We didn’t know that there are more than 50 varieties of desserts and almost 60 kinds of salads in the Arab cuisine until me met chef Ali Alhaj. He tells Divya Kaushik about lesser-known delicacies from the Middle East
Chatting with chef Ali Alhaj can be an inspiring experience. You end up learning a lot on passion and perseverance. The Chef De Cuisine from Park Hyatt Dubai is at Hyatt Regency, introducing the lesser-known variety of the Arab cuisine. He has crafted a special menu with an extensive list of salads, starters, main course and desserts for the Arabesque food week at Café — the all day dining restaurant of the hotel. While he leads us to the food counter, some myths are broken mid way. “Everyone in the world knows about falafel, hummus, motabel and taboulleh but what is served is often not the traditional version. For example, falafel is mostly prepared with some additional spices and herbs and the added flavours end up taking over the flavour of the basic ingredient of the dish, that is chickpeas. At home, the falafel that we prepare is moist, has coarse texture due to chickpea mixture and very mild flavours of cumin. No spices are added to it,” he says. The salad counter is a veggie’s delight with a cold mezze spread of hummus, baba ghanoush, motabel, muhamarra, roasted red pepper dip, and beetroot moutabel. There is an interesting variety of breads placed along side. The chef says, “It is this variety of the Arab cuisine that the world is not aware of. We have a huge variety in mezze, over 50-60 kind of salads and more than 50 varieties in desserts. For instance, people mostly know baklawa to be a flaky pastry with the filling of pistachios. The stuffing can differ, it can be of dates, cashews as well, the shapes are different and the method of preparation also differs. The traditional dishes of different regions in the Middle East must be the same but the method of preparation and ingredients used vary from region to region depending on the availability of ingredients. I didn’t know that I will find rocket leaves here easily so in my menu I didn’t include one of the dips that you see here. It is thick curd mixed with rocket leaves and it is one of the traditional dishes back home.”
Chef Ali’s training in food started at home. His dad owned a small restaurant that used to sell falafel and shawarma in Syria. He was interested in cooking but didn’t pursue a course in hospitality “because being a chef was looked down upon almost 17 years ago.” He graduated from the Industrial Institute in Hama, Syria, in 1994 as a qualified electrician. It was during the time when he was completing his studies that he realised he wanted to be a chef and not an electrician. Through five years work experience during college vacations, chef Ali started to learn the culinary profession in restaurants and hotels in Syria and lebanon. “I worked in international cuisine but as I travelled in different parts of the region I realised that most chefs who created dishes from the Arab cuisine added popular ingredients to the traditional dishes or presented them in different style. Some had European influences too. For example, we do not use cream or herbs like dill in our dishes. So I researched more on our traditional Middle Eastern cuisine and since last eight years I have been promoting our authentic cuisine across the globe,” informs the chef.
He adds that Syrian cuisine is a diffusion of the cultures of civilisations that settled in Syria. “We were under the Turkish rule for over 300 years so we get most of our traditional dishes from there. like shawarma is Turkish. The stew also we have got from there but the Turkish like their stew thick and sometimes add cornflour to it, while we like it juicy. We use lamb and chicken cooked in ghee for most of our main course dishes,” he says.
The aroma of freshly grilled minced lamb kebabs and shish touk from the live station fills the space. Kebab halabi, a kebab served with a spicy tomato sauce, is very common in Syria and lebanon. Kebab halabi has around 26 varieties. These minced meat grilled kebabs are a must-try.
Even for the dessert section, the chef has crafted the menu in such a way that he can introduce the variety to his Indian guests. “I was in India three years ago for a Arabian food promotion in Pune. I realised how much people are in love with the cuisine, as it is healthy and has new flavours. This time my mission was to introduce the variety so that people know more about the authentic Arabian,” he ends.