DUBAI: Chef Hamzeh Abu Elfoul, recently named culinary director at the JW Marriott Hotel Riyadh, has worked for numerous upmarket hotels, including Sheraton, Le Meridien, Crown Plaza, Hilton, Kempinski, Raffles and Fairmont. But it all began for him in his mother’s tiny kitchen in Amman.
“I grew up in a small home and — especially over the weekends — I spent most of my time with my mother in the kitchen. And my mum always cooked with love because she was cooking for her family,” Abu Elfoul tells Arab News. “So, I grew up with this romantic view of cooking. We need to cook with love. If you don’t love cooking, don’t cook. If you come to cooking looking at it as just a chore, it’s never going to work.”
(Supplied)
Here, Abu Elfoul discusses his favorite cuisines and how to deal with customers, and gives us his recipe for watermelon salad.
What one ingredient can instantly improve any dish?
Love. Cooking is about feeding people and cooking from the heart is the most important thing you can do as a chef.
(Supplied)
When you go out to eat, do you find yourself critiquing the food? What’s the most-common issue that you find in other restaurants?
I’ve noticed that some restaurants tend to overdo it when it comes to presentation and ingredients. Whenever the food is simple and basic, it hits closer to the heart; you can taste it more and it is more memorable. If you complicate a dish with too many ingredients, or garnishes et cetera, it may work sometimes, but it usually just gets in the way.
When you go out to eat, what’s your favorite cuisine to order?
I love food from the Levant and I love Indian kitchens, because these civilizations have a rich culinary history. And I love how they use so much spice and it is always cooked with love. From Indian food, honestly, my favorite is butter chicken; I could eat it every day, I would never say no. I also love the Indian chicken biriyani. I even learned to speak Hindi a little bit because I love the food so much!
(Supplied)
What’s your go-to dish if you have to cook something quickly at home?
I don’t even have to think about that one. It’s Qalayat Bandora (a dish of Jordanian and Palestinian origin). It’s the tastiest food I’ve ever had in my life and it’s the simplest food. It’s a tomato dish made with green chili, garlic, salt, and black pepper, and is usually eaten with bread.
What request/behavior by customers most annoys you?
This is what I believe as a chef and what I try to explain to my staff: We need to understand where our guests are coming from and what their expectations are and cater to their needs. Because, at the end of the day, we are here to serve them. The guests come here from their own cultures, with their own specific backgrounds and baggage. We are here for them. So, to answer the question: Nothing annoys me anymore.
The chef has worked for numerous upmarket hotels, including Sheraton, Le Meridien, Crown Plaza, Hilton, Kempinski, Raffles and Fairmont. (Supplied)
What is your favorite dish to cook?
Of course it has to be chicken maqluba (a popular Levant rice-based dish) with potato, eggplant and cauliflower. I love this dish. I still make it according to my mother’s recipe.
What’s the most difficult dish for you to get right?
Honestly, I don’t have any difficulty with any dish, because, in the kitchen, we work to a system. We’re like a beehive — one team all with good communication and training. With our team, there is nothing I can call difficult at all.
Chef Hamzeh’s watermelon salad
INGREDIENTS:
100g watermelon; 20g carrot; 10g avocado puree; 5g cucumber; 5g radish; 5g red radish; 10g endive hearts; 8g cherry tomato; 5g microgreens; 2g balsamic reduction; 800ml fresh orange juice; 20g ginger; 5g vanilla sticks; 200g olive oil; 10g Dijon mustard; Maldon salt and white pepper powder to taste
INSTRUCTIONS:
For the dressing: Mix the orange juice, ginger, vanilla sticks, mustard, salt and pepper in a blender. Gradually add the olive oil a little at a time, using a whisk to emulsify and thicken the liquid.
For the salad:
1. Cut the watermelon into a 2-inch by 1-inch cube and remove the seeds. Marinate in the orange and vanilla dressing.
2. Slice the cucumber long and roll it up. Slice the radish thin and soak in cold water. Cut the tomatoes in half and season with salt and pepper.
3. Place the marinated watermelon in the middle of the plate. Pipe the avocado puree on top and arrange the sliced vegetables (including the endives and microgreens) on top of the watermelon and avocado.
4. Drizzle with orange vanilla dressing and balsamic reduction.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Serve
