Starting in a small town in southern Germany, Executive chef of Kempinski Nile Hotel, Holger Jackisch has over 30 years experience in the culinary industry accrued from top international hotels in eight different countries Executive chef, Holger Jackisch has over 30 years experience in the culinary industry accrued from top international hotels in eight different countries. Holding several awards Holger has worked as executive chef at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel company LLC, executive chef at Jumeirah and executive sous chef at the Savoy Hotel, London. He holds a Masters degree from the Hotelfachschule Villingen Schwenningen. Starting in a small town in southern Germany Holger always knew cooking was his passion and was determined to make it his career.He has a positive attitude, energetic personality and a zeal for good, fresh food. What is your food specialty? I specialise in making fresh food. I know it's quite hard to develop and maintain, especially with kitchen equipment and food supplies, but definitely worth it and I won't do it any other way! From London to Dubai and also here in Egypt everything is made from scratch so its fresh and healthy, if it's not fresh we don't make it here. What is your favourite food? I love pasta and sea food. I can work on pasta for hours. I eat other things as well, but if you told me go to the kitchen and cook, I will go to my pasta station which I enjoy very much, and add pieces of fish or lamb. But everything must be fresh and tasty. Do you find it challenging finding all the food supplies you need in Egypt? In Egypt you have great fruit and vegetables, also great fish from the Red Sea or theMediterreansea, but we import the meat. What about the famous German bread? Being a European company of course we have our European bread, using all kind of ingredients from Egypt and also imported from Germany. We have a German baker and a very talented local baker always making all kinds of wonderful selections of bread using white flour, rye flour even making our own spicy mix and sour dough to guarantee a great taste. I can say we are the only hotel without a mixer. Everything is made by hand from scratch to reach our desired standard with our own Kempinski hotel bread. What's your guest's favourite dish? A lot of people will go for something grilled. I think it's not about what they want; it's about the freshness and the quality. It could be lamb, fish or chicken but it must be fresh and tasty, that's what they want. We don't have a menu, our concept is to serve what we have fresh in a lot of different ways to satisfy our guests and if we don't have what they want we let them know when it will be available and contact them. So it's all about freshness! As the executive chef of Kempinski Nile Hotel he will be leading the ‘taste force' with their respective culinary teams, planning and overseeing the operations of the hotel's dining outlets and special events. The cooking style at the Kempinski Nile Hotel is sophisticated simplicity. Chef Jackisch will work to elevate the dining experience for the hotel's guests.
