Middle-Eastern culinary showcase

Australian chef and TV personality Shane Delia from the award-wining restaurant, Maha in Melbourne, will be cooking seven dinners at the Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok until Oct 23. 
Chef Delia, an award-winning chef is known for his media presence, television appearances and role as brand ambassador and director of the Delia group, which includes Maha in Melbourne, Australia.
“I take inspiration from the people and the places and the cuisines that I love, so throughout the Middle Eastern region, bring them into Australia and try to present them in a unrestricted manner at Maha. The beauty about being in Australia is that we’re a multicultural community. We live with very little cultural restrictions, just because something’s been done one way, in a certain village in a certain part of the world, and it shouldn’t be changed. Doesn’t mean that in Australia, we can’t take inspiration from that and try to create something new,” explains the chef.
“For Thailand, we wanted something that shows our current food at Maha. I think that when we have the opportunity to work in collaboration with hotels throughout the world, we want to show something that’s current. I don’t think that we should be changing what we do based on the country we’re going to, so we stay as close to what our current season is at Maha. We serve a tasting menu at Maha and we also offer a sharing style called a ‘sufra’, which is more banquet style, but with the same level of technique and elegance and produce; just a bit more of a communal style of dining,” says chef Delia.
The six-course menu starts with an appetiser plate featuring a Middle Eastern welcome board with creative twists. “Every Middle Eastern journey starts with mezze. So we’re not doing a full mezze. We’re doing more of a snack course that is full of flavour and a little bit of refinement, to show you some of the flavours that we cook at Maha. Every mezze has got two things: hummus and olives. The first snack are ‘olives’ filled with emulsified olive oil and a little bit of thyme,” says chef Delia.
We then move to the Balik ekmek tart, which comes from Turkey and means “fish in half a bread”. “Balik ekmek is a street food dish in Turkey, generally the Bosphorus, and is a big, crunchy piece of bread and mackerel that’s grilled over coal, with lots of pickled vegetables. So we’ve got some mackerel that’s been glazed and dressed in a harissa honey, and underneath you have some pickled vegetables and eggplant,” explains the chef. 
The next dish is more inspired by Bangkok with the addition of betel leaves, instead of nasturtium, which is used in Australia. “We’ve got some beautiful beetle leaves, but inside we have a shish of toothfish, which has been grilled with chermoula, with an almond hummus. And of course, you always need some hummus. So a little hummus on some freshly-grilled flatbread completes the snacks,” adds chef Delia.
The first course, Hiramasa kingfish crudo, includes charred pineapple tabbouleh and house-made harissa. Easily my favourite dish on the menu is the Macaroon bil toum, consists of Lebanese garlic dumplings with Hokkaido scallops and pine nut burnt butter, marrying Middle Eastern flavours with modern gastronomic techniques. The fish course features Roasted coral trout, accompanied by spiced Shirazi and orange reduction, blending contemporary flavours from various regions. 
“We are trying to show more of an elevated approach at this dinner at Siam Kempinski. These are predominantly the same dishes that we serve save for the main course,” he adds. The main course, which is Dry-aged duck breast, is perhaps, the only dish that is not on the menu at Maha currently. It is a version of a duck dish that they have served in the past.
Even the dessert was first served in 2010 and every year it is recreated and brought back. The dessert is made with beetroot, white chocolate, watermelon, rosewater and peppermint crisp milk chocolate ice cream.
One of chef Delia’s key goals is to demonstrate that Middle Eastern flavours can be presented in innovative and contemporary ways. His Bangkok menu will showcase the versatility and excellence of Middle Eastern cuisine, offering a unique blend of traditional and modern elements.
Under his stewardship, Maha has earned the prestigious Chef’s Hat award, recognised for its inventive reinterpretation of Middle Eastern cuisine. Maha celebrates its rich culinary heritage with contemporary twists, embodying the concept of ‘Unrestricted Middle Eastern Cuisine’. Chef Delia’s expertise in modernising ancient dishes with world-class ingredients promises a dining experience unlike any other.
The “Chef Shane Delia Pop-up Restaurant” will be open for seven dinners until Oct 23 for dinner. Visit the hotel’s website.