Meet chef Adnaan Shaikh and one easily warms up to his humble and warm nature which brims with professionalism. You’ll often find him perusing the desserts area in Seasonal Tastes and at Daily Treats, ensuring his creations are on their best display. But he’s no ordinary pastry chef; he’s made a name for himself through his clever baking sans eggs.
With vegetarianism and veganism becoming conscious lifestyle choices in Hyderabad and across the world, chef Adnaan wanted these to reflect at Westin’s patisserie.
Chef Adnaan formally trained at Mumbai’s Anjuman-I-Islam’s Institute of Hotel Management & Catering Technology and it shows he didn’t let his learning stop there. “I’m always innovating,” he nods, “because so many people look forward to the final round the meal which is the dessert and in Hyderabad, I’ve noticed many people have a sweet tooth.”
- Red velvet cake
- Old fashion cake
- Cookies; coconut and semolina, and peanut butter variants
- Coconut mousse and mango jelly entremet
He did his own research after coming to the city. He visited a couple of well-known bakeries which don’t use eggs and examined consumer patterns; what were they indulging in, where did their interests lie?
When a baked item is displayed as eggless, there’s usually a reaction of scepticism, scoffing or just outright rejection. There are notions of the food having an unimpressive texture and a hollow taste, but Chef Adnaan points out that needn’t be the case. “You have to be thoughtful about the alternatives,” says chef Adnaan.
Passion fruit desserts | Photo Credit: Divya Kala Bhavani
“It’s not that I don’t eat eggs,” he smilingly points out, “but at my previous hotel St Regis Mumbai, we were challenged with the notion of eggless baking. My team and I were taken aback but you’ve just got to get on with it. So through careful trial and research, we found alternatives in the Indian market which are easily available. These options include agar agar among many others. It’s not rocket science. But not all the treats here at the hotel are made without eggs. We still have to universally thoughtful.”
So what’s the ultimate mission here? “To make 60% of Westin’s treats egg-free,” he sums up. “I’m currently in the works of perfecting eggless macarons... and we’ll soon be introducing eggless croissants which were a hit at St Regis. People would often come to us for eggless croissants,” he recalls proudly.