- 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, it's all about having a taste of home.
We look at similarities between Greek and Emirati cuisine.
Is moussaka Greek or Arabic?
I meet my namesake, Chef Mario Loi, who beautifully blends Middle Eastern influences with his Mediterranean heritage.
Together, we prepare his mouth-watering spanakopita gratin.
And Chef Sinju Varghese shares his take on this classic dish.
We then head back to Greece, where I am joined by my friend Anna Myrha to make a vegetarian moussaka and a special spinach pasta inspired by my travels.
It's all happening now on The Life of Loi.
Pam!
Well, by now, you know also Mario Loi, not only Maria Loi.
He's a chef.
It runs in the family.
From Sardinia.
My ancestors come from Sardinia as well.
We love food.
- Absolutely.
LOI: We love to cook.
We love everything what is good... - Absolutely.
LOI: ...for people, right?
- Absolutely, absolutely.
LOI: So, Mario, today, what are we going to do?
- Okay, so we're doing a spanakopita today.
I know it's a classic Greek dish, and I hope it lives up to expectations, your expectations.
Um, so this is going to be a gratin version, essentially a deconstructed spanakopita with a wood-grilled flatbread.
Very Moorish, great to share on the table, like all my food.
So food is only as good as the people that you share it with-- you agree?
LOI: I agree for everything you said.
First of all, why you came to Abu Dhabi?
- In a nutshell, the weather.
LOI: Yeah?
- I came here in 2014 as the executive chef, and someone told me, sunshine every single day.
I was sold.
That's all I needed.
There's something special about living in Abu Dhabi.
LOI: Okay.
- The longer time you spend over here, the more you realize that.
LOI: Let's start making the spanakopita your way.
- Let's do it, let's do it.
So, again, we start with some olive oil.
LOI (chuckling): Of course.
- As usual.
LOI: (sniffs) This olive oil is very good.
- Fantastic.
Great Sicilian olive oil.
LOI: Yep.
You can use Greek olive oil!
I'm going to send you.
- (chuckling): For sure.
LOI: Okay?
- I look forward to trying it.
So, we've got our olive oil in.
LOI: Okay.
- Then we take some onions.
I've precooked these onions.
LOI: How much?
- Um, I'll put a couple of spoons in there, two spoons, yeah.
LOI: That's good.
I love onions.
- A healthy amount.
LOI: Yeah.
And it's good for your health.
- So when you're doing this at home, don't get the temperature too high.
You don't want to get any color on the onions.
LOI: Okay.
- You just want to break it down so it's nice and soft.
LOI: Enough?
- Absolutely, that's perfect.
Okay, next step is spinach.
LOI: Yeah?
- So, cook down the spinach separately in a little bit of olive oil.
You need to make sure, after you've cooked down the spinach, to squeeze out all the water.
Otherwise, the whole dish will be very watery.
Okay, so we add our spinach.
LOI: Mm-hmm.
- Okay, remember, spinach starts off at a huge volume and then comes down to nothing.
And if you want to use frozen spinach, there's no issue with that.
So, we've got our base over here.
Next, we're going to add a little bit of salt and pepper.
All right, so we've got the nutmeg next.
So we'll grate that in fresh, okay.
LOI: And here, they have a lot of spices.
- Absolutely.
LOI: I love... spices.
- So as you can see, loads of nutmeg.
LOI: Yup.
- It's got that beautiful aroma.
LOI: So, can I add a bit of olive oil?
- Sure, go ahead, go ahead.
LOI: Because, see?
There's nothing in there!
Okay?
- It needs more.
(chuckles) LOI: Because I like the olive oil.
- Absolutely.
LOI: Okay, all right.
- Now, the last few ingredients once that's all cooked down, we're going to add a bit of Greek yogurt.
On the righthand side.
LOI: You can do whatever you want, Chef.
- I'm going to do a couple of spoons.
LOI: Okay.
- Okay.
Just to kind of loosen up the mixture a little bit.
Okay, so now you see, it's got a nice gooey mixture.
So we'll move on to the two cheeses now.
So, Parmesan cheese and feta cheese.
LOI: Yeah.
- A healthy helping of Parmesan cheese.
LOI: All right.
- You can pour it in, absolutely.
LOI: Oh, that's it.
- Beautiful.
And that's pretty much the basic mixture-- you don't have to cook it any longer.
So what we'll do it is put it into an oven-proofed dish next.
We'll top it with some breadcrumbs.
LOI: Okay.
- In those breadcrumbs, what we've done is we've added some herbs, some local herbs in the garden.
LOI: And your garden is full of this?
- Absolutely.
So we've got oregano, we've got thyme.
You know, if you want to have a bit of a Middle Eastern touch, you can add some za'atar into it-- whatever herbs you like.
I love za'atar as well; so that mixture is done.
And then we'll bake that into the oven.
LOI: So this is it, right?
- Fantastic, this is it.
Okay, so first I'm going to add a little bit more Parmesan on top.
If there was feta left.
LOI: You can add.
It's okay.
- Thank you.
(chuckles) So a bit more Parmesan on top.
LOI: Mm-hmm.
- Okay, and then that's our breadcrumbs.
LOI: Yes?
- In Italian, you'll call this pangrattato.
But this is all mixed up with herbs.
So a nice bit of crustiness.
LOI: I like this, the taste, you know?
I had before, I checked, you know, how it tastes.
- A bit of lemon zest in there as well, just to kind of freshen it up.
So that whole dish will now go into the oven, okay?
Bake it for about maybe ten minutes, till it's sizzling.
And you're done.
LOI: Come on, come on!
I can't wait!
- This is the baked gratin.
Okay, so it's been about ten minutes in the oven.
Nice and caramelized on the top.
And what I like to do, I finish it off again with some more Parmesan cheese.
Okay, so we just roughly grate that up.
LOI: My heart!
That's enough with the parm... (laughs) So that's the finished dish.
LOI: May I?
- Please, go ahead.
So yeah, take a piece of bread, dip it in, enjoy.
LOI: I just want to thank you.
If I don't put like the breadcrumbs on the top, it would be gluten-free spanakopita.
- Absolutely, absolutely.
LOI: Gluten-free people, here I come.
Mario Loi, Maria Loi from Abu Dhabi with love.
We are in Palaio Faliro, in Athens.
But we're going to make something similar that Chef Mario Loi did.
And I'm going to make this recipe with my friend, Anna Myrha.
Yassou!
- Yassou, Chef Loi.
LOI: Anna, it's so easy.
He made spanakopita gratin.
But we're going to make spanako-pasta - (gasps) What's that?
LOI (laughs): Pasta.
And I put kofto makaronaki.
- (gasps) LOI: She loves pasta.
Let's start.
Usually, to make spanakopita we need spinach.
In Greek, it's spanki.
Do you know why it's good for you, the spanki?
- Well, it's very rich in potassium.
LOI: Okay.
- So it lowers your blood pressure.
And vitamin K. And iron-- I love spinach, I love spanki.
LOI: Bravo!
Can I have some dill, please?
Thank you.
Yep.
You don't know anything about dill, right?
- Only that it's delicious.
LOI (chuckles): Yes.
Put some scallions.
Yeah, do you like scallions?
- I do, I love it.
LOI: Look at this.
You just add olive oil, salt, pepper and you have a beautiful salad.
But now we'll add more.
Oh, this yogurt.
Anthotyro.
- Okay.
Anthotyro, where do we get the anthotyro, Anna?
From where?
- Crete?
LOI: Bravo!
And we're going to add olive oil.
- Of course.
LOI: A lot of olive oil.
- So you don't need to chop up the spinach at all?
LOI: It's baby spinach.
And you don't have to boil the spinach or saut the spinach.
- So it's healthier and easier.
LOI: It is.
Now we're going to add some pepper.
- Mm-hmm.
LOI: We're not adding salt.
- Because of the cheese?
LOI: Bravo!
But if you want a bit saltier, I can put just a touch of salt, and the rest... - (laughs) You know?
- So the bad things will go away.
LOI: Excellent!
Pasta.
So beautiful, Anna.
- It smells amazing.
LOI: That's good, eh?
- Mm-hm.
And you can add eggs if you like here.
- Mm-hmm.
LOI: But because of you, I didn't add eggs.
- Thank you, Chef.
LOI: But I have added cheese-- once, you have to make an exception.
- I will.
LOI: Good.
- Olive oil.
LOI: Makes life taste better and healthier.
You can eat it like this, if you like it.
But it will be more tasty if you put it in the oven.
175 preheated oven for half-hour.
No more than that, because everything is cooked and everything is fresh.
It's amazing you see?
How easy?
- It was easy.
(laughs) And what is the name, Annoula?
- Spanako-pasta.
LOI: Bravo.
Spanako-pasta.
- You know what I'm gonna do?
LOI: What?
- I'm going to add a little bit of feta.
LOI: Excuse me.
Are you going to eat feta?
- A little bit.
LOI: That's good.
That's it.
And it's beautiful as well.
- It is.
It's not very salty, huh?
I haven't had feta in a while.
LOI: In years.
Okay.
- In years.
Very good.
LOI: Yeah.
- Mm.
LOI: Since we say about olive oil, here and here for me.
Because I cannot live without olive oil in my life.
Olive oil for me, it's like water.
Yassou!
- Yassou!
LOI: And yassou!
I am in Santorini.
Of course, I am not in Santorini in Greece.
I am in Abu Dhabi.
I am going to cook moussaka.
Hm, moussaka.
With a multi-awarded chef who began his career in India.
He has worked for international hotels and palaces.
Chef Sinju.
- Chef Loi, how are you?
LOI (laughs): Excellent.
- Welcome to Santorini.
LOI: It is like Santorini.
You are from India.
You came here when?
- In 2006.
LOI: So then you feel like Emirati?
- I am, I'm a half-Emirati kind of thing.
LOI: What are we doing today?
Moussaka?
- Let's do a Lebanese moussaka.
LOI: So what do we have to do?
- So the pan is getting hot.
LOI: Yeah.
- We first go with the onions.
LOI: I'll take this one.
Good.
- Wow.
LOI: See?
No chopping boards, no... LOI: Nothing!
Okay.
So that's it.
- So a generous amount of onions.
But now today we learned something from Chef Loi.
She doesn't want to put the oil at first.
LOI: Not yet?
- Sure?
LOI: Yes.
- That is Chef Loi's technique of moussaka?
Yeah?
LOI: It is.
Not the moussaka, in general.
- With onion.
LOI: You see?
Caramelize this.
- Okay.
LOI: And you don't need sugar after that.
- That is great.
LOI: Yeah.
Do you have salt?
- We have salt.
Please.
LOI: And here for the bad mouth.
- For the bad mouth, yeah.
LOI: Olive oil?
- Olive oil, please.
Like around two tablespoons.
LOI: Are you kidding me?
- Definitely.
That is so generous.
LOI: Of course we have to be generous.
We have to be generous to ourselves.
- That is a good philosophy.
LOI: Let me help you.
And I think that you need garlic or you don't need it?
- We need to put a bit of garlic, yeah.
LOI: Okay.
I'm helping you, I'm a good sous chef, right?
- You are a great chef.
LOI: So what is next?
- Next let's go with the tomato paste.
LOI: Okay.
- We try to source ingredients locally.
Let's have two spoons of chopped tomatoes.
LOI: Okay.
- The whole about moussaka is like, now, what my philosophy of cooking is just to go as natural as possible.
If you have a fresh tomato, very sweet, very acidic, use that one; so let's have two spoons of tomato puree in that.
LOI: I can't wait.
- Let's go with the spice now.
I have a bit of pepper.
LOI: Mm-hmm.
- We Indians love pepper.
A bit of cinnamon.
LOI: I love cinnamon as well.
- Cinnamon, yeah.
Moussaka is all about the whole meal where you have a lot of... we have a bit of cumin in that.
LOI: I love it.
- And we have a bit of seven spice in that.
LOI: What's seven spice, chef?
Excuse me!
Now you are keeping secrets.
- We have to keep our secrets.
That is a trademark.
LOI: Don't worry, I will find out, and I will tell you.
- So now let's go with two spoons of vegetable stock, or I prefer to have the trimmings of the vegetables and make it a vegetable stock every day in my kitchen.
Let's simmer it in a very slow heat or cover it like because the spice, the rawness of the spice has to go.
LOI: It's really amazing.
- Yeah.
LOI: And now you leave it for a few minutes or what?
- For a few minutes it should be there for at least for five minutes.
LOI: Yeah.
- Just to take out the tomatoes and the spices to blend itself.
LOI: And now that we have the five minutes waiting for this blend to be cooked nicely, what do you have there in the seven spices?
He has to tell me.
- It is a blend of cinnamon, cumin, coriander, star anise, bay leaf, fennel seed... LOI: Yeah?
- ...star anise and dry lemon.
LOI: It's amazing.
And you know what is the most amazing?
That I got his secret.
(laughs) - The next ingredient on this will be the chick-- LOI: Here.
So we're putting chickpeas, huh?
- It's a cooked chickpeas.
LOI: Super healthy.
- Since we all are believing in the healthy and sustainable way of cooking, we don't, we have, we cut the eggplant, we season with salt and pepper, we took out the moisture out of, and then we baked in the oven at 160 degrees for 15 minutes.
LOI: So now we're putting the eggplant, right?
Good.
You can put more.
It's okay.
- It's a recipe.
We follow the recipe.
LOI: I never follow the recipe.
Don't even follow my recipes-- it's okay-- exactly.
Do whatever you want in your life.
- Can I have a bit more of stock in that?
LOI: Yeah.
Vegetable stock.
- And the secret for the vegetable stock is like, you can have two to three seeds of coriander in that.
It gives it next level of taste to that.
LOI: That's another secret.
- Yes.
LOI: Okay, you can add parsley.
- Parsley?
So I see like you love parsley, right?
LOI: I love everything green.
- Wow.
LOI: And also everything which is healthy.
- Let the flavor blend in.
LOI: I like this kind of food.
- Oh.
LOI: That's the finishing thing.
- Olive oil.
LOI: Yeah.
I have some feta here.
Can I add it in here?
- So vegan goes to the vegetarian.
Yeah.
LOI: You can do whatever you want.
As long as it's Greek feta, there's no other feta in the world.
The rest is just white cheese.
So let me put in.
That's it.
- Let's try.
Let's try?
LOI: Yeah.
- Wow, wow.
LOI: Ta-da!
- I know Chef Loi will be very generous on this olive oil, right?
LOI: Yeah.
It's one of the best meals that I had.
Thank you, Chef.
Yassou!
After Santorini, in Abu Dhabi, the recipe that we cook there was a real moussaka because moussaka started from the Arab countries.
And then we put some bchamel on the top.
Today, I will make something similar to that.
And I have chosen to be with my friend, very close friend, Anna Myrha.
- Hello, Chef Loi, hello, everyone.
I love you so much.
LOI: She's amazing.
So today I'm going to make something so easy, like we have eggplant, potatoes, chickpeas.
And it could be a vegan because she is vegan, okay?
I will add also some cheese because someone would like to have feta cheese.
But let's go.
What are these?
- These are eggplant, delicious (speaking Greek) LOI: She speaks Greek.
I call her the Greek goddess.
- You're the Greek goddess.
LOI: Okay, then you're the Greek muse!
(laughs) So, see?
- (gasps) It smells so good.
I love eggplants because they have a lot of vitamin C, right?
Did you put any olive oil in there?
LOI: Yes.
I put olive oil, and I put them in the oven just 15 minutes.
- Really?
Amazing.
LOI: Then I boiled some potatoes.
- Mm-hmm.
LOI: Super easy.
20 minutes.
Here.
Should I do that?
- Yes, please.
She keeps saying easy because I can't cook for the life of me but this is actually easy.
LOI: You can cook.
- Okay, I will.
LOI: If you watch here.
- Exactly.
LOI: Carrots.
- Mm-hmm.
LOI: You see, we put it here.
- Raw?
LOI: Raw.
Because you need the crunchiness.
- Hmm.
LOI: Then going on here... - Extra-virgin Greek olive oil.
LOI: Because you have to dress.
Then salt and pepper.
- So it's like layers, right?
LOI: Yes, you can mix them.
It's okay.
- Mm-hmm.
Then if you like celery, you like celery?
- Yes.
I love.
LOI: Yeah.
- It's good for your bones.
LOI: Mm-hmm.
- And your skin.
But you know what you told me once?
LOI: Yeah, tell me.
- You said that when we look at ingredients from nature, whatever they look like, it means that they're also good for those organs.
So this looks like bone, right?
The celery.
And then the chickpeas sort of look like our brain.
So maybe they're good for our brain, yes?
LOI: I am amazed!
- (laughs) And I always remember that when I look at raw ingredients.
LOI: This chickpea, you know, we boil them almost 45 minutes.
But you can get the can, but make sure that they don't have sodium.
And you can take organic.
It's better.
Look at that - Wow.
LOI: Look at these Okay.
- So shiny.
LOI: Yeah, because of the olive oil.
(laughs) I put olive oil before.
So now I can add some onion.
You like onion?
- Oh, you're going to do the magic trick now.
(chuckles) Wow.
LOI: That's it.
And do you like garlic?
- Not too much, but a little.
LOI: We add, of course, my favorite tomato paste.
- So you add water in order for it to mix better, right?
LOI: To dilute.
The word is dilute.
- Dilute.
LOI: Yeah.
- (speaking Greek) LOI: See?
It's all Greek!
And to have more tasty than the sauce.
- (gasps) Oh!
LOI: The Greek oregano.
Now I can add some pine nuts because they're very good for you.
- So pine nuts, a lot of vitamin E, right?
LOI: She knows everything now.
- I eat a lot of them.
I love them.
LOI: Again.
And you just mix it.
You add this here.
That's it.
I add some more chickpeas on the top.
And then I mix them again.
Now we'll put it into the oven, okay?
After, when we'll bake it, not too much, like 45 minutes maximum, because they already cooked everything, okay?
So, and then we'll bring it back and we'll add something else to the top.
See how easy it is?
- (gasps) It is!
LOI: So you like it vegan, okay?
- Yes.
LOI: All right, so let's do that, I'll make for you.
Oh, oh, look at this.
Amazing and the eggplants, huh?
- And the carrot!
I can smell the carrot, too.
LOI: Let me put it for you here.
- Oh and the celery, huh?
LOI: We'll call it spud-moussaka.
How's that?
- Yes!
LOI: And then I'll make another one.
And you will see the difference and then you can taste it.
I am telling you people, the aroma that comes out from this dish... (sniffs): Wow.
Please make it.
Okay, I think it's enough for you.
Okay, and it's enough for somebody else.
Some feta cheese.
You know that feta cheese is not the white cheese that you buy in New York.
- I know.
It's only from sheep and goat milk, correct?
LOI: Yes.
- Free and wild.
LOI: Both will take olive oil.
And we'll have two dishes now.
- Hmm.
LOI: One vegan, one vegetarian.
And somebody else will put a piece of chicken on.
- I want more!
(chuckles) LOI: One moment.
And then we can continue.
Olive oil.
We have to cheers.
- We do.
LOI: Okay.
Do you drink your olive oil every day?
- Yes, every morning and every night.
LOI: She's a good student.
Ela.
Yassou.
- Yassou.
And yassou.
Remember, metron ariston; everything in moderation except love, olive oil, and good eats.
- The Life of Loi is made possible by the Behrakis family.
Experience Abu Dhabi.
The Greek National Tourism Organization.
And SALFO Engineering & Management.
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