For the past two years, we at the Four Seasons (HK) have had the luck to welcome chef Mohammad Helal, from our sister property in Damascus, Syria. He heads up the restaurant Al-Halabi, which is considered one of the best of its kind in the Middle East. Chef Mohammad stayed with us for 10 days during which we served his cuisine at our Lobby Lounge as a three course meal for dinner time. Throughout his stay, Chef Mohammad showed us what Syrian food was all about. 

The Real Deal

What chef Mohammad successfully did was not only have our guests raving about his cooking, but he certainly erased any hesitation I had towards Middle Eastern desserts. I guess it is pretty much like any type of food; the very first time you try it, if someone tells you this is it, then this is what your perception of that particular food becomes. Seriously, I thought I had tried authentic Middle Eastern sweets before, and had found them to be over-sweet. But now I know that I didn't know about real Middle Eastern desserts.

Chef Mohammad, who barely speaks English, connected with us from day one, there was no need to talk, he just showed us food and we loved it! The least to say is that Syrian food, the close cousin of Lebanese food, is not much about presentation. And that is perfectly fine as if it would have been any different, it wouldn't have been authentic, would it? It was practically an instant mutual understanding boosted by chef Mohammad's larger-than-life friendly attitude. 

Instinctive Cooking

Like many century-old ethnic cuisines, quantities in recipes are not written - they call for a sense of touch, of taste, of feelings. To watch chef Mohammad preparing his food is an intense moment of authenticity. Witnessing someone who can make you eat a salad of parsley bathing in olive oil and lemon juice or even just thickened milk with rose petal jam and make you go WOW, is quite unusual for me. 

Several months ago, a local Hong Kong food magazine published a review on rose petal jams. To my taste, they were all on an echelon of commercial failure, boosted with artificial flavouring and supported by a life-line of strawberry jam. When chef Mohammad brought out his homemade rose petal jam, I grabbed a spoon and smiled away with my preconceived ideas, but there I was, yet again, astonished by his jam! As simple as it seems, Damascus Rose petals (only this type are used), sugar and lemon, yet, each pot of jam ends up intensely packed with quality cooked rose petals bursting with flavour. Quite impressive I'd say. 

Along with his menu, chef Mohammad also brought along blends of spices and chilli-tomato paste for us to prepare a special bread basket for the occasion. We did a sort of pita bread topped with sesame and another kind of bread resembling a pizza with the aforesaid chilli paste and spices. Our basket wasn't complete without the traditional lavosh and bread sticks nicely brushed with spiced olive oil.

Most of the desserts we did were made from kunafah, semolina, kishta and ghee. Orange blossom, rose water and the ever present pistachios were the main flavours. One of the most popular was Nabulsiya Kunafah, a dessert made of shredded wheat phyllo pastry that is gently baked fully soaked in ghee at 150°C. In between the two layers of kunafah we fill a layer of mozzarella cheese mixed with kishta. Kishta is obtained by baking milk and milk powder at a very low heat for several hours until it thickens. The mozzarella was an alternative to the Nabulsi cheese that is usually used to prepare this delicacy. Once golden brown, the extra ghee is poured away and we drizzle the tart with sugar syrup (just enough, not bathing in syrup...) flavoured with rose water and orange blossom. We then put it back in the oven to make the syrup well soaked and it's ready to serve. On that day, we served it with orange blossom ice cream and fresh figs. As mentioned earlier, there were no written recipes, just guidelines but I have prepared a standard recipe below. The fact that chef Mohammad did it with us the first time and guided us for the next ones really showed us the way to make it right. 

That dessert like many other chef Mohammad showed us was a great example of authentic food. The Middle Eastern sweets I tried before were nothing like those I ate and cooked during chef Mohammad's visit. As Ray LeBlond said, "You learn something every day if you pay attention."

Recipe: Nabulsiya Kunafah

200gm Kunafah pastry (or shredded phyllo)

200gm Ghee

30ml Syrup (15 ml water boiled with 15gm white sugar)

One teaspoon orange blossom water

One teaspoon rose water

3 fresh figs

300gm Mozzarella cheese

60gm full fat milk powder

500ml fresh milk

A handful of whole pistachios

Method

Prepare the kishta: Boil the milk with 2 tablespoon of sugar and reduce it to 2/3 of its volume.  Add the milk powder, mix it well and pour it on a baking tray. 

Bake the milk at 150°C for about 25 minutes, mixing it every 5 minutes until you obtain a thick creamy texture. Keep in a container and allow to cool. 

Allow mozzarella cheese to reach room temperature for easier mixing and mix it into a paste in a mixing bowl.  Add 100gm of the previously made kishta and mix well. 

Next, prepare the kunafah: Melt the ghee and brush some in a pie tin. Lay the kunafah pastry, shredding it to 1.5cm depth. Add a piece of baking paper on top of the pastry and press it with another pie tin for 15 minutes in order to obtain a flatter, more compact layer of dough.

Pipe a layer of about 1 cm thick of the cheese mixture. Again, make a layer of about 1.5 cm of kunafah pastry. Add a piece of baking paper on top of the pastry and press it with another pie tin for 15 minutes in order to obtain a flatter, more compact kunafah. Remove the pressing pie tin and soak the kunafah with melted ghee. Bake the kunafah at 150°C for one and a half hour, until golden brown.

Boil the syrup once and add the orange blossom and rose water.  Once the kunafah is baked, pour away the excess ghee and soak with the syrup. Place it back in the oven for 5 minutes. 

Once done, cut it in slices, like a pie and serve it just warm with sliced figs and orange blossom ice cream, or the ice cream of your choice. Add some chopped toasted pistachios over the top.