Four home recipes created by UAE residents are now available in select restaurants across the country following the close of Anchor Food Professionals’ Baked with Goodness competition.
Pesto and feta pizza
After receiving over a hundred entries, Anchor’ Food Professionals’ regional senior advisory chef, Manfred Kohlen, and the respective head chefs of the competition’s partner outlets evaluated the recipes, before adapting and perfecting four winners using Anchor’s all-natural dairy products.
The final winners include two cakes, a pizza and a pasta dish, all of which are available at Revo Café Mövenpick Hotel Ibn Battuta Gate, Sale Sucre Patisserie and The Pizza Company outlets in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. Both cakes are available now until 15 May, with the pizza and pasta dishes going on sale next week, which will be available until Eid.
“The volume and quality of entries received has been truly exceptional; separating the recipes during the judging process was extremely difficult but we looked for originality, adaptability and a basic synergy with current tastes and trends,” said Chef Manfred. “Our outlet partners in this competition believe the winning recipes will be extremely popular with customers because they align perfectly with a growing, society-wide preference for less processed and natural ingredients in meals and snacks.”
Jordanian Mais Al Mahsiri, a wife and mother-of-four based in Abu Dhabi, was chosen by Revo Café Mövenpick Hotel Ibn Battuta Gate for her flourless chocolate and coffee cake. Combining mousse and biscuit, Chef Manfred used Anchor butter and extra whipping cream to adapt Al Mahsiri’s creation, which is on sale now at the Mövenpick Hotel Ibn Battuta Gate café.
Coffee was a key ingredient in Sale Sucre Patisserie’s selection of a cream cheese coffee cake by Deborah Francisco from the Philippines. The recipe was adapted to include Anchor butter, Anchor extra whip whipping cream and Anchor soft cream cheese.
“It’s a strange and amazing feeling to have my recipe recognised by professional chefs – their improvements have my full approval,” said Francisco, who has won an overnight stay and brunch for a family-of-four at Mövenpick Hotel Ibn Battuta Gate, kitchen equipment gift vouchers and an exclusive culinary workshop at the Anchor Innovation Centre in Dubai.
Due to the high level of competition in the pizza and pasta categories, The Pizza Company opted for two winning recipes: pesto and feta pizza by Meghna Gupta, an Indian mother of two who teaches baking in Dubai, and creamy tuna and shrimp pasta by Roger Alair, who only moved to Dubai from the Philippines in March. Chef Manfred adapted both recipes by using Anchor extra yield cooking cream, Anchor butter, Anchor extra stretch mozzarella cheese, Anchor soft cream cheese and Anchor feta.
