In December last year, Qatar’s Merweb Central Doha appointed Maltese Steve Shaw as its new executive head chef.
Mr Shaw has ambitious plans for the Merweb, which, under the umbrella of a fit-for-purpose hotel, brand born and grown in Qatar, is bringing in a concept designed to meet the needs of business travellers through innovative technologies and tailor-made services adding a subtle flair of Qatari hospitality and heritage.
“My challenge here is to achieve a distinctive mark as a brand hotel in Doha, even though it is at the moment a difficult task, with many hotels being built,” he said in a recent interview.
“The challenges to work as an executive head chef in a five-star hotel in Doha are similar to those anywhere else. You need to keep up your status in delivering the best food, a great variety and, especially, keeping up the name of the hotel.”
Mr Shaw, 36, said that one of his main professional aims was to bring different things to different people. “People don’t want to eat the same food all the time,” he said. “When someone eats out, it’s an event they should enjoy; you should amuse your palate as well as yourself.”
Mr Shaw’s responsibilities include giving the Mezza9 Kitchen a Maltese touch.
Mezza9 is the hotel’s all-day dining outlet. Guests can enjoy a cosmopolitan blend of Japanese, Asian, Indian, Arabic, European and Mediterranean cuisines prepared at live cooking stations.
“I’m excited about being here because we have the latest high-tech kitchen equipment which some chefs just dream of getting and, most of all, working with an international team of chefs we can not only make and create a vast selection of food with different palates but also learn each other’s culture within their food,” said Mr Shaw.
“My greatest satisfaction is seeing patrons come back.
“Living in Qatar is a cultural shock. It’s quite different from our Mediterranean way. This is a country which has pretty strict cultural rules.
“But on the other hand, Qatar has its beauty and plenty of places to go to, especially the huge shopping malls and souks, where one can easily spend a whole day wandering.
“So I believe it’s only a matter of time until I get used to it all,” added Mr Shaw.
He first came into contact with cooking in his early years. He jogged his memory: “My mother is a great chef and I was always interested in what she was doing, especially when cooking cakes. I used to end up dipping all my fingers into her chocolate mixture and licking them clean one by one.”
Assuming he had some talent for cooking, he naturally decided to attend the Institute of Tourism Studies and didn’t hesitate to pick up culinary art as his major.
Upon graduating from ITS 18 years ago, he was lucky enough to get the opportunity to go on a three-month training in Manchester’s Hotel Piccadilly.
“After that I started to work as a commis at the Phoenicia, where I grew up, learned and drew my career thanks to Silvio Briffa, who I still find help in,” Mr Shaw recalled.
“From there, I had the opportunity to travel to Phuket, Thailand for a few months to train in vegetable and ice carving and Asian cuisine. Then I joined Hilton but did not last long as I embarked on another adventure, this time on the Orient Express cruiser in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), travelling to India and China. However, when the September 11 terrorist attacks struck, we were forced to return home.
“Thus I settled in Malta for a while, as a head chef at the Preluna, where I worked with the executive head chef Winston Mercieca for eight years. But I felt I needed something more, a better way of living – both financially and family wise – so together with my Filipina wife and son, I decided to go for another adventure and found the vacancy with Merweb through agencies which I had been working for previously,” he added.
Mr Shaw said that his brigade of 18 chefs, coming from various countries, have helped him to adjust to working in a kitchen with different cultures and ideas.
“It doesn’t matter where you go in the world,” he said. “In the hotel and restaurant business, people get together, talk about their work and what plans they have.”
Behind the chef
What were your favourite foods growing up?
I was much of a crusher, eating anything that came my way, apart from minestra (minestrone) which I still hate.
When did you decide you wanted to be a chef?
At 16, when I was still in secondary school, I started a part-time summer job as a kitchen helper, doing the washing up of dishes to peeling onions and potatoes.
Where and when did your career in food begin?
The real push came in Phuket, where I saw a number of expat chefs in action. There I said to myself that if they could do it so could I. I set a target to achieve this position or else quit the job. It had to be the hard way, but yes I have now achieved my goals.
If you hadn’t become a chef, what would you be?
I guess I would be in the military service. I love discipline. It always was a part of my life that I loved.
What are your favourite culinary weapons in the kitchen?
Salt and olive oil. I call them the spice of life, they make a whole difference to food.
What is your favourite secret ingredient?
My favourite ingredients are called love and simplicity. When food is made with love and simplicity you will produce the best masterpiece with attention to detail and taste. That’s what mum used to tell me. And I still follow her teachings. So there you are, my secret has been revealed…