Previous
Guest chef - Graycliff
Elijah Bowe at Grayclif
When he was still a young apprentice in the culinary arts, Elijah Bowe had a nightmare that changed his life. After a day of flipping burgers “and at least 600 hot dogs” at the old Jack Tar village on Grand Bahama, Bowe dreamt that a stampede of hamburgers and hot dogs were out to kill him.
“That’s when I decided to go to culinary school,” says Bowe. “I packed up my things and went to Nassau. That was the beginning of my journey to where I am right now.”
Where he is right now is executive chef at the elegant Graycliff Hotel and Restaurant, where he is responsible for meals in both the sumptuous dining room and the Humidor Restaurant.
His philosophy is not complicated: “We are not a big restaurant or hotel, so I try to make everyone feel special when they visit. I want them to feel like they stepped into … paradise. I’d like for them to say, ‘Wow! This is the highlight of our vacation.’”
With only 29 rooms and suites, a five-star restaurant, an enormous wine cellar and a world-renowned cigar factory, Graycliff caters to an affluent clientele.
At 43, Bowe has spent more than half his life as a chef. “As far back as I can remember, cooking is something I always wanted to do,” he says. “I come from a line of very good cooks. My grandmother had a very small restaurant. I grew up washing dishes there.”
Cooking with passion
“I cook with a lot of love and passion. I don’t do it because I have to or because it’s my job. I do it because I love it,” says Bowe. “When you cook, your food tastes the way you feel,” he explains.
In high school, Bowe says his teachers tried to turn him into a draftsman. After studying home economics for years, he was dropped from that class in the tenth grade–just before he was about to start actual cooking.
“I couldn’t believe it. They said I wasn’t serious. I said, ‘You have to be joking. I’m going to be a chef.’ They kicked me out of the culinary programme and made me take technical drawing. I still can’t draw to this day.”
While earning his degree at the Bahamas Hotel Training College, Bowe worked as an apprentice chef at Resorts International (now Atlantis) in a variety of roles, from garde manger (preparing cold food) to pastry chef.
Bowe also completed an internship at The Pump Room in Chicago and took a course in Cajun and Southern Cuisine at the John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University in Louisiana.
After graduating and working at the One&Only Ocean Club on Paradise Island, he became head chef at a bonefishing resort in Andros.
“That’s where I really learned to create dishes,” he says. “Resources were scarce, and I had to work with what I had. I learned to be creative, inventive.”
Bowe later worked at the Xanadu Beach Resort in Freeport as head chef at Passin’ Jacks restaurant in Nassau and then as executive chef at the Compass Point Resort in western New Providence. He joined Graycliff in 2001 as head chef at Humidor.
Now, as Graycliff’s executive chef, he tries “to show people that what we do in restaurants is really not as difficult as you think. It just requires a little more attention” than casual cooking at home.
“If you put a little bit of love and passion in what you’re cooking, you too could create a five-star meal,” he says. If you want to try, here are some of Bowe’s recipes at Graycliff, including a tasting plate of three “miniature teasers” for four diners.
Grilled scallops with roasted tamarillo
Large scallops
Salt, pepper, olive oil
2 tamarillos
Fresh thyme leaves
Slice tamarillo (or “tree tomatoes,” available in speciality food stores) in half lengthwise, season with olive oil, salt and pepper and thyme. Place on a baking sheet and roast at 375ºF for 20 mins, let cool and remove skin. Season scallops and grill for 2 mins on each side.
Sautéed garlic shrimp with tri-colour tortellini pesto
4 jumbo shrimps
3 cloves of garlic
2 oz butter
Squeeze of lemon juice
Salt and pepper
8 tortellini
2 tbs pesto sauce
Sauté garlic in butter for 2-3 mins. Add shrimp and let cook for 4-6 mins. Season lightly with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Set aside.
In a pot of salted, rapidly boiling water cook tortellini 4-6 mins. Drain and toss in pesto sauce.
Roasted Kurobuta pork with pearl onion and pear ragout
8 oz Kurobuta pork
8 pearl onions
1 clove garlic
1 Bosc pear, diced
4 oz red wine
1 tbs sugar
1 pinch cracked black pepper
Kosher salt
1 star anise
Sage leaves, finely chopped.
Season pork with salt, pepper and sage. Cook slowly in melted butter,5-7 mins on each side. Finish in oven at 275ºF for 20 mins and set aside in a separate pan. Add drippings from the pork over high heat. Add pearl onions and garlic. Sauté for 3 mins. Add red wine and sugar and reduce by half. Add diced pear. Cook on medium heat for 10-15 mins until syrupy. Slice pork and add sauce.
Here is a delicious entrée that should be “cooked with love and passion.”
Sage-infused salmon with smoked ratatouille
6-8 oz salmon fillet
Salt
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Paprika
Cracked black pepper
8 sage leaves
4 oz butter
2 tbs olive oil
Season salmon fillet lightly with spices. Heat olive oil in a non-stick pan until it begins to smoke and immediately add sage leaves. Add salmon, let cook for 5 mins. Turn and add butter. Let cook for 3 more mins. Set aside.
Smoked ratatouille
3 tsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, diced
1 small eggplant, peeled and cubed
2 tomatoes, chopped (seeds removed)
1 red, green and yellow pepper, diced
1 tsp tomato paste
Half-cup dry white wine
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
2 tsp chopped parsley
Handful of hickory wood chips
Place wood chips in smoker and light. Place onions, eggplant and chopped tomato, red, yellow and green pepper in smoke pan. Smoke for 20 mins and set aside.
In a heavy pan heat olive oil until it begins to smoke. Add garlic and sauté lightly. Add tomato paste. Stir for one minute. Add white wine and reduce mixture by half. Add smoked vegetables, herbs, parsley, salt, pepper. Cook for 20-30 mins on low heat, stirring frequently to prevent burning.
Arrange ratatouille and salmon on a plate.
--
GuestChef_Graycliff_DGJan11
Guest chef
Elijah Bowe at Graycliff
CONTACT INFORMATION
E-Mail: Click here
Internet: https://
Disclaimer:
Information in editorial and listings is subject to change at any time.