Essential Cuisine advertorial: Chelsea Harbour Exec Chef talks stocks and sauces

Nestled on the banks of the Thames in a well-heeled part of West London sits the imposing Chelsea Harbour Hotel. Unique in the city for being one of only a handful of boltholes that offers its guests a suites-only service, the food offer throughout its brasserie restaurant and high end banqueting facilities, overseen by Executive Chef, Imi Kader, also has a reputation to dazzle. The self-taught South African landed on the London scene in 1999 and has been steadily building his craft at some of the capital’s finest outlets ever since. In 2012 he took over at the Chelsea Harbour, bringing with him one of his most trusted suppliers to help further enhance the establishment’s menus – Essential Cuisine. It’s the continuation of a successful seven year partnership between Imi and the British supplier of quality stocks, gravies, jus, glace and demi-glaces. One that sees him use the versatility of Essential Cuisine’s range to compliment and perfectly finish the wide variety of styles that he and his team of 22 chefs are called upon to cater for at any given time. His relationship with the Cheshire-based manufacturer is, according to Imi, “a marriage made in heaven,” and he enthuses when describing how Essential Cuisine products allow him to express himself and put his own stamp on dishes. One of Imi’s signature banqueting recipes is pan fried turbot with lobster claw and a lobster bisque, made using Essential Cuisine’s premium Lobster Glace. Imi says: “I want to add my name to a dish, so for the lobster bisque, I use the Lobster Glace, then add a bit of cream and some kaffir leaves – I take a base product, give it a twist, and it becomes an Imi product.” The same logic applies when the chef is creating a sumptuous trio of lamb using Essential Cuisine’s Premier Lamb Jus. “I take the base sauce, add some rosemary and thyme, then a bit of port to play with the sweetness, finishing it off with butter to help achieve that lovely, clear mirror effect you get with Essential Cuisine sauces. After that, you get the flavour, the colour and the aftertaste of ‘wow!’