TAREK MOURIES

Executive chef, Danat Al Ain Resort

My team would say I am an old school chef, who works in a military style, but who helps staff develop. I’m strict, but I learned to be from my own mistakes and my journey.

I have worked in the UAE almost 30 years and I’ve seen many changes and I miss the old authenticity. We’ve improved in terms of cuisines, but some chefs have gone too extreme. Sometimes I look a plate of food and say, “what is that?” Some people make food look like art, but where are we going? Is that what we really want?

Once, when eating out, I counted 245 peppercorns in a sauce on a piece of duck. I took them home and counted. The meat should be the centrepiece not the sauce.

One of my idols is Marco Pierre White. Again, it’s about cooking foundations and he’s very down to earth. I met him once in Abu Dhabi when he opened his restaurant.

I’ve eaten some strange foods over the years. I had horse in Switzerland, which was beautiful. I tried snake in Shanghai, and it tasted amazing – like frogs’ legs. It was very tender and a bit like eel. I’ve also eaten grasshopper.

When I’m not at work, I like to play squash, although I’ve not played recently as I’ve become a workaholic. But I also like to sit at home and read books about teamwork and leadership skills – it motivates me.

Danat Al Ain Resort, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi. Tel: (03) 7046000. Taxi: Danat Al Ain. alain.danathotels.com