The Life of Loi: Mediterranean Secrets

- The Life of Loi is made possible by the Behrakis Family.

Experience Abu Dhabi.

The Greek National Tourism Organization.

And SALFO Engineering & Management.

LOI: I am Maria Loi, executive chef of Loi Estiatorio in Manhattan.

When I was growing up in Thermo, a small village in Greece, food was a way of life.

The Mediterranean diet is considered the healthiest in the world.

And I have seen how it can truly change people's lives, like it changed mine.

And since then, my life has been all about the Mediterranean diet.

Each season, I take the cornerstones of the Mediterranean diet and travel the world, learning about different cultures, gathering inspiration, exchanging ideas... - Oh!

LOI: And then, going back home to share with you.

On this week's episode, I am excited to go shopping at Al Mina Fruit and Vegetable Market with vegan food blogger Nada Elbarshoumi.

Then, we head to a local park where we will make a delectable marinated kale fattoush.

Our journey will also take us out into the desert, to Gracia Farms, where I plant a tree.

The day then comes to an end at the famous Breakwater, where I will make a delicious salad.

Back in Greece, I will be joined by Alexandra Mitsotakis to make dishes inspired by my travels.

It's all happening now on The Life of Loi.

Pme.

- Pick peaches, also.

LOI: Peaches, huh?

(laughs) - Figs-- do you like figs?

LOI: I love figs.

- I love figs, too.

LOI: Yeah.

- Yeah, very, very delicious.

(Loi clears throat) LOI: But, what do you have today?

You have to, to get tomatoes?

Do you know how to choose the tomatoes if they're organic?

- I don't actually.

LOI: No?

- No.

LOI: Okay.

So, you see the green part there?

- Yeah.

LOI: Okay?

You take it here and you smell it.

If it smells like pesticide, just leave it down.

- (chuckles) LOI: Here, smell it.

- Yeah, I'll try.

LOI: If it smells fresh tomato, then you buy it.

- I think today we'll go for the cherry tomatoes for the salad.

LOI: The cherry tomatoes?

Okay.

- Yeah.

LOI: So, we're good with tomatoes?

We, we need greens, right?

- We need some greens.

So, we need some romaine hearts.

LOI: Okay.

- It's, like, really fresh.

LOI: Uh, watercress.

Yeah?

- Let's get some watercress, yeah.

LOI: One?

- Two.

Let's go with two.

We'll put that in in our salad.

LOI: All right, put it there.

Parsley, right?

- Yes, let's got some parsley.

LOI: It's very good.

And then?

- Some dill, I think.

LOI: Dill?

- Yeah.

LOI: For sure.

- Yeah, very, very good.

LOI: I will take two.

- Yeah.

LOI: Okay?

What else we need?

- We need some radishes for our salad today.

LOI: Radishes?

Yeah.

- Yeah-- again, you don't want to get them too big.

So... LOI: They're good, I think.

- These are fine, yeah.

LOI: Yeah.

- There's a good range of sizes.

LOI: Yeah.

Okay, all for you.

- Yeah.

LOI: Okay.

- I think we're good.

LOI: We're good?

- We have everything-- I have the kale at home, so we're, we're good to go.

LOI: Excellent.

- Yeah.

LOI: Okay.

Thank you very much, thank you.

- Thank you so much.

LOI: What are we doing today?

Yeah.

- Today we're going to make a marinated kale fattoush.

LOI: Mm-hmm.

- So it's a twist on a typical Levantine salad, which is fattoush.

It's usually made with lettuce and other types of greens.

But I really love to use kale.

And it's, it's great to use this time of year, because it's grown, uh, seasonally and locally here in the U.A.E., as well.

Do you want to help me with the marination?

LOI: I'm your sous-chef here.

- Ah, amazing.

LOI: Yeah.

- Okay, so, so the, the trick to getting the kale to be edible... LOI: Mm-hmm.

- ...is, you want to add some salt, some acid, and some fat.

We have some beautiful olive oil here.

LOI: Extra virgin olive oil.

- Extra virgin olive oil.

LOI: Okay.

- So we're just going to add a little bit of, of those three things-- I'll just cut a lemon up for you to use.

LOI: Lemon, okay.

Acid in there.

You need it, right.

- Yes, exactly.

Should I add here or here the olive oil?

- We can, we can put it all here.

LOI: All right.

- But maybe not-- yeah, that... LOI: That's enough?

- That's enough, yeah.

LOI: Okay.

- And then... LOI: Yeah.

- That should be enough-- we can always add some more later.

LOI: Yeah.

- And then... LOI: Always.

- ...just a little bit of salt.

And if you want to just get in there and start massaging, we can always... LOI: No, no, do your art.

- I'll do it, okay, I'll, sure.

LOI: Because you know how much you want, you know?

- (laughs) You know, I, I don't like to measure things a lot.

I like to do it just by, by feeling.

So... LOI: She's like me.

- Yes.

It's the Mediterranean way of cooking.

LOI: I like that.

- Yes, so... LOI: Yeah.

- Now we just want to slice up some cucumber, uh, slice up the tomatoes... LOI: Tomato?

- ...and some radishes.

LOI: You're vegan, right?

- I am vegan, yes.

I am vegan.

LOI: Okay.

Otherwise, you can add in this feta cheese.

- You could.

LOI: We'll add the tomatoes.

- Yes, we'll add the tomatoes.

LOI: Okay, I'll help you.

- There you go.

LOI: Beautiful colors.

- Yes, so fresh.

LOI: Huh?

- And now we're going to add some radish.

LOI: Okay.

- Which is another wonderful pop of color.

LOI: And also, it's very healthy.

Super-healthy.

- Very healthy, yes.

LOI: Super-sweet.

- Yeah, very, very sweet.

Very sweet.

So I think we're just going to add some onions.

And just such lovely colors.

LOI: Next.

- So now we are going to make the dressing... LOI: Okay.

- ...for the, the salad.

LOI: Yeah.

- So it's kind of already pre-dressed, because you already have the olive oil and lemon.

Usually, the salad uses pomegranate molasses, but because we're here in Abu Dhabi, we're using date molasses.

So... Add a little bit of lemon.

LOI: Okay.

- We're going to add our summaq.

(murmurs) LOI: Mm-hmm.

- A little bit of salt.

The olive oil.

LOI: Yup.

- Dressings you always want to taste and see what's missing.

LOI: Mm-hmm.

- Let's just-- we're going to add some romaine hearts.

LOI: And in the meantime, I can... - Yes.

So we'll just add that all together.

LOI: Here.

- There you go.

So we're just going to add... LOI: Go ahead.

- ...a little bit of pomegranate, so... LOI: Okay.

- Next, I like to add, uh, seeds.

LOI: A lot.

- A lot?

Yeah?

LOI: A lot.

- Sunflower seeds.

LOI: A lot of iron.

- Yes.

LOI: Yep.

- And, uh, pumpkin seeds, as well.

LOI: Mm-hmm.

- And then usually we'd add, uh, flatbread croutons on this.

LOI: Mm-hmm.

- So I made a gluten-free version with chickpea flour.

LOI: Excellent.

- I'll just sprinkle the croutons on top.

LOI: Mm-hmm.

- And then, we want to add a little bit of summaq, so a little bit more on top.

LOI: Okay.

- And I like to add these beautiful pomegranate seeds.

And there you have it.

LOI: Okay.

- We're done.

LOI: But I don't want to mix it now.

- No.

I mean, it looks so nice, but you have to taste it.

LOI: Let's try now.

- Let's taste, yeah.

Moment of truth.

So tell me, chef, how is it?

Is it good?

LOI: No.

- No?

(laughs) LOI: Excellent.

- (laughs) Amazing LOI: Yeah.

I'm going to cook for my friend Alexandra Mitsotakis.

Thank you for coming here.

- Thank you, Maria, for having me, thank you so much.

LOI: We have plethora of vegetables, you know, chickpeas, whatever you like.

- Well, let's start with the green here.

LOI: Let's start with the green.

I cut it like this.

- Mm-hmm.

LOI: Or like this.

- Okay.

LOI: Marouli.

- Mm-hmm.

LOI: Lettuce.

- Okay.

Let's move on to something else that is green.

LOI: Kolokithaki.

She's all about greens.

We have something else in common.

Will you promise, that I am going to be in Elefsina, what you are doing there?

- I do, because... LOI: Okay.

- ...Elefsina is a very, very unique place that not many people know today.

It used to be the center of the spiritual world in antiquity.

And mysteries were taking place.

For more than 1,500 years, people were going to Elefsina.

Roman emperors, Greek philosophers, men, women, slave, rich, and poor, they were all going to be initiated in mysteries that they believed would make them better people.

Don't we need something like that today?

I think we do.

LOI: Maybe we don't need food that much, as much as we need this.

- Back to your salad.

LOI (laughs): Yes.

To our salad.

So chickpea-- for me, it's a superfood.

Do you like chickpea?

- Okay.

I love them in the form of hummus, actually.

I eat them less like this... LOI: Mm-hmm.

- ...but I will discover them now better.

LOI: As you go, to build flavor, of course, with all the ingredients, but also for, with salt.

- Okay.

LOI: And you know, my salt comes from Missolonghi.

- Wonderful.

LOI: Sea salt.

Do you like pepper or not?

- I do.

LOI: Oh, good.

- Maybe it's a little bit more healthy than salt?

I don't know.

LOI: It is.

- Yeah.

LOI: It is.

Would you like some dill?

- Yes.

LOI: Okay.

Dill.

- And beet.

LOI: A beet?

Of course!

- Please.

LOI: I love beets.

You know, it, it's very good, and they, they say that they clean your blood.

- Okay.

LOI: So I will put a few slices here.

Because it has to be beautiful, as well.

It's not only healthy.

Look at that.

- Beautiful, sustainable, together.

You know, this is what we need.

This is one of the big projects I work on in Europe.

LOI: Yeah?

- On the built environment.

The New European Bauhaus Project.

The values are "beautiful, sustainable, together."

And look at this-- this is beautiful.

It is sustainable.

LOI: Yes.

- And we have to eat it together.

LOI: Exactly.

- Now your seeds.

LOI: Yes.

This is sunflower seeds.

- Mm-hmm.

Great, great.

LOI: They have a lot of iron.

Okay?

You don't need to eat a lot of meat to get your iron.

- Okay.

LOI: Also, you can use dates.

- Mm-hmm.

LOI: We'll add a bit of lemon.

- Yes.

LOI: Let's have just a touch of this.

Okay?

- Because, of course, olive oil.

How can we forget?

LOI: You know, Alexandra?

This olive oil comes from where your family comes from-- home, from Chania.

- Okay, now you talk to my heart.

You know, Maria, um, for many, many years... LOI: Mm-hmm.

- ...when I was a young girl, my father used to spend so much time cultivating his own olive trees and his own, uh, uh, places where he was cultivating tomatoes and, uh, watermelons and all different kind of vegetables.

And I remember when I was younger, I used to say, "Why are you doing all that?"

You know, "Why don't you just go to supermarket?"

I mean, "Do you know how much this costs you?"

LOI: Excuse me, he didn't have time to go to supermarket.

- No, but he said, "You will..." LOI: Okay.

He was the prime minister of Greece.

- He was.

LOI (laughs): Come on.

- But he was a very wise man.

LOI: Yeah.

- Because he knew way before it became fashionable... LOI: Yeah.

- ...how important it is... LOI: It is.

- ...to really use unprocessed food.

So, I think of him today.

What about this thing that I love?

LOI: The pomegranate.

- Yes.

That is very linked to Elefsina, because it was one of the symbols of the goddess Dimitra and her daughter Persephone.

Because I think it adds an amazing flavor.

LOI: Mm-hmm.

- Plus the beautiful color.

Uh, plus, the symbol is powerful.

So yeah, thank you for putting it on.

LOI: On the top.

- Yes.

LOI: Right?

- On the top, yes.

Great.

LOI: So we have to spread the goodness.

- Great.

LOI: Okay?

- Mm-hmm.

LOI: So, you like it now?

- Yes, I love it.

LOI: Red, green, yellow-- everything.

Do you cook now?

- I've stopped cooking.

Ah, with some exceptions, you know.

When my kids come to my place.

(Loi chuckles) But the two things I know how to do are salads and pasta.

LOI: I have both of the books, you know, that your mother wrote about food.

Marika Mitsotakis, she was one of the best cooks in the world, not only in Greece.

- That, Maria, is maybe the reason why it's not so easy for me to cook, because when you have a mother who was such an amazing cook and who loved the opening her house and her table to all of us, and to bring us together.

Because what I learned, also, in my family is that you might not agree, you might even fight.

You might really have issues when you eat with your siblings and your parents.

But if you do it over good food, in the end, you become again friends, happy, and you love each other.

So food is an incredible way to re-enchant the world.

LOI: May I give you a hug?

She's amazing.

- Thank you, thank you.

LOI: You, you're amazing-- thank you.

- Thank you so much.

LOI: And now we have to taste this, right?

- Yes, absolutely, we have.

LOI: Okay.

- Excellent.

LOI: It's one of the best salads-- yeah, I like some... - May I take some more?

LOI: Oh.

Of course.

- I waited.

LOI: And you?

Please.

Make this kind of food and love people.

That's all.

(kisses) I thought it was a mirage, because the results were so magnificent.

Gracia Farms uses hydroponics to grow the fruits and vegetables.

It allows them to conserve water and manage what the plants need to go from seed to final harvest.

After visiting the greenhouse, I went to their amazing animal sanctuary, where I could feed some of my new friends, and saw their incredible apiary.

Afterwards, I was invited to participate in a huge honor: planting my own tree in the V.I.P.

garden.

- (speaking indistinctly) LOI: Ooh!

(laughs) See?

- Yes.

LOI: And that's it?

That's it.

- She love you, (indistinct).

LOI: It's my... - She love you, also.

LOI: Yeah.

(kisses) - You have to give her a name.

What's the name, do you think?

LOI: I don't know.

- Your country name.

Your family name-- your name.

LOI: That will be Greece.

- Greece?

LOI: My country.

It's so beautiful.

(kisses) - Because we have to write, like, this place?

LOI: Yes.

- We write, you, we put your photo.

LOI: Okay.

- And the name for this plant.

LOI: Yeah, Greece.

- Greece Plant.

(birds screeching) LOI: I'm going to show you a salad.

It's super-easy.

Do you have cauliflower?

My doctor said that this is anti-aging.

Please put it in.

And it's crunchy.

As much as you want.

You want more?

More.

I'll put all.

Then, do you like cucumbers?

I love cucumbers.

And you cut it like this.

Look at this-- see?

And each ingredient that it's in here, it has a reason.

Let me put some more.

Of course, cucumbers is one of the cornerstones, you know, in the Greek salad, horiatiki-- everybody loves the Greek salad.

Then, you can call it parsnip, you can call it, or radish-- whatever in your country, okay?

But I do like this.

Like I do my onions, usually.

When you watch my shows, you can see.

Because this way, you can cut it very small.

See how it is now?

If you want to put it just in slices like that, you can add in slices.

So what else would you need to put in there?

Green pepper?

Green pepper.

(knife crunches) (sniffs) Did you hear that?

(imitating knife cut) I cut the pepper any way you like it.

I will put some...

The sunflower seeds, okay?

I'll mix it.

Then...

The seven spices.

(sniffs) It's lemony, it's aromatic, it has everything.

So I will add it now and I will put it here, because maybe I will need a bit more later.

Do you think that you like something more spicy?

I have jalapeos here.

We have the jalapeo that I love.

It's spicy, but not that much.

What is the antidote, actually, with jalapeos?

Something sweet, so, we have apples.

Apples are very good for you.

You see, the doctors used to say, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away."

Check how many vitamins it has.

What else we need here?

(chuckles): Of course, one of my favorite vegetables.

And it's so easy.

You know, this is how I'm doing it.

I cut it by hand.

Use your hands.

Mix it again.

Full of colors.

I'm going to do the dressing.

Olive oil, what else?

Then I will add some salt.

They have here a mixture that, it has tomato paste and Emiratis peppers.

They're so tasty.

Mix this.

We'll put it here for a minute.

And... See, this lemon?

You go like this and you make it juicy.

A trick, so the seeds, they don't go in there, take a piece of paper and you go like this.

See?

No seeds.

Hm.

It's so good.

And always, you taste.

Clean hands.

That Emirati spice brought it up.

Look at this.

It has this amazing Emirati taste.

It's an Abu Dhabi-Thermo salad.

(laughs): From my village.

I have some more sunflower seeds.

I'm going to put it here for you.

I am going to enjoy here my salad, with this beautiful view in Abu Dhabi.

They call it Breakwater.

I will call it Paradise.

Today, I was thinking to make a, just a Greek salad.

And they call it nisiotiki, "from the islands."

And who else is the best to come with me to make this salad?

Chef Miltos Karoubas.

Thank you, chef, again.

Thank you.

- I, I thank you, Maria, that I'm your guest.

(Loi chuckles) Uh, I'm really surprised that you choose to make an island salad type.

Uh... LOI: In Athens.

(laughs) - In, in Athens, under the Acropolis.

I wait to see what ingredients you will use.

LOI: Everything that you can find everywhere.

- Yeah.

LOI: So, tomato, we cut it in half.

This one, greens.

Whatever greens you have.

- Mm-hmm.

LOI: And whatever kind of tomato you have.

You can cut in small pieces.

Make sure that you have peppers.

- Yeah, yeah.

LOI: Multicolor.

- Mm-hmm.

LOI: We'll add here some peppers.

Okay, oh.

I have the help from the president of the Chefs' Club.

(laughs) - Of course.

LOI: Yep.

- When we are cooking, we are not presidents.

Just, we are cooks.

This is the point.

LOI: This is the point, to be humble.

- Because... To be humble and, uh, to give our health in our recipe.

LOI: You are like this.

Okay, olives.

And kritamos.

- Mm-hmm.

It's very island, especially in Cyclades.

LOI: Yeah.

- We have plenty in, in, uh, Crete.

LOI: Crete?

Now it's everywhere.

Really?

LOI: Yeah.

- Mm-hmm.

It gives, you know, the salty taste, uh, and keep the balance in the salad.

LOI: Oregano.

There's no Greek salad without oregano.

- Yeah, of course.

LOI: And, you know, oregano is very good for when you have cold.

Just make a tea with that and you will see the difference.

And here... Oh, it's sumac mixed with other herbs and spices.

- Can, can I smell it?

LOI: Yeah.

- (sniffs): Oh, excellent.

LOI: Uh, I, I'm not going to put salt because this anthotyro, it's the salty one.

- Oh, yeah.

LOI: It's a bit aged.

- It's a dry one, eh?

Yeah.

LOI: Yeah.

And it comes from Crete.

- Mm-hmm.

LOI: If you don't have, put any cheese that you like.

But just with saltiness.

And if you don't have this, you can find feta cheese.

- First of all, the color, the color, it's...

It looks so fresh and so lively.

LOI: Vibrant.

Vibrant.

- Yeah, vibrant.

LOI: Yup.

Olive oil makes life taste better and healthier.

- Mm-hmm.

LOI: Isn't it a so simple salad?

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

LOI: But super-healthy.

- Healthy and nutrition.

LOI: Yeah.

- You can have it as a main dish.

LOI: So we have here a special dressing... - Uh-huh.

LOI: ...with olive oil, with dates.

- That's why the color, right?

LOI: Yes, exactly, you know?

- From the dates.

LOI: I will add a bit in here, okay.

- Can I mix it?

LOI: Oh, by all means.

- So it has to have the happiness of, uh... (Loi laughs) And what is, uh, this one?

LOI: You don't know what is this one?

- I know, just, I ask to see if you know.

LOI: And I like when the old people like that, they, they used to eat this.

- Mm-hmm.

LOI: And they say, "It's not paximadi, it's paxamas."

- Uh-huh.

LOI: In Greek... (speaking Greek) But do you know the story, why they call it paxamas?

- I know that they are double-baked, because with a double bake, we reduce the water.

Yeah, we're going to have a... (Loi laughs) ...a longer shelf-life.

LOI: Good.

- Mm-hmm.

LOI: It's almost a year for that.

And, uh, I always add some oil here.

- Of course.

LOI: To make it smoother and healthier.

- To, to, also, make it soft.

LOI: Mm-hmm, yep.

- Because it's really nice and dry.

LOI: It's ready.

And what we have to do now?

Just some more olive oil?

- And to taste.

Okay, I prefer this way, really.

It's nice to see also... LOI: Uh-huh.

- The paxamas with the wet vegetables, it will become softer.

LOI: Let's leave the salad, the beautiful salad, over here.

- Mm-hmm.

LOI: And let's try from this.

- That's good.

LOI: You like the tomato, huh?

- I like tomato.

I like greens.

I like the crispy of the peppers.

LOI: Mmm.

- The tasting.

And of course, I want cheese.

Because I'm, I'm a cheese, cheese lover... LOI: The cheese, yup.

- ...I want to taste the cheese.

LOI: And the cheese here, it's amazing.

- Mmm.

LOI: Thank you for coming here.

I really appreciate, and I hope to see you soon.

Yeah.

- I thank you, uh, very much.

And always, try to continue what are you doing.

LOI: Thank you-- thank you.

- Okay, thank you very much.

LOI: Always, we say cheers with olive oil.

Yassou.

- Yamas.

LOI: And yassou.

Remember, everything in moderation, except love, olive oil, and good deeds.

(kisses) - The Life of Loi is made possible by the Behrakis Family.

Experience Abu Dhabi.

The Greek National Tourism Organization.

And SALFO Engineering & Management.