Vasco’s.
The Cape Malay Food Festival menu starts with a snoek soup made with onions, flaked–smoked snoek fish and cream. Other soup options include butternut and ginger, carrot and cumin, and Cape Malay broth with seafood.
Chef Martha has opted for a selection of curries as the mains from vegetable, chicken and dal to lamb and prawn varieties. She has also included some of the oldest recorded recipes from South Africa like denningvleis (lamb flavoured with tamarind and spices) and tomato bredie (a sweet, fragrant lamb stew).
Vasco’s is open daily for lunch from noon until 3.30pm and for dinner from 7pm until 11pm.
For reservations, please call 02 692 4247.
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