Mohamed Quach: "I wonder why chefs working in Catalonia don't speak Catalan like I do, since I arrived when I was twelve."

TarragonaI interviewed chef Mohamed Quach at his restaurant El Terrat in Tarragona, after enjoying the Olivus menu (€85), one of two he prepares. Located high above the city, very close to La Rambla, El Terrat has a panoramic view of the sea from its entrance. In 2018, Chef Moha Quach opened it with a partnerBut he's been running it alone for a year now. Before he rented the space to open the restaurant he dreamed of, Moha Quach, El Terrat was already operating as a restaurant. "I felt sorry about changing the name; and I kept it when we started our own in 2018, but now, little by little, I'd like to add my name," he says. Perhaps soon, the sign will say Moha Quach-El Terrat. For now, he's already engraved his name on the napkins, white and spotless. The chef is thirty-four years old, this year has won the revelation award at the National Gastronomy Awards and has an endless passion for cooking, especially Catalan, Roman, and romesco dishes, because he was born in the Rif (northern Morocco) and claims that, ultimately, all the peoples bordering the Mediterranean cook in a similar way. Moha lives in Tarragona, but when he arrived in Catalonia at the age of twelve, he settled in Miami Platja, where his mother lives. He has his siblings far away, between France and Germany.

I saw that on your restaurant's Instagram account you write El Terrat by Quach.

— I'm working to consolidate the brand, and when it is, I'll change the exterior sign and put it on. El Terrat had a long tradition in Tarragona, and I was sad to remove its name, despite its cuisine being so different from that of the previous owners.

In the pairing I just tried with the Olivus menu, I drank wines exclusively from Tarragona's designations of origin, which the sommelier paired with dishes like romesco.

— We're big fans of locally sourced produce. And the romesco, as you've seen, is made our way. It's our version, for which we make a stock with shrimp heads, onion, leek, carrot, and garlic. Then we add a spicy kick, with a bit of chili, and the result is a romesco that's best eaten with a spoon. It contains the essence of the flavors of fish romescos.

Women attach great importance to the tradition of Catalan cuisine.

— Yes, but I reinterpret it in my own way. You won't find a plate of fricandó on the menu exactly as the regulations dictate, because I'll give it a twist. However, always respecting its flavors, because I think they should be respected. And this is what we explained at the Romesco Congress, which took place in Tarragona, and where I participated as a speaker and also on the scientific committee.

At the congress he said that romesco had never been vindicated.

— I think that until now, the seafood rancho, romesco, hadn't been valued, no, but now it is, and the congress wants to ensure continuity so that it continues to be talked about. In fact, the ultimate goal is to clearly define its identity and achieve a quality seal recognized by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan Government). The romesco masters competition held in the Serrallo neighborhood has been losing participants; I think it should be more popular again, and we'll achieve that if we keep talking about the dish.

You've told me on other occasions that it angers you when someone who has lived in Catalonia for years doesn't speak Catalan.

— And I maintain that. I arrived at the age of twelve, this land welcomed me, people opened the doors of their homes to me, I learned the language because it's a way of being consistent with what I've been given. There are people who have lived in Catalonia for forty or fifty years and haven't bothered to speak the language, Catalan. I wonder why the chefs who work in Catalonia don't speak Catalan like I do, who arrived at the age of twelve. Perhaps it's true that I, being from the Rif and speaking Amazigh, have a greater sensitivity for languages, because the Rif is a people with similarities to Catalan.

I saw on the tasting menu that there are many of the preparations that you make, such as garum.

— We even bring garum, in a glass jar, to the table to show and explain it to diners. It's a salted fish, which helps us reuse discarded parts of the fish, such as bones and skin. With this preparation, we enhance the flavor of the dishes and connect with Roman cuisine, which is also one of my obsessions: recovering the cuisine of Tarragona.

In the crockery on which you serve the dishes you are also recalling Roman cuisine.

— We want everything to have it, yes. We have an amphora-shaped dish. And have you tried Mulsum vermouth? We make it with white vermouth from Tarragona with lemon foam and honey. The name of the menu you tried, Olivum, reminds me of the name of a ship from Rome that traveled along the coast. I researched it with Joaquín Ruiz de Arbulo Bayona, professor of classical archaeology at the Rovira y Virgili University of Tarragona. Through him, I learned that the ship Olivum transported food throughout the Mediterranean. That's why this tasting menu includes three appetizers reminiscent of Rome: the white vermouth with lemon and honey I mentioned, which is a reinterpretation of a widely consumed drink in ancient Rome.

After the appetizers reminiscent of ancient Rome, there is an olive, a mythical olive.

— I worked at the Disfrutar restaurant in Barcelona, ​​​​with Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch and Mateu CasañasThe olive, coated in cocoa butter, was born at Disfrutar, and I like to put it on the menu, as a reminder.

When you talk about Enjoying, I feel you excited.

— I worked there and have been there eight times. They're very good. Each time I've been, they've remembered what I'd eaten, so they've changed dishes. Of all the dishes, the best I've ever eaten is the monkfish liver, which is like a royal cake with caramel on top. Disfrutar is a truly creative restaurant.

I'm back on your menu, which takes a turn toward Morocco. Let's start with Tarragona, but turn south.

— Yes, there are four dishes I'm telling you about from the Rif Valley. As if we were on a boat; we're going from one place to another. And after passing through the Rif Valley, we go to a romesco. And we continue with hake cheeks with veal tripe suquet, which is a dish that reminds me of a stew from the Rif, where I was born.

Are Mediterranean stews similar?

— I've come to the conclusion that yes, we cook the same way all over the Mediterranean. We make the same dishes as our grandmothers, who stayed at home while we went to the fields to work. The ingredients and cooking methods are the same; the spices vary, like hot peppers and cilantro, which aren't used as much here in Catalonia. On the other hand, ancient Rome did use aromatic herbs, spices, and dates. Spices always enhance the flavor of dishes.

One detail I noticed about the menu I ate. There were no potatoes, tomatoes, or peppers. Instead, there were green beans, in a dish I really liked, and which surprised me because it's often missing from tasting menus.

— I don't use ingredients that came from America, which is why there are no potatoes, tomatoes, or peppers in any of the dishes. I like to say that I don't make tasting menus, but rather I create dishes for lunch and dinner in which I tell a historical story to highlight the heritage of the city of Tarragona.

Finally, Moha, what are your professional dreams for the future?

— I'd like to open a new restaurant serving traditional Catalan cuisine, which we're losing, and it just can't happen. I'm not against trends, but I'd rather have meatballs with cuttlefish. In Tarragona we have the restaurant El Barquet, by David Solé, traditional cuisine, but there aren't many others. My dream is to prepare the best desgajadas and esculladas in the new restaurant I open in Tarragona.