Chef Kaique Cherione Lima of FourPoints by Sheraton teaches Irfan Aziz how to cook with Brazilian style and finesse
Being a chef can be pretty tricky. With peoples’ palettes changing constantly, it is up to the chef to keep on reinventing what food the restaurants offer. This is even trickier in the hospitality sector where each hotel faces stiff competition in the quest for staying relevant. Kaique, however, takes on this challenge like a champ. The Brazilian born Executive Chef of Four Points by Sheraton is a craftsman of the highest order when it comes to the culinary arts and takes to any challenges like a duck to water. He invited us over to The Beast at Four Points to give us a sneak peek of his thought process as well as treat us to some exquisite Latin American delicacies.
“I love Latin American cuisine”, he exclaimed as he started preparing his dishes. “The thing that makes it so unique is that every country has its own story and I believe that food is all about stories. For instance, did you know that Peru has over 3000 different types of potatoes?” The wide selection of vegetables, spices, and fish greatly excites Kaique and he likes to add his own personal touch to every dish he prepares. At the core, Kaique is a very creative person and he explained how he prefers that his creations be prepared with whatever ingredients are available in front of him rather than going by the book. “Anyone can look up recipes online. I like to create at the moment”.
According to him, one needs to become a good cook before they can become a good chef and when asked about how to achieve that he smiled and replied, “All you need is knowledge about food, good ingredients, a working cooking pan and the courage to experiment”. And this is exactly how Kaique reached where he is today. He recalls experimenting with Corn Puree with picanha during a family cookout when he was fifteen. “It tasted horrible but I had found my passion for cooking so I held on to that and I never stopped experimenting”, he described. Even to this day, Kaique finds himself waking up at three in the morning with the urge to try something new!
Over the years Kaique has worked in some of the top establishments in the hospitality sector across countries including Brazil and the UAE. He really enjoys working in Bangladesh and had heaps of praises for the country and its people and expressed his desire to keep on introducing unique dishes to them. “I want to show that you can make good food with local ingredients. We revamped our entire menu a couple of months ago and we plan on introducing even more dishes from March”, Kaique stated. He also proudly pointed out how there are 12 dishes on their menu that are completely unique and cannot be found anywhere else in Dhaka. He treated us to Camaron ao Fogo Gran com Alho e Fios de Pimento Com Legumes de Grelha (Charcoal-grilled prawns), Pescado de Cioba ao Trio Puree (Red Snapper with three different puree and Jalapeno soup on bread, three South American specialties. But this was only a small preview of his skills and abilities. He plans on adding more Latin American dishes to the Four Points’ menu. “I am intrigued by Bangladeshis and their knack of traveling and exploring other cultures. So I want to introduce to them as many unique dishes as possible to show that it is also possible to bring other cultures to them”.
*Photographs by AL Rashed