"And this, I think, is the key: whatever the motivations for wanting to change one's diet, for us, first and foremost, food has to be about pleasure." Greg Malouf
I only discovered the other day, in the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival Newsletter that Greg Malouf had died - back in September apparently. It was an article about the annual Good Food Awards, and he had been awarded the 2025 Legend Award - probably a belated acknowledgement of the massive contribution that he made to the Australian - indeed world - food world.
I'll skip over the main things that most people know about him - the first two making an appearance in that quote at the top of the page. "Whatever the motivations for wanting to change one's diet" - is a fairly direct reference to his lifetime of heart problems. Open heart surgery at the age of 21, and two subsequent heart transplants. I do not know of what he died but you would have to think it was his heart.
"For us" - is a direct reference to his ex-wife Lucy, who nevertheless has been his partner in writing all of his many cookbooks. Lucy herself, refers to their friendship in the introduction to their book Saha on the foods of Lebanon and Syria and how they have worked hard at it. This aspect of the Maloufs has particular resonance for me in the relationship of my older son and his long-time ex, but close friend with whom he shares their children. I think it probably speaks to the personality of Greg Malouf and Lucy too of course, that they have been able to continue in this way. I believe they were working on a book on the food of the Mahgreb - Northern Africa - the lands to the west of Egypt along the Mediterranean coast. Who knows if it was far advanced enough to be eventually published or not.
These are the gossip items I guess. What about the career? Again a brief outline. Born in Australia to Lebanese immigrants with no history of restaurateurs or chefs in the family, Greg neverthless grew up with wonderful Lebanese food cooked by his grandmother, aunt and mother. The lack of restaurant heritage matters, because he had to fight to be able to pursue a career as a chef but after a few years of trying to do the family thing, he eventually escaped into the food world. Overseas, and then back in Melbourne where he was chef at O'Connells in South Melbourne - a gastro pub that was one of the very first to serve Middle-Eastern food in new ways. We went there at least once, possibly twice and I remember being blown away by the experience. I always meant to get David to take me to his subsequent Melbourne restaurant Mo-Mo's, but alas it never happened. For after a few years he went to London where he became Head chef at the Petersham Nurseries Café where he obtained a Michelin star for the venue. Then came another major change of direction and two high-class hotel restaurants in Dubai, where he has lived since although he retired from being a chef a few years ago, and has been concentrating of consulting, guest appearances and writing books.
I have four of those books - Arabesque; Saha, Saraban and New Feast and I would love to find the ones I do not have. Curiously, although I love his books I have not made many recipes from them. Partly, I think, this might be because some of his recipes - particularly the earlier ones - contain ingredients that are not that easy to obtain. I know I have used them for some of the basic things - za'atar, harissa, tzatziki and I'm also pretty sure I have made the odd recipe here and there. And I have certainly enjoyed reading Lucy's descriptions of their trips to the Middle-East, although they have a touch of sadness about them as they were written before the, Iraqui Syrian and subsequent wars. Aleppo - now fundamentally destroyed, was described as a vibrant and beautiful place. I actually found a review of Saha which was somewhat critical because the author found that the food was not authentic enough. It might be good, but it wasn't real was the implied criticism. Somewhat churlish I thought, for Lucy, in her introductions to each section of recipes, which were travelogues that talked at lengthe of some of the traditional foods that they found along the way and the recipes that follow, are a delight. The recipes are sometimes completely traditional but often with personal refinements which make them a cut above the everyday.
So today I got my four books from the shelf and started flicking through them. Beginning with New Feast - a vegetarian cookbook, in which, in his introduction Greg Malouf writes:
"It's that word 'excess' that's always been the rub for me. With two heart transplants under my belt, I'm someone who relishes life, who is unashamedly greedy for all that's on offer - especially when it comes to my tummy. there's no escaping the fact that I love food - live for it, really. It's one of the main reasons I became a chef! But I had reached a point where 25kg overweight, facing fresh professional challenges in a new country with a difficult climate - I knew the moment had come to face up to reality. It was time for the feasting to stop! Or at the very least, it had to to be a different kind of feast."
It took me a while to flick through it, because I fell in love again with so many recipes. Not all of them are illustrated, but those that are are spellbindingly beautiful - photography by Alan Benson, styling by David Morgan - although I gather that Malouf himself is very dedicated to the plating of his dishes. And so I did not really get to look at the others. Another day perhaps.
Although as I was about to put Saha away I flicked it open to this gorgeous photograph of Syrian mountain bread with crushed mild chillies, spring onions and black cumin, the recipe for which you can find online via the link to a website called Lebanese Recipes'. Such a simple recipe although not something that you - well I at least - would not have thought to put together.
The thing about it is that it is so very Ottolenghi in a way, and yet Greg Malouf was spreading the word on Middle-Eastern food, in a very Ottolenghi way well before Ottolenghi burst on to the scene in 2002 in Notting Hill. He had restaurants, he wrote books, he even appeared on television - in MasterChef no less, and yet he has not really attained the heights that Ottolenghi has. Which is not to take away from Ottolenghi of course - he's a genius. Maybe it's just a question of marketing.
So I'm going to close with a selection of very inviting things from New Feast - some with recipes online, some not. In fact there are not as many recipes online as you might expect. First the three whose recipes I could not find: Middle-eastern pizzas; Spicy carrot pickle - which I think I have made; and Orange baklava cigars - which I am determined to make some time soon over the holiday season:
I am also going to make the rest sometime soon: White zucchini omelette with mint and melting gouda/Gourmet Traveller; Baby carrot tagine with yoghurt and honeyed pine nuts/The Independent; Pumpkin kibbeh stuffed with feta and spinach/The Independent; Fresh corn soup with rice, yoghurt and sizzling mint butter/Culture: the Word on Cheese; Pavlova 'flowers' with apple jelly, raspberries and vanilla labneh/Culture: the Word on Cheese - now if that's not a Christmas dessert I don't know what is; Butternut squash kibbeh with spinach and feta/The Guardian - next party?
Maybe that now that Greg Malouf has died he will get the popular fame that he deserves. The foodie community, of journalists, critics, publishers and chefs already acknowledge the major role he has played in popularising Middle-Eastern food - many of them published heartfelt condolences online - but the public are perhaps not so aware of the Godfather of Middle-Eastern food as he is known in the foodie community. Mind you I don't think I have ever seen any reference to him from Ottolenghi - but then he is British and Malouf is Australian - the British don't know a lot about Australian chefs I suspect.
So next time you are in an op shop see if you can find one of his books, buy it and have a go. I feel bad myself for not trying more of his dishes. So David which one shall I try?
Condolences to Lucy. A loss to the foodie world.
YEARS GONE BY
November 29
2023 - Nothing
2019 - Menus in cookbooks
2017 - Us and them
Well all the dishes look divine, so choosing one for you to cook from is too hard a task. Greg Malouf gone, It us an end of an era!