São Paulo – It was because of a mistake of the Lebanese police that, in 1901, businessman Elias Hallab Cauerk left Beirut for Rio de Janeiro in the company of his wife and four children (four other heirs were later born in Brazil). The policemen who wrongfully arrested him because he was the namesake of a thief could not have guessed that their mistake would give Brazil its first Arab chef.
Deeply disturbed by the injustice, which cost him two days in jail, he loaded all of the gear of the restaurant that he used to own in the capital of his country into a ship and boarded without looking back.
Thus, in the same year of his arrival, Elias opened the first Arab restaurant in Brazil, Oriente & Ocidente (East&West), on Alfândega Street, in downtown Rio. "Early on, the establishment used to cater to Arab immigrants who lived in the region," explains Samir Moysés, a grandson to Elias and the chef at restaurant Folha de Uva (Grape Leaf), in São Paulo. "But then it became a favourite of Brazilians, who loved the grape leaf rolls, the hummus and the lamb that he used to cook," says Moysés.
That’s right, Elias himself used to cook at his establishment. "He used to cook very well," says Moysés. The grandson makes a point of sticking to the tradition. "At Folha de Uva, everything is done exactly as he used to," he claims.
Besides his talent in the kitchen, Elias has left another heritage that is respected in the family until this day: being generous towards those in need. "Every day he would give coins away to the beggars in downtown Rio, and he would also cook more food than he had to so that he could give it to those people," says Moysés.
A serious man who was very dedicated to his family, Elias was a good conversationist. He used to have many "fellow countrymen and customers" over for a chat at his restaurant. "He used to give advice to a lot of people," says Moysés.
After the death of its founder, in 1940, Oriente & Ocidente was passed on to one of his sons until it closed, a while later. Now, the family tradition in cuisine is carried on by Moysés at Folha de Uva and another granddaughter, Eugênia, who owns Empório Árabe (Arab Emporium) in Vitória, the capital of the state of Espírito Santo. This is proof that generations later, the legacy of the first Lebanese chef in the country continues to gather Brazilians and Arabs around the table.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
