Riyad Alkasem, aka ‘Chef Rakka,’ stands in the tight but tidy kitchen of Café Rakka in Hendersonville doing what he has done since 2007, preparing the authentic dishes of his native city of Raqqa in eastern Syria. Hummus, falafel, lamb chops, anything with eggplant — all are iconic to his hometown on the banks of the Euphrates and all are specialties of the house. As he cooks, he suffuses each dish with an ever-present, aromatic liquid that sits beside the sizzling skillets atop the steady blue flames. It is the ‘spice water,’ a mix of lemon, vinegar, and the blend of spices appropriate to its season — the spring blend, rich in wildflowers and wild herbs to promote blood flow; the summer blend, rich in spices to promote hydration; the fall blend, rich in spices to promote detoxification; and the winter blend, rich in immune system boosters.
“Every family has its own mix of spices,” Chef Rakka explains. “This is our mix, the ‘base’ as we call it. It’s handed down over generations. My grandmother never taught me how to cook. She taught me how to blend spices.”