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Guest chef - Poop Deck West
DINING & ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE - JULY 2005
Guest chef - Poop Deck West
Chef Freddy at Poop Deck West
Flavour and something called "terroir" rule at Poop Deck West, the popular restaurant overlooking the beach near Sandyport in western New Providence. The food is a mix of down-home Bahamian, such as crack' conch, and delicious new Caribbean fusion creations, such as blackened mahi-mahi with passion fruit sauce, served on a savoury bed of mashed sweet potatoes.
Head chef Frederick Demers, 29, a French-Canadian who has made The Bahamas his home for the past nine years, defines terroir as the use of fresh local ingredients whenever possible. It?s one of the keys to his philosophy of food preparation.
Fresh, fresh, fresh
"Everything is fresh. I mean, not only our conch, grouper and snapper - nobody has fresher fish than Poop Deck - but everything else is fresh, vegetables, fruits, herbs and spices too. Bahamian produce has superb flavour, you know."
The emphasis is evident in Demers' signature salad, a fanciful concoction that uses organic greens delivered daily to the kitchen door. To these, Demers adds slices of Mahon, a soft cheese from Spain, walnuts, honey, champagne vinegar and mustard, among other things, to create an unforgettable taste.
Chef Freddy, as he is called at Poop Deck, learned cooking at his mother's knee in Montreal but it was French cuisine, he says, not traditional Quebecois fare. He learned to prepare all the classic sauces and main courses featuring Brome duck, rabbit and frogs' legs. There was a special emphasis on potato dishes "because that (the province of Quebec) is really potato country." Rice is something else. Demers says he really didn't "learn rice" until he got to The Bahamas.
Cooking & wanderlust
While still in his teens, Demers knew he wanted two things out of life, to be a top chef and to travel. So at 18, after working in several fast-food places around town, he enrolled in the highly regarded Institut de tourisme et d'hotellerie du Quebec, graduating in 1995. With his certificate, Demers worked at several upscale restaurants in cosmopolitan Montreal, finishing as a chef at the tres ritzy Ritz Carleton Hotel. This was all fun, but Demers was still hankering to get out of town.
An opportunity came in 1996 when Club Med called him up with an offer he couldn't refuse. Within a few days, now a full-fledged chef, Demers left his frozen homeland to whip up buffet meals for the semi-clad in sunny San Salvador, The Bahamas. And after a short time there, Club Med shifted him to their resort on Paradise Island.
Doctorate in flavour
Even before Kerzner International bought out the Paradise Island Club Med, Chef Freddy moved over to Kerzner's Atlantis complex, beginning as a chef at the upscale Bahamian Club in 1999. Later, he worked every one of the many restaurants at Atlantis, ending up at Dune, the world-famous restaurant overlooking the beach at the One&Only Ocean Club on Paradise Island.
There, Demers worked with the legendary Jean-Georges Vongerichten, a chef for whom Demers has great respect: "Jean-Georges is simply amazing with food," he says. Asked to identify the most important thing he learned at Dune, Demers quickly replies "flavour."
The admiration must have been mutual. Vongerichten gave Demers great latitude in creating off-the-menu specials. "He was very good that way," Demers says, "he enjoyed working with sous chefs who are really into cooking." Demers definitely qualifies as one of those.
During this time the young chef travelled frequently to the United States, to work short stints - a couple of days at a time - at all of Vongerichten's many restaurants, including Jo Jo, Jean-Georges, Lipstick Cafe and Vong in New York. "It's good to be here in the beautiful Bahamas," he says, "but it's good to go away too, to learn new things and bring back new ideas."
The urge to travel is now on indefinite hold, says the chef. Not only is he enjoying himself in the kitchen, he has a five-year-old Bahamian daughter, Shanrika, to look after; another good reason to call The Bahamas home.
Here are a few of Chef Freddy's favourite recipes.
Blackened mahi-mahi with passion fruit sauce and sweet potato mash
(serves one)
8-oz portion of fresh mahi-mahi
2 sweet potatoes
5-10 passion fruits (depending on size)
Blackening seasoning
Handful of fresh spinach
Ground nutmeg
Butter
1 slice of pineapple
2 tbsp sugar
1 cinnamon stick
Mahi-mahi
Season with blackened seasoning and sear in a hot pan, about 2 mins on each side. (Do not overcook. Fresh mahi-mahi, like tuna, should be eaten rare or medium rare.)
Passion fruit sauce
Cut passion fruits in half, spoon out the seeds and blend with a bit of water. When smooth, place in a pan with sugar, cinnamon and a little butter. Reduce over medium heat to the consistency of a sauce.
Sweet potato mash
Bake potato, skin on, until done (about 35 mins at 350 degrees F). Peel and crush with a fork, adding a little butter, salt and nutmeg.
Pineapple and spinach
Sprinkle pineapple slice with sugar and roast until caramelized and golden brown. At the same time, saute spinach in a pan with a little olive oil.
To serve
Place sweet potato mash in the bottom of a deep plate and cover with sauteed spinach; place the seared mahi-mahi on top and finish with passion fruit sauce.
Signature salad with honey champagne vinaigrette
(serves one)
Handful of organic mixed greens
2 cherry tomatoes
6 slices Mahon cheese, very thin
1 roasted walnut
1 segment of grapefruit
4 marinated shrimps
1 cup walnut oil
2 tbsp honey
1/2 tbsp minced shallots
2 tbsp grainy Dijon mustard
6 tbsp champagne vinegar
Salt and cayenne pepper to taste
Vinaigrette
In a small bowl, mix honey, shallots, mustard and vinegar. Add oil slowly and stir to create an emulsion. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Salad
Wash and drain mixed greens, place on a plate. Grill marinated shrimp. Cut tomatoes in half and place around greens. Add walnut, grapefruit, cheese and shrimps. Drizzle with vinaigrette and serve.
Pineapple explosion with coconut ice cream
(serves one)
1 fresh golden pineapple
1 tbsp grated roasted coconut
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
Coconut ice cream
Caramel
In a pot, combine sugars and water and cook until the mixture begins to caramelize. Add heavy cream.
Pineapple
Cut whole pineapple in quarters and remove core using a curved knife. Remove fruit from skin and grill for 1 min on each side. Cut pineapple into wedges and return to the skin.
To serve
Drizzle caramel over the pineapple, sprinkle with roasted coconut flakes and serve with coconut ice cream.
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