Spanish chef's tasty tango with Cantonese food

In coastal Almeria in Spain, where Alejandro Sanchez hails from, seafood is a staple on any menu. That is why the new dishes he is offering at his tapas bar, Mesa 15, are unique, hearty seafood dishes - but with a local twist.

'I try to make our traditional recipes with produce we can find in Hong Kong. The fish and seafood here are different and we've been trying lots of different products here,' Sanchez said at a recent tasting event.

The results are surprising, with the chef creating often refreshing combinations. These include a sea urchin and aubergine scrambled egg dish, oyster ceviche with celery puree, and almonds, ajo blanco (cold soup) with wild tuna and fresh Israeli fig.

The chef, who comes to Hong Kong seven or eight times a year to spice up the menu, also brought local foodies a pigeon cannelloni dish. It looks a bit like a steamed rice roll - a signature Cantonese dish - but with mashed potato and tender pigeon meat inside, sprinkled with black truffle shavings.

'I love this kind of dumplings pasta. For me, it's better than Italian because it's thinner and softer, so you can make more special dishes with it. Normally in Almeria, we cook with dove, but [here] we don't have this kind of hunt animal so we made it with pigeon,' the Michelin-starred chef said.

'I use ideas from food I've tried in Hong Kong to create some of my dishes. Every time I come here, I have Chinese food - dim sum and lots of dumplings - and Thai food.'