When Oriental cuisine mixed with the Hilton’s ambience

Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, is a popular destination for residents of the Federal Capital Territory and visitors alike, for several reasons. The five-star hotel is known to host art exhibitions, entertainment events and many cultural and tourism events, among others.
 In recent times, the hotel has also been making its mark in the food industry, while also creating opportunities, especially with its annual ‘Hilton Kitchen Apprentice,’ a competitive cooking project which focuses on preparing people with the necessary skills to be committed, talented and qualified chefs. 
 Where fine dining and buffet in Abuja could sometimes be a herculean task with locating the right spot, the hotel has, with its rebranded Oriental Restaurant, been serving a variety of menus from the Orient. These include among others, prawns, tofu, noodles, Mongolian rice, curry, chicken, fried rice and seafood.
 For Sous chef, Jeff Umuteme, when cooking foods from different regions, exploring is the way to go.
  Enthused Umuteme, “You can never get bored as a chef because by the time you get all your ingredients together and marry them, you are happy with the outcome. This keeps you exploring. For instance, in China, you have different regions with different dishes, and we cater to people from these places or people who like food from there.”
  The chef, who has been working in the hotel for eight years and has received training from four different Chinese chefs, explained the most tedious part of preparing meals for oriental cuisine. “The marinating and cutting are most difficult. You have to cut it to shape because you don’t just get it out like that. Take prawns, for instance; they have their own style of cooking and also cutting. There has to be balance when you present the food. The taste is not the only thing you must get right, the presentation matters a lot as well,” he said.
 On satisfying the different palates the hotel caters to, he said: “Once in a while you find some customers who say they want a particular ingredient in their food. Though you tell them these ingredients are from a particular part of the world, they tell you to get it from Singapore or China. Those are some of the most difficult aspects in the business,” he said, laughing.
  Umuteme added that he, however, balances the tastes based on recipes. “We have recipe that we follow. There is a recipe card where we have specified measures of ingredients that should go with a particular dish.
 “And regardless whether I’m there or not, anybody can cook it, following the instructions on the recipe card,” he explained.
 With the restaurant wearing a new look of traditional Chinese interior decor of red lanterns, giant vases and traditional Asian instrumental music accompanying the food, a highlight for many who visit are the fortune cookies after they have enjoyed the well-served meal. Some, in a rush to read the inspirational messages buried in them, start munching away at them even before they place their orders.
 “This is one of the new excitements for me with the place now redone, aside knowing that I can come here for a good oriental delight,” said Peace Emezue, a fitness expert who considers oriental food as one of the healthiest to indulge in.