Head Chef, Abdalla Ahmed El Shershaby

Abdalla and his team maintain the highest standards Bodysgallen is renowned for, retaining the coveted 3 AA Rosette award.

Born in Cairo, Abdalla joined the Bodysgallen team in 2009. Throughout the eleven years Abdalla has worked in Bodysgallen's AA 3 Rosettes’ environment gaining all the skills and knowledge of the Head Chefs under whom he has worked. We were delighted to congratulate Abdalla on his appointment as Head Chef in April 2020.

“Garden to Fork” – Q&A

 

Abdalla El Shershaby started as a pastry chef in Sharm El-Sheikh where he worked for 5 years. After spending a month in a seaside hotel in Llandudno, he joined the team at Bodysgallen Hall in July 2009 and progressed through the ranks under the guidance of Head Chef John Williams at the time and taking over as Head Chef in March 2020.

Q&A

How do you cater for people with allergies or intolerances (gluten, sesame, nuts) or preferences (vegan) – what practices are in place?

• We are very well practiced in accommodating every type of dietary requirement, with strict practices in place when preparing alternate dishes to avoid any cross contamination. There is also an allergen key on all dining room menus. It is of course much easier to prepare and cater for individual requirements if we are alerted to them in advance of the booking.

Why is eating fresh, seasonal food important to you as a chef and the hotels in particular (health, environment, supporting local business)?

• The fresher the better and whatever we cannot provide from our own estate is locally sourced to support local businesses and guarantees a consistent standard. We are lucky to have extensive grounds and gardens with the means to produce a lot of home grown produce. It is also nice for guests to walk the grounds and see the produce being grown, and then having it on their plate for dinner

For how long has fresh, home-grown seasonal produce been a staple of the menus you put together here?

• We have always had a certain amount of estate grown ingredients on the menu, but this has increased in the last 5 years or so. We use the harvested fruit and fields of wild garlic, and now have all types of produce from artichokes to kale and nasturtium flowers

Which meal or part of a meal (aperitif/starter/main/dessert/drinks) do you find lends itself especially well to the produce grown here?

• The summer produces an abundance of fresh fruit for all of the menus
• Estate grown ingredients are used for every service at the Hall, which can include…
  • Fresh fruit on the breakfast buffet including our own kiwi fruit, poached pears and also a fruit compote for yoghurt
  • The tomatoes that appear on the cooked breakfast
  • The relish and pickled cucumber included in some sandwiches
  • Afternoon tea meringue nests with fresh garden fruit
• We also make gooseberry and damson chutneys
• Meddler, fig, plum and Bodysgallen honey ice creams
• Cherry, red currant, black currant, elderflower, lemon and thyme sorbets
• Rhubarb features in many forms on menus, parfait, poached, sorbet and gel
• We use wild garlic for oil, mayonnaise and volute
• Baby leeks, fine beans, artichoke, kale
• Several types of beetroot

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