MANILA, Philippines - Who is the English-Middle Eastern chef who is known for exploring the gastronomical possibilities of Brazilian ingredients in his DOM restaurants?
Of mixed English and Middle Eastern parentage, he grew up in a rather modest household in Sao Paulo, Brazil. When he was young, his parents would take the family on trips to the Amazon jungle, spending months in these expeditions.
In his teens he formed a punk band, he boxed for a while, and worked as a DJ. In the late 1980s he went to Europe for music, but enrolled in a cooking school in the ‘90s so he could stay longer.
It turned out he had a real aptitude for cooking, and he realized he could never cook French food as well as a French chef, and Italian food as an Italian chef. But he had his understanding of Brazilian flavors and ingredients, so he went back to Brazil and cooked Brazilian food as no one had before.
In 2009, he made another contribution to Brazilian cuisine with the opening of Dalva a Dito, a premise that presents the concept of affective cuisine with genuine Brazilian soul, and reinforces his belief in the national ingredients and culture. It was a cuisine already known to Brazilians, but performed with technical rigor and standards of excellence.
His work has brought him around the world in numerous events for the Ritz Carlton and presented at gastronomical conferences. He has appeared on Mesa pra Dos and recently published an eponymous book on Briazilian gastronomy, a two-volume cookbook for recipes and documentary photographs featuring indigenous Brazilian ingredients.
Last week’s question: Who is the 20th century English modernist architect and town planner who opened doors for female architects in her country and was named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1996?
Answer: Dame Jane Drew
Winner: Arniel Tomas Espinosa of Cainta, Raizal
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