Executive Chef Michel Karam

I was totaly convinced it was really good when I saw the way he cooked, Executive Chef Michel Karam. He was truly loveable, a man with great dedication in creating his food. He maybe huge in persone but he was a soft spoken person when it came to conduct his cooking classes. Spoke with a great flare and a slight tongue twisted French accent. Nice.

Grilling Eggplant

I was there at The Epicure Malaysia 2011 to watch him cooking with such a flare. First assignment was to score the Moutabal, a Lebanese eggplant dip. The first execution was to flame the eggplant under the gas flame, grilling. It looked simple, once cooked, just peel the skin of and mashed it up. Once done then just add the other ingredients such as my favourite paste the Tahina (sesame paste). This dish is just taste delicious and not too difficult to make, just follow closely wuth the recipe listed below.

“Moutabal” Mashed Eggplant Dip

Moutabal The Recipe

Ingredients

3kg Fresh Eggplant
1kg Tahina (sesame paste)
70gm Salt
75gm Lemon Salt
600ml Iced Water
20gm Olive Oil

For garnish
10gm Pomegranate

Method
1. Grill the eggplant.
2. Peel the eggplant after grilling under running water and chop it to form a coarse mash.
3. Blend the tahina with salt, lemonsalt in a food processor while adding the iced water to form a paste.
4. Blend the grilled eggplant mash with the tahina paste.
5. Spread it on a platter and top it with olive oil.
6. Garnish with fresh pomegranate and parsley.

Now I just can’t wait to make my batch of Moutabal as I got my ingredient readily in my fridge and freezer waiting. I got a few more recipes waiting to be posted soon . . . . have a great day, Sidney Kan

Al-Amar
Pavilion Kuala Lumpur
Lot 6.10, Level 6
168, Jalan Bukit Bintang
55100 Kuala Lumpur
www.al-amar.com
Tel No: 03-2166 1011