Glorious Ibiza Food (& Music!)

Sid Shanti served a three-year apprenticeship at London’s Groucho Club while simultaneously studying the theory and practice of classical French cuisine at Westminster college, working his way up to chef de partie. After a trip to Goa in 1990, he decided to concentrate on a different kind of party, and became a DJ, becoming one of the world’s most prominent Goa Trance DJs. Sid spent the next eight years travelling the world, playing in top venues in every major city before first landing in Ibiza in 1998, on the recommendation of friend Howard Marks and on the invitation of Mike and Claire to play at their club Manumission, on of the biggest parties on the planet at that time.

After a year making the cosmopolitan crowd dance Sid reconnected with his passion for food and opened ‘Shanti Town’ on the roof terrace of Manumission Motel, feeding over a thousand clubbers every Monday using a barbecue made from an old bath! That time also saw Sid being asked to cater private villa parties, clients included Jade Jagger and Dan MacMillan and there were also corporate bookings with the likes of Vodaphone. Sid finally hung up his headphones in 2001 after headlining a five week, 35 date tour of Guangdong province in China.

2004 saw Sid open El Faraon, putting his own stamp on a restaurant that would prove hugely popular for the next three years before he sold it as a going concern and focused on his private catering concept. Since then Sid has fed a plethora of international celebrities including Jools and Jamie Oliver, Puff Daddy, Sir Tom Hunter, Sister Sledge, Mark and Margy Fenwick, Bryan Ferry, Skin, Peter Crouch, Christian Audigier, Kelly Hoppen, Thandie Newton and Oliver Parker, Ozwald Boateng, Bruce Parry, Dynamo, Chris Gorman OBE, Chuck Bone, Tracy “Cat Daddy” Mills and Jaime Winstone and for the last couple o f years he has been private chef for Pete Tong and wife Carolina.

May 30 in Atzaro sees Sid launch his much-anticipated book, combining his love of cooking and his musical knowledge, resulting in the truly unique ‘Glorious Ibiza Food (& Music)’. With tips on where to source local ingredients, testimonials from a range of celebrities and playlists to accompany your cooking sessions courtesy of some of the biggest names in the dance industry, this is no ordinary cook book. We caught up with Sid in Santa Gertrudis for a chat, to find out what we can expect from his latest creative concept…

How did you go from Manumission DJ to chef to the stars?
I studied and trained as a chef and then completed my apprenticeship in the early 1990’s before I decided to turn full time as a DJ. So cooking really is my primary passion. When I gave up DJing professionally around 2001 it was a natural progression to start cooking again. The stars not only love great food but they love a great story also and I guess my history and some luck helped me in many ways to deliver both these things!

I’m guessing that there are a few twists and turns along the way, can we read about it in your forthcoming cook book ‘Glorious Ibiza Food (& Music!)’?
There have been a few, that’s for sure and I’ve written about some of them in the book. However some things are better remembered and the memories enjoyed by those that were present at the time!

What can we expect from ‘Glorious Ibiza Food (& Music!)’?
The unexpected.

As well as recipes, you have included an insiders guide to sourcing the ingredients locally, how important is this to you?
As far as possible, local ingredients are essential wherever you are. They support the economy and obviously have less damaging environmental impacts. I felt it would be good to share my knowledge of produce and the providers of the island so anyone coming to visit or living here can have a reference on where to find the finest quality ingredients to use in their own cooking.
The recipes are just as useful and easily adaptable to use local produce from other countries.

The book combines two of your passions, music and cooking, how much symmetry is there between the two?
Music and food are as synonymous as turntables and records, Salt and pepper or Ibiza and good times.

The book includes lunch and dinner playlists compiled by some high profile Ibiza DJs that can be downloaded from the Internet, who has contributed and how did that hook up come about?
I have included a varied and comprehensive list of both local residents and big names and they have all contributed exclusive lists for my book. It seemed natural to combine both my passions together in the book let’s face it, music and food go together like sand and the Sahara so it wasn’t a tough decision! I used my contacts and friends in the music industry and all the artists loved the project and were very supportive of me and I’m indebted to them for that support.

You have included testimonials from many of the stars you have cooked for, what’s the strangest thing you have been asked to cook?
I was cooking dance floors for about 8 years!

How big an influence has the island been on your evolution as a chef?
The island has a huge influence on me: as a person, my character and so also my food. It has deconstructed the need to over produce and exaggerated my focus on the refined simpler things in life.

When and where will the book be available?
The book launch is confirmed for Thursday May 30 at Atzaro, Ibiza from 20.00hours. We have a great event organized for that, showcasing many facets of island life – all food and culinary custom related. We will also have many DJ’s playing who are featured in the book. From the 1st June the book will be available island wide including all book shops, many local shops, food shops, beach bars and the airport. It will be available online at www.sidshanti.com and also Amazon.

GLORIOUS IBIZA FOOD (&MUSIC!) LAUNCH ATZARO HOTEL THURSDAY MAY 30 FROM 20.00HRS