Chefs Zubair Mohajir and Jacob Dela Cruz debuted a new restaurant that explores culinary cultures across Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia this summer . Muhājir opened with a wood-fired menu that’s meant to be shared, an exciting change of pace
for Mohajir and Dela Cruz whose previous ventures focused on tasting menus. The pair walk Eater through a day of food prep and service at the new Lincoln Park spot.
Prep starts with breaking down a rare halal duck for the Duck Numidian dish, a 920-year-old recipe from southern Spain that they’ve been workshopping for years. The duck wings and neck are cooked down for the duck jus on the side, while the duck legs will become a confit folded into duck rice alongside the dry-aged duck breasts. The breasts hang over the fire right before service, before they are finished in the oven. Dips and shattas from around the world, using ingredients that range from cream cheese to fava beans, are served alongside papadam and roasted focaccia as a starter.
The hearth and oven are central to the Muhājir kitchen, which uses a combination of oak wood, olive wood, and coal to get that perfect smoky flavor. Before branzinos hit the grill, the whole fish are broken down and every bone is carefully removed. The branzinos spent a few days in the fridge so the skin will crisp up as soon as the fish hits the fire. The finished fish is laid on top of a rich walnut, yogurt, and coriander sauce and then topped off with a relish to lend some acid.
Next up is the Beef Cheek Nihari, a Pakistani dish made with halal wagyu beef that is covered in toasted and ground cinnamon, black pepper, coriander, cumin, clove, and cardamom. The beef is roasted on high heat before being braised in its own fat for 14 hours. The same spices are mixed into a jus that the beef is cooked in, and the ornate clay pot that its cooked in is set on the table to serve. Next are saffron rice dumplings, called faraa, made in-house and treated like a pasta served with vegetables and a cream sauce.
Watch the kitchen team at Muhājir cook everything from whole fish to beef cheeks over a huge fire in this episode of Now Open.
