Chef Charbel from Qartaba
Science and art on a perfect plate
Originally from Bauchrieh, a northeast suburb of Beirut, his family fled to the North Lebanon mountainous village of Qartaba. It was their home for a long time. As most homes do, they live in our hearts until the day we depart. Charbel’s home is no different.
The Qartaba days
They lived alongside this one traditional family whose customs were like those of the Lebanese villagers of a century ago. The man woke up at dawn, carried his steel pick, and walked down the valley to work his orchards at the river bank. Later in the day, his wife prepared lunch, wrapped it in a cloth, tied it to a wooden staff, and gave it to the children for delivery. Charbel and the other boys had the mission to feed Ammo (‘uncle’ in Arabic; often used as a term of endearment). The boys would wait for him to eat, then pick up the staff, the cloth, and whatever dishes were there and return them to his wife.
Over the years, he witnessed village traditions and survival techniques in action. Almond sap was used to make glue. The hyssop plant (zoufa) was a soothing hot herbal drink. He saw them turn wheat into flour. All sorts of wild herbs made delicious salads, zaatar included. He would descend to the river bed to pick round, smoother rocks to grind wheat, mix with fermented milk, and turn it into kishek — all dried under the hot summer sun on the flat house roof. Some vineyard extract was scrubbed on the head to decrease hair loss.
They worried about it, even back then.
They collected and processed their food from early spring until September. In the winter, they played cards, kept the woodstove going, baked potatoes, ate, laughed, quarreled, and lived a simple life.
A rascal at school
The family traveled down to Beirut only to ensure the kids attended school. School for Charbel was not his cup of tea!
He did not like the system or the process, and I’m sure, like all kids, some of his teachers. His parents tried. They shifted him from one school to another. He started with English as a second language and then moved on to French. In hindsight, he gained two languages and painfully reached 9th grade (brevet). In 1993, his mom pushed him into hospitality management and culinary school.
“You’re tired from traditional schooling. I am tired, too. Don’t waste your time anymore. You have a knack for cooking; go and study it. Khalas.”
After all, he enjoyed making omelets and crêpes. Not any crêpe — this recipe he still makes today without changing anything. Coming from an executive chef, that’s a big ask. He was 15 when this ‘girl’ friend gave him her French grandfather’s recipe.
Was she a ‘girl’ friend or girlfriend? For 23 years, the same recipe. What doesn’t he want to change? The recipe? Or the memory of the teenager who once gave it to him?
He ended up enrolling in a technical school for their three-year program. He knew that cooking was what he was going to learn. The shock set in from day one.
Pots and pans
They divided them into teams that rotate weekly. For the first week, his team was in charge of dishwashing. He spent it at the sink.
“I did not go to school to wash dishes!”
He struggled. Charbel remembers their teacher’s first pep talk:
“Forget your families and friends. Your girlfriend? Forget her. You will be working Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. You will work nights. When everyone is having fun, you will be working.
The struggle continued. He got scared of the future. He worked all the time and was frustrated and exhausted. He took courses for 4 months, then practical training for another four. He would finish his shift at 1 am and frequently found it difficult to find public transportation home.
The kitchens were hot, loud, screaming, and fast-moving. Imagine trying to feed and please 300 people with different requests and tastes. A waiter got a complaint from a client and then walked into a kitchen to tell an overstressed, yelling chef. Charbel has seen it all.
The rascal became top of his class
The dish washer quickly climbed the ladder to become ‘chef de partie.’ He worked everything: cold and hot departments, assistant to the sous chef, a sous chef, and a chef. Despite his success, he hated it and did not want to continue. It was too tiring. His whole being lived it. It consumed him. It ate into his life. The stress was too high. At the time, he had two choices: quit after seven years or turn up the high heat for the foreseeable future and become somebody in the discipline. He chose the latter.
Charbel doubled up on work and took morning and evening shifts. 18 hours a day. Work and sleep. No life.
His mom saw him drained, and regretted pushing him towards that industry.
Still, he kept at it and gained experience working in and for various restaurants. He went to train under top French chefs, learning priceless techniques.
“The French cuisine for cooking is like the NBA for basketball. Learn it, and you’ll get places.”
Earning a gold medal in 2004
At 22, he got his first chef position. His big challenge and break was when he got an opportunity to join a tourist complex with several venues and restaurants. At 23, he rounded up all his courage and a 23-year-old naivité to take an executive chef position.
His toolset
In one year, he was challenged like never before. He worked hard and proved himself. At one point, he had 45 people in the kitchen working. Most of them were older than him. At times, he would go to sell their services to catering events. The ladies in charge occasionally would not give him the job. “No offense. You’re young and inexperienced,” they would say. Others liked the idea of having a young chef in charge.
He spent 5 years using unique, exquisite, and most often expensive ingredients. He got the best produce to cook with. He invented, experimented, and created dozens of tableaux for the eyes and mouth to feast on. Those five years were a turning point for Chef Charbel.
Let’s talk shop
Their business is a science and an art. It starts with science. For example, you must know how to treat, talk to, and cook the meat. You dry it, let it rest, get it ‘thirsty,’ and then marinate it. Colors are big when plating. Pick what’s edible and still go with the main ingredient, and at the same time, make it colorful and pleasing to the eye. It’s like drawing a painting. Cost is critical to your menu. What’s the benefit if you could cook and serve the best plate at a loss? Business continuity is vital.
“You have to win all three together: cost, presentation, and flavor.”
At Harrod’s in London
Sometimes success comes with regrets
At 28, he left his biggest adventure and started consulting for restaurants. Working 16-hour days gave him unique experiences. He loves where he’s reached. Today, he can set up any restaurant concept and loves the excitement anytime he starts or wraps up a project. However, he feels that he burned his 25–35 years — in the kitchen. He feels that he missed out on living his mid-twenties to mid-thirties. There’s a price to pay for everything. Eventually, he realized that there is life beyond work, and travel is a big passion. Since then, he’s been taking a vacation every year to visit a new place in the world. He travels to see and taste authentic food in their original places.
Fishing in Scotland
Mixing a little work with fun never hurt anyone. And the best is when you don’t know the difference.
Today, he doesn’t know the difference. Today, he’s good. He’s happy.
Mom
Mom overcame her guilt. Now, she’s so proud. People would call her to talk about her son and his TV show. They love him. Her heart swells with joy. The other day, she told him she watched him on TV, unlike every time. She saw him with her heart, realized what he’d become, and cried. The big man gave her a long, warm bear hug. They both cried. Her bet on him worked out as he’s reaping the fruits of his labor. She is Charbel’s mom.
He could not hide the love he has for his parents.
He says that they gave everything to him. He appreciates them now more than ever. He loves them not because they’re his parents. He loves them because of who they are. He feels that whatever he does, he could never repay them. He enjoys spending time with them, sipping a morning coffee, conversing, laughing, and feasting on a good meal. With them, he’s happy. He gives them as much time as possible, not because he has to, but because he wants to.
And today
Cooking in the wild
Between his consulting travels in the Middle East, he hosts cooking episodes on the Lebanese MTV station. His conscientiousness pushes him to prepare his shows so well to give the maximum benefit to his audience.
“What did I give them? Is the technique easy and doable at home? Is the dish seasonal? How does the plate look? The setting?”
If people give their time, he feels he has to prepare well. The more followers he gets, the more responsibility he feels.
Did you watch his “Wild Lebanon Cooking Series”?
He wants to create a small cooking workshop where people would learn from his techniques and recipes.
And that one thing he did not change
Crêpe Suzette
Sugar (1 cup)
Milk (1 cup with powder milk)
Warm water (3 cups)
Whole eggs (5)
White flour (1 1/2 cups)
Baking powder (1 tsp)
Vanilla stick (1 pc)
Salt (a pinch)
Add sugar and salt to the eggs and whisk them. Mix the vanilla with the flour and the baking powder. Add the milk to the egg mix. Sprinkle flour over eggs while mixing. Let it rest for 15 minutes. Heat the pan and cook.
Add melted chocolate in the middle
or
Sautée the dough with butter and flambé with cognac, brown sugar, and mandarin juice.
Sahtein!
