Having previously worked with Michelin starred master chefs like Alain Ducasse at Plaza Athenée, French-born Yann Bernard Lejard is now executive chef for restaurant Glow in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
His dishes are exquisitely presented, taking inspiration from the ‘details of everyday life’ – as chef Yann himself describes it.
In light of Ramadan, which starts on Tuesday 9 July, Yann shares two of his recipes. The first is a dish namedChorba, a soup traditionally served during the Ramadan period, and the second,Saudi Lamb Kabsawhich is a typical Saudi dish, with Egyptian influences.
Also pictured below, a sweet chocolate and date dessert, with a raspberry syrup, known asvimto.
Chorba Bouillon
Serves 4
Ingredients
3l water
20g sliced lamb leg
18g onion
White pepper
1 laurel leaf
500ml milk
5g white oats
Method
Put all the ingredients for the chorba together without the milk and white oats and boil for one hour.
Warm the milk and the oats, whisking gently until it begins to thicken. At this point, add some of the chorba bouillon to get the consistency that you desire. Remove the lamb meat from the leg and cut in small cubes.
To finish
In a soup plate, pour in the chorba and the meat, sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve very hot
Modern Saudi Lamb Kabsa
Serves 4
Ingredients
2g olive oil
900g rack of lamb
30g Egyptian rice
18g onion
1.5g garlic
1g saffron
2g white pepper
1 cinnamon stick
2g nutmeg powder
3 cardamom pods
2 laurel leaves
10g peanuts
10g almonds
10 pine puts
10g raisins
10g parsley
Method
Cover the rice with water and let it rest for 2 hours.
In a pan, add the olive oil, onion, garlic and cook until the onion and garlic begins to colour.
Add the sliced rack of lamb and cook until slightly coloured. Then, add all the spices and cook slowly for 10 minutes without a cover.
Use some Chorba Bouillon (recipe featured) to cover the lamb and cook slowly for one hour.
Boil 2l of water, strain and clean the rice, let it dry for 10 minutes. Then, add the boiling water and cook for 10 minutes.
Strain the rice and keep it in a container.
Remove the lamb from the pot, reduce the liquid to a sauce with the saffron, then strain and keep.
Pour some of the sauce over the rice in a spiral, cover the rice and let it rest 10 minutes.
Mix the rice. You should have two different colours, one white and one yellow.
To finish
Place the rice on a plate, add some lamb, cover with rice again and finish with the lamb on the top, add the dry fruits, and sprinkle with nutmeg powder.
Serve with cucumber and yogurt, Tahina, and spicy tomato and chili sauce.