An Interview With Chef Marko Maric Of Zengo
10 August 2018
Quite often when it comes to food, you can remember what you had, right? But have you ever stopped to think about the mastermind behind that fabulous dish you just gobbled down? This is why the "Chef Interview" section was concocted, so that you could get to know the tasty information on who's cooking up those meals you don't have to prepare yourself, and of course, to pay tribute to the talent, hard work, and love behind their dishes.
I'm starting with a favorite friendly face in Doha - Marko Maric. Have you met him yet?
Chef Marko is the head chef at Zengo, a pan-Asian restaurant by Chef Richard Sandoval. He has been in the culinary industry for over 20 years with quite the repertoire. He has been an executive chef at a hotel in Mexico and gained experience in Serbia, Croatia, and now Qatar. He claims that he doesn't believe his skills come from what he learned at school, but through long hours and hard nights in a commercial kitchen leading a team.
What is your favorite ingredient to cook with?
I'm curious and very open-minded when it comes to cooking. I don't know how I would even choose my favorite cuisine, let alone ingredient. I could probably count over 100 favorite ingredients. But if I'm forced to choose, I would say tomatoes in all forms and varieties. I admire the perfect natural balance of the strong acidity and sweetness from ripe tomatoes. This creates one of the best natural and deep umami flavors.
What ingredient do you dislike the most?
There is no food or ingredient that I hate. However, there are some ingredients that can give me a hard time when I'm cooking with them. Strong flavors or ingredients with a particular flavor can make pairing with other ingredients challenging. The risk of not achieving the right balance becomes higher.
For example, when cooking with spicy ingredients, you need to be very careful. If the ingredient releases too much capsaicin, the level of spice that a guest feels will be so high that it can overpower and prevent them from enjoying or appreciating the other flavors of the dish. The balance will be lost, and all the hard work and composition of flavors will be destroyed. On the other hand, if you add the right amount of spiciness, it can elevate the dish from 3D to 4D.
One cookbook that you can't live without?
Actually, it's a book that consists of five books. It's definitely "Modernist Cuisine" by Nathan Myhrvold and Maxime Bilet. This series of books changed the standard of cookbooks forever. The book was developed by a team of brilliant culinary minds who spent five years in an experimental kitchen in Seattle. Together with physicists, chemists, professional photographers, various technicians, and a bunch of Michelin-star chefs, they co-authored the ultimate guide on how to cook almost everything.
Most of the things in cooking that were once classified as "magic" or "touché" in previous cookbooks are explained thoroughly through microbiology, thermodynamics, and chemistry in "The Modernist Cuisine." This is something that I really appreciate—the right answers to how and why!
Describe your cooking in one word.
Intense.
How old were you when you decided to be a chef?
This is a tough one! Honestly, I think I became a chef by accident. Back in the day, when I decided to go to culinary school, the cooking profession was not as popular as it is today, and the schools didn't have difficult requirements for admission. So, I decided to take the "easy road" by going to culinary school. At the time, I didn't have any love or passion for cooking. As the days went by, I became more and more sure that I was in the wrong place. It wasn't until I stepped into a professional kitchen for the first time in my life that I realized I had a passion for it. The heat, tension, stress, and long hours—somehow, I felt like this was everything I needed to be happy.
After that breaking point, I became more curious and eager to learn about the true hard work required to endure life in a professional kitchen. Twenty years later, I'm still curious and constantly striving to improve myself and learn more. I must be a masochist; there is no other explanation! If I could start my life from scratch, I wouldn't change anything.
If you weren't a chef, what would you be?
By this time, I would probably be a retired soccer player or an active soldier. I can say that both would be good alternatives to what I am now.
What would you have for your last meal?
I would have the transparent pill from the movie "Limitless." Then I would make sure that this is not my last meal. [laughs]
What's one piece of advice you would give to a home cook?
"Do not try this at home!" [laughter] Just kidding... Okay, all you home cooks out there, recipes are just guidance! Execution is your love, skill, and passion that is guided by the recipe. So, whatever you cook, just love it, and it cannot be bad!
Let's end with a drink, what is in your glass?
Southern Comfort, orange zest, a huge piece of hand-crushed ice, and oak smoke - touché!
Photo Credit: Feature image of Marko by Nigel Pearce Photography
