Chef of the Week: Mohammed Samad, Executive Chef at nhow London
How long have you worked at your current restaurant?
I have been working at nhow London for just over a year and a half.
Where did your passion for cooking come from and where did you learn your skills?
From my maternal family, where everyone was a foodie and were very passionate cooks. The attention to details and specifics come from my mother, who would spend hours to achieve perfection in a dish.
What do you enjoy most about being a chef?
The ability to create something that can make people happy and bring them together, and seeing the joy on someone’s face when they are enjoying your dishes.
Name three ingredients you couldn’t cook without.
Passion, perseverance and pursuit of knowledge/skill. These are the absolute ingredients to be a good chef. I also love using garlic, lemon & fresh herbs in my dishes.
Which piece of kitchen equipment couldn’t you live without?
My chefs knife and a tasting spoon. One helps me hone my skills and the other helps me refine my palate.
What food trends are you spotting at the moment?
Food as medicine looks to be the new trend. Functional and mindful eating with health and wellness in focus. Food that supports overall wellbeing, high protein and high fibre diets with low carb, low sugar and low calorie options. Plant based diets and sustainable food sources are areas that have growing interest.
What do you think is a common mistake that lets chefs down?
Overcomplication in dishes, time management and working on your own palate to understand ingredients and flavours are common flaws in our fraternity.
What is your favourite time of year for food, and why?
It has to be summer here in the UK, simply because of the abundance of fresh, colourful and vibrant ingredients that are available. With such abundance of fresh seasonal produce, it feels like the ultimate celebration of food with outdoor barbecues and picnics being my favourite. This is the time when I can bring out my charcoal fired SIGRI (stove) to cook the smoky curries, kebabs & Dum Biryani.
Which of your dishes are you most proud of?
I am quite adept at different cuisines, but my most favourite would be salmon mosaic with a celeriac remoulade and dill-horseradish emulsion. Also, spiced duck breast with nam-jim veg & confit duck leg bon-bon. Being originally from India I am also quite pleased with Dum Biryani as I have introduced them in every single hotel that I have worked in and never heard anyone not enjoying it.
How do you come up with new dishes?
The inspiration always comes from the seasonal ingredients, the occasion and the location where I am cooking.
Who was your greatest influence?
I would say my mother, as it was her delightful food that refined my palate towards fine cuisine and my dad who would take us out regularly to restaurants and street food markets in Mumbai. No Sunday was complete without a meal outside.
Tell us three chefs you admire.
- Chef Dr. Zubin D’Souza – Dean – Culinary – Indian School of Hospitality, Gurugram, India
- Chef John Williams – The Ritz
- Chef Adam Byatt – Trinity & Browns Hotel
What is your favourite cookbook?
I absolutely love the ART CULINAIRE that I have subscribed to. It’s a quarterly magazine so you get 4 in a year. I also love my Professional Chef from CIA and The Ritz London cookbook.
Who do you think are the chefs to watch over the next few months?
- Adejoke Bakare – Chishuru, London
- Michael O’Hare – The Man Behind the Curtain, Leeds
- Jack Bond – The Cottage in the Wood, Keswick
- Chet Sharma – BIBI, London
What’s been your favourite new restaurant opening of the last year?
Anglothai in Seymour place, London and Tamila in Clapham.
