Sweet surprise: Diabetic menu at hotel

With a head chef who's diabetic, as well as a country where a large percentage of the population suffers from this condition, it was but natural for the Millennium group of hotels to introduce a diabetic menu in all seven hotels across the UAE. "I was reading up on how many people in the UAE suffer from diabetes and brought it up with our executive chef Gus Moustakas, who admitted to battling the disease himself," says Michael Marshall, vice president sales and marketing, Millennium and Copthorn Hotels. Thus was born the idea of creating a specialised menu for diabetics. However, it wasn't until Abu Dhabi's Mafraq Hospital stepped in that, six months later, that dream of providing a full course meal to a diabetic client has been realised. "There are so many people who may want to eat out or, due to the nature of their jobs, have to eat out on a regular basis. But with very few restaurants providing diabetes-friendly food, dining out becomes a major problem," says Marshall. "To help that sector of the community, we decided to launch a menu that incorporates diabetic-friendly dishes under all the categories." Article continues below At the moment, each Millennium Hotel will have their all-day dining restaurant and room service menu serving special dishes such as garden sandwich made with wholegrain seed bread, Greek prawn kebabs, shrimp coriander soup and filet mignon minute steak. "Being diabetic myself I understand the restraints and obstacles diabetic patients face," says chef Gus. "The dishes on the diabetic menu aren't just for those who suffer from the disease. This is hearty food everyone should be encouraged to eat. No one really needs such high amounts of sugar or sodium in their meals. In moderation, everything's okay, but most people don't understand moderation," he says. While a fan of natural food colours on plates, the one thing Chef Gus tries to avoid is white: White rice, white potatoes, white pasta. Diabetic people need as little of white produce as possible, he says. As a result, his menu currently features more grains, vegetables and the use of American wild rice as opposed to regular white rice. Incorporated in the main menu, each diabetic-friendly dish will be marked with a blue circle on the side, and although made with specialised ingredients, will cost the same as the other dishes the hotel offers.