Macau: Masterchef Vitor Sobral brings his unique version of Portuguese cuisine

MGM Grand Macau showed off Portuguese masterchef Vitor Sobral at Rossio restaurant yesterday to local media as part of Wine and Gourmet Asia 2008.

This is also in conjunction with MGM's "Golden Harvest" Fall celebrations, an epicurean journey that ends on November 15. With a cooking style that fuses traditional Portuguese with a modern twist, Vitor uses the usual olive oil, wine, and aromatic herbs but delivers it with a contemporary flair, presenting dishes such as his signature, Skate fish confit in extra virgin olive oil with dried apricots and pistachio.

With this being his fourth visit to Macau, Vitor has nothing but praise for the local cuisine, although when asked to explain the difference between the Macanese and Portuguese styles, he breaks it down into three areas: for Portuguese cuisine, it's usually either family, modern and commercial. Yet Macanese food generally tends to come into the family category only.Asked where his inspiration comes from, a question asked of most chefs, Vitor responds with African countries like Angola, as well as others such as Brazil, Cape Verde and India, particularly Goa. Meanwhile, any Asian influence in his cooking generally tends to come from his experience with Macau. With more than 40 years of experience as a chef, Vitor has gathered a great many accolades including special gastronomy prizes and chef of the year awards.

That's not to say that his experience is confined to the kitchen, as masterchef Sobral is also a consultant for entities such as Grupo Casino do Estoril and Miele Portuguesa, as well as a faculty member of culinary arts at the Portuguese Cuisine Estoril Higher School of Hotels and Tourism, a post he's held since 2006.He's also been decorated by the President of the Republic, obtaining the level of Office of the Order of Prince Henry the Navigator in 2006.

He was also named world's best rice chef in 2006 at a competition organised by international food and wine society, Chaine des Rotisseurs.

Then there's his restaurant in Lisbon, Clube de Golfe Boavista, where he manages 12 other chefs, and the creation of business-class cuisine for TAP Air Portugal.

Of course, with any well-known chef these days, there are the expected cookbooks, of which Vitor has written two. Yet he acknowledges that none of it has been easy, that "a chef must expect difficulties in the first ten years of working" and that "you can't just become a chef because you want to become famous. You really need to work hard and cook well."

For Vitor, the next step is to promote Portuguese cuisine in other countries, to give it a chance to become well-known. He laughingly added that he would certainly accept if a position to work in Macau was ever offered!

MGM's Golden Harvest celebrations at Rossio include a diverse lunch and dinner menu including grilled tune with roasted sweet potato, mango, tomato and fig compote or cassava and ginger cake, lychee salad with rose petals. Or there's braised Iberian pork cheeks in Moscatel wine and sauteed spinach and cherries and prawn with  cassava and coconut milk and caviar.