Turkish Chef Masuk Piral, with the Souk, Mumbai, has brought his fare to a festival at the Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi. Anoothi Vishal samples some of the specialities.
We tend to look at Arabic or Mediterranean cuisine as one entity. But there must be some differences between the cuisines of individual countries?
Yes. The difference lies in the spices and the amount used. Arabic food is generally very plain. Very little seasoning is done and they don't like sour flavours. But in countries like Syria, for instance, they like lots of lemon and garlic. Take a simple dish like hummous, for instance, it will taste different in different regions. The Syrian one will have lots of lemon and tahina, oil extracted from sesame seeds, which we do in our own press in my home (Turkey) but it is not available in India.
Souk is a celebrated restaurant. What sets it apart?
We import a majority of our ingredients that are not available in India, so guests get authentic flavours.
Do you change flavours according to the Indian palate?
I now know what Indians like. In the menu, we have kept dishes that will go with the local palate. Also, there can be many variations when it comes to serving something like shawarma. I layer it with a nice creamy, garlic dip and serve lots of onions or pickle with it. People really like that.
When it comes to Turkish food, we only know baklava and yours is certainly the best I’ve had. What are your other specialities that are doing well at the restaurant?
There is a dip called muhammara that is made with lots and lots of walnuts (and grilled bell peppers) which Indians like because they like chilli. The hot flavour is balanced by pomegranate syrup (molasses, an ingredient that seems to have suddenly become trendy worldwide). One has to be very particular about the quantity used as it will alter the flavour completely. In Mumbai, I sell almost 30-40 batches of this every day.