Catherine Bell conducts Q&A with Greg Malouf about his new cookbook 'MALOUF'

By Catherine Bell - www.catherinebellnz.blogspot.com

Widely acclaimed as the master of modern Middle Eastern cooking, Greg Malouf is renowned around the world for his innovative food. These days he is the executive chef at Melbourne’s MoMo and consults to restaurants globally. He also visits NZ regularly for guest chef appearances and dinners. MALOUF is the 6th book he has co-authored with his former wife Lucy.


Q: Greg, this book is quite different to your others in that it doesn’t focus on just one country. Are the recipes drawn from your other books or are they new?

A: The new book is a compendium of recipes from all five previous ones, including 25 new dishes that have risen from the kitchens of MoMo. It really is an expression of my life’s culinary works.

Q: Is it intended for the same audience as your other books or designed to draw in new readers?

A: The book was published especially for anyone who loves to explore the flavours and techniques from Morocco to Iran. I do not considerate this to be a ‘best of’ cookbook as I haven’t yet reached my best!

Q: What is your favourite dish from this collection and why?

A: It’s almost impossible to pick out just one favourite recipe! If pushed, I’d nominate either the little Pigeon Bistayeea or Salmon Tarator (you’ll find this recipe at the end), as they are both great examples of what I try to do with my recipes, which is to express traditional ideas with contemporary flair.

Q: What is your favorite country/cuisine and why?

A: That’s a loaded question! Of course I have to say Lebanon because it’s a broad and influential cuisine – my cuisine – that has its origins in cultures that date back thousands of years.

Q: How important is travel to you and why?

A: Travel has defined who I am and how I approach cooking. Most of my work, whether it be menu writing, recipe development or cooking for the family connects with the journeys I have made through the Middle East

Q: What inspires you most in your quest to find new dishes?

A: Researching and capturing dishes from the past and expressing it in the best western tradition. I certainly have an agenda of wanting to bring Middle Eastern food out of the greasy falafel shops and smartening it up a bit: of making it fresher and less heavy-ponderous, and more appealing to a Western palate. In Arab cooking, there is a vast repertoire of flavours, textures and ideas that most Westerners know nothing about.

Q: How easy is it to find new dishes – how do you go about it?

A: My interest is in taking an idea (of an ingredient or dish) and making it my own; of taking traditional dishes (that are usually labour-intensive to prepare) and making them more accessible to everyday cooking in a fast-paced world.

Q: Do you then have to adapt these recipes to fit local ingredients and tastes?

A: In all food cultures adaptation is a necessity. Cheese makes that distinction as well as staples like flour and rice – they always differ from one country to the next. The importance when adapting is to maintain the integrity of the dishes and maintain a balance between tradition and the present.

Q: How big an influence was your family/childhood on your chosen career in food?

A: My family disapproved of my involvement with food as it was considered a laborious job, with no great future. But as a child, I was surrounded by a whole army of Lebanese woman, who nurtured me, chided me, fed me and instilled in me a great love for the food of their memories.

Q: What do you enjoy most – e.g. writing books, being involved with MoMo, researching dishes?

A: Working with young cooks, memories of my mothers cooking, dining with my new family, travelling with my former wife to create our books and of coarse Lebanese hospitality.

Q: Any new plans in the near future that I can tell people about?

A: Our next travel/cookbook is planned for 2013.....North Africa. Consultancy work in the Middle East. Expand my spice range. Hopefully more visits to New Zealand.

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