Season 3 - Episode 11 - Greg Malouf - The Godfather - Part 1!
Send us a textThis podcast is bought to you by Gulfood - https://www.gulfood.com and Meelz - https://meelz.meFor the last two episodes of this season, we are doing a two-part special on one of the most celebrated and highly decorated chefs of our time.He is known to most as the godfather of modern Middle Eastern cooking, the one and only Greg Malouf!http://gregmalouf.com His curiosity and thirst to learn the trade, have taken him all over the globe, along the way he has picked awards aft...
This podcast is bought to you by Gulfood - https://www.gulfood.com and Meelz - https://meelz.me
For the last two episodes of this season, we are doing a two-part special on one of the most celebrated and highly decorated chefs of our time.
He is known to most as the godfather of modern Middle Eastern cooking, the one and only Greg Malouf!
http://gregmalouf.com
His curiosity and thirst to learn the trade, have taken him all over the globe, along the way he has picked awards after awards, including a Michelin star and a James Beard award for his writting.
In the first episode, we start at the very beginning of what drove him to become a humble chef.
It all started with his appetite as a child, he always knew he wanted to cook, growing up in Melbourne Australia, in a Lebanese household, there was always a bounty of exotic ingredients.
Always having the desire to work in a professional kitchen, he was not keen to waste time, so he left to go and work in Sydney as a kitchen hand for a Mexican restaurant.
Then came back home, and he targeted a high end French restaurant, this gave him the opportunity to go and study in a culinary college studying one day a week, and to gain the experience he desired.
However, staying in his native country was never going to be enough, he wanted to experience first-hand European cuisine, so he packed his bags and went onto to work in Austria, Belgium, France, Italy. Picking up all of the culture and the languages, there was so much he to learn and experience, bearing in mind he was only 19 at the time.
After this, Hong Kong was calling, coming to learn another culture altogether, dumplings, soup, the street food, the crowds. The level of energy in that city is something that resonated with the young chef. He ran a western restaurant with a full Chinese brigade, Greg mentions fondly, that they managed him and not the other way around.
With so much professional experience at such a young age, it was inevitable that success would proceed. In the back of his mind he always wanted to cook Arabic food. The stage was set for the Chef to explore his talent, which gave way to his cooking style furthermore it was in a pub no less, to the point that it was one of the first pubs in Australia to receive a coveted Chef’s Hat, the equivalent of a Michelin star.
MOMO would be his next restaurant, one of the most famous in the dining scene at the time, this also led him to become an author, with his then wife - Lucy.
After doing everything possible in his native country, he then moved to London, as he wanted to have a bigger audience to fly the flag for Lebanese food. Petersham nurseries, would be his next project, another success, and this time retaining the Michelin star!
Quite a journey, but it didn't finish there.
In next week's show, we discuss all of his books, as well as his time in Dubai!
To see what he is doing, you can follow him on Instagram; https://www.instagram.com/gregmaloufchef
Thank you to our partners Gulfood and Meelz, make sure to click on their links at the very top of the page.
Until next time, food is memories!
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