Celebrated Saudi chefs participate in live cooking show

Two celebrated Saudi chefs wowed the audience by dishing out creative dishes and sharing expert tips for healthy and nutritional meals in one of Jeddah's biggest live cooking events organized by Knorr, a leading global food brand. The event, held at Red Sea Mall, was part of Knorr’s continuous efforts to introduce the latest innovations in the food and culinary sector in Saudi Arabia.
Both Chef Yousef Khumayes and Chef Hani Zain have been participants in the reality competition Top Chef Middle East. “This is my first live cooking show and I’m very excited to host more of these events. We have prepared French onion soup, steak with potatoes, salad with haloumi cheese and walnuts, and stuffed chicken with spinach and cream cheese,” said Chef Khumayes. “All of this has been prepared using Knorr All-In-One seasoning mix, which is a substitute for chicken stock cubes. The good thing about the mix is that it is completely natural with no preservative and it dilutes in the water ten times faster than the cube,” he added.
Commenting on the concept of a live cooking show, Khumayes said: “I have been doing this ever since I was 12 and I am totally in love with cooking and creating new dishes. I am looking forward to participate in more shows and programs that would put me out there and show people my cooking talent.” He revealed his plans to open a restaurant in Jeddah in the next three months.
Chef Zain is a rapper and owner of a Brazilian restaurant in Jeddah. “The Knorr pack is full of flavors and I’m totally in love with it. We choose this menu to make people see and compare the Knorr flavored pack with what they already use and show them how to be creative with ingredients and come up with an exquisite dish,” he said, while adding that he had done live cooking shows before and enjoys sharing ideas and tips with people.
Zain started his cooking career by traveling around the world and introducing himself to different tastes. “I love creating new and modern dishes from traditional well-known dishes. You will always find me trying to come up with new ways to upgrade a dish or twisting the ingredients to create another dish,” he said. “I will be soon opening a traditional Saudi Hijazi food restaurant in Jeddah; I will be using the same twisting concept and I’m sure people will love it,” he added.
The live cooking show aimed at telling people what all they can do with Knorr products, especially with a pack of Knorr All-In-One mix, said Rayan Hasanain, foods brand manager at Unilever Arabia. “This product enables you to innovate different types of recipes using the All-In-One mix, which is like two cubes of chicken stock, and making a tasty meal is guaranteed,” he said. “What is special about Knorr products is that they are made without any preservatives and are fresh and healthy,” he added.
Hasanain said involving people and showing them how easy and convenient it is to use Knorr products is the best way to market and promote their products.
The audience mostly comprised shoppers and visitors to the mall. “The show was very entertaining and I enjoyed learning the cooking tips. What I liked most about it is having Saudi chefs to participate in such events as they certainly know what we Saudis like to eat," said Um Abdullah, one of the attendees. “We need more of these events where we can have fun and learn something new. I loved how the chefs involved us in the cooking process by asking us questions and answering our questions,” she added.
Chef Khumayes and Chef Zain are now shooting a cooking program called Saudi Chefs that focuses on Saudi food. It will be aired during Ramadan on OSN Ya Hala.