Many pubs use Asian fusion cuisine or specialise in serving great Indian, Thai and Chinese dishes.
Matthew Curmi
Matthew Curmi
Position: Sous chefPub: Rising Sun Thai Tavern, Poole, DorsetContact number: 01202 771246Dish: Fresh pasta ravioli with a creamy aromatic duck filling and Thai pestoClick here to see the recipe
Cost of ingredients: £2.75Menu Price: £7.50GP: 63%Background: Eastern cuisine category winner Matthew Curmi has travelled the world as a chef and found himself back in Britain working in a Thai pub with a Dutch owner.
He describes the Rising Sun Tavern's offering as "Thai fusion food" and his winning dish is one of his favourite combinations: Thai/Italian fusion.
Some of the other dishes on the Thai menu at the pub include green Thai curry, fillet steak on pak choi, and snapper fillet in a red curry basil sauce.
"I love working with the fresh ingredients of Thai cuisine and think it's a great method of cooking because it's fast, with all the woks," says Matthew. "There are a lot of Thai restaurants in our area, so we wanted to do fusion food for the British palate."
Matthew has been a chef for five years and spent time working under a German chef in Spain, in a Mexican restaurant in Arizona and in a French bistro in Maine in the US.
"I'm keen on cooking. In fact, it has become a bit of an obsession. Asian fusion food is particularly great because you always get to see things you're not expecting," he says.
Judges' comments:
"The pesto was good - nice and fresh. It was a nice touch to put the chilli in it, it really came through."
"He was an organised, clean worker and had good technique - his pasta was great. The Italian/Asian fusion works really well."
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