French Country Cooking (file under Yum)

I recently perused The Roux (Michel and Albert) Brothers’ wonderful book; “French Country Cooking.” While reading it I found myself both inspired and wondering. They have broken down France into its various regions and given you typical dishes that might be served in Manor Houses and farms alike. The beauty of the book lay in the fact that it breaks down the regions. This gives me a greater knowledge of the type, quality and use of various ingredients all around France.

There are certain basic recipes that a Chef (or cook) should have in his repertoire if he/she hopes to survive. From the Roux Brothers’ I took a recipe for Pate a Choux, Brioche, Bread, Custard and Sorbet. I am yet to try the recipe but drawing on my memory I can taste the recipes that they provide and know that I will tweak them for my own various uses.

One of the things that struck me is that The Roux Brothers’ are very accomplished Chefs and that these dishes are accessible to the everyday cook. While some of the ingredients may be out of reach, lets say, Truffles, they give an appropriate and indeed perfect substitution for them.

Another striking thing was that they referred to Lyonnais as the “Temple of Gastronomy.” In everything that I have learned thus far in my culinary experience I was led to belief (or perhaps did foolishly and without merit) that Provence was widely considered the “Temple of Gastronomy.” This is something that over time I will study further to determine why they refer to Lyonnais in this manner.

Cleverly they also have a breakdown of the various specialties in each of France’s regions. It is very interesting to note both the similarities and differences between the regions.

I look forward to trying to put my own spin on some of their recipes such as; Snails poached in Chablis, Eggs poached in Red Wine, Pig Trotters and Ttoro. I will let you know when I have made them and how they have turned out.

Charles Pierre Monselet once wrote; "Gastronomy, has been the joy of all peoples through the ages. It produces beauty and wit and goes hand in hand with goodness of heart and a consideration of others."

How true! Are you dreaming big and inspired?

A la prochaine

SDM

Great Chefs (and what they mean to me)

Over the course of this past year. 10 months really. I have spent as much time as humanly possible reading. I have tried to absorb as much as humanly possible and have many notebooks and this blog as evidence of that fact.

I have read Escoffier, Girardet, the Roux Brothers, Bourdain, Marco Pierre White, Alice Waters, Thomas Keller, Michael Ruhlman and so many more. I have read MFK Fisher with delight and marveled at the ingenuity required to consider how to properly cook a wolf. But what has all this reading meant for my development?

Each time I pick up a book I read it with a sense of urgency equal to that of a student who knows that his teacher is about to die. With that urgency I have riffled through the various, wits, wisdoms and insights of the greats to both aid my journey and to illuminate my path. From each I have taken something significant and different.

But ultimately the question comes down to this; what makes a great chef great? I think that everyone in his or her chosen field asks this question. What makes a pitcher so capable of throwing? An artist so capable of capturing a moment in time? A writer, so on and so forth.

So I ask then; what does make a great chef great? I have asked this question before in the blog. How does Gordon Ramsay become Gordon Ramsay? Or Marco Pierre White? I think that in this age of instant gratification everyone buys into the belief that these people can achieve success, well, instantly. As such there is a over stylized and glamourized concept that people have with regard to them. But not me.

I have worked in the restaurant industry now for over ten months. Ten long, grueling, demanding and glorious months. I have learned more being in the restaurant than any book (or culinary school) could ever impart. And yet I am left with the question; what separates the wheat from the chaff? And ultimately I think what makes people in any given field great is; Drive, Passion, Talent, Desire and Dedication.

What makes Gordon Ramsay Gordon Ramsay is that he has worked tirelessly, everyday to BE Gordon Ramsay. The same is true of all the greats. I hope one day to be looked at not by the world at large, but by my customers, as a great chef. As a harbinger of culinary greatness that culminates in a wonderful experience, gastronomical and otherwise, that they can take with them for the rest of their lives.

The more I read, the more I come to understand, that the field that I have chosen is one that eats people alive. I come to see that I did not choose the field at all but rather that it chose me. And while today I am but an infant in the industry learning how to crawl and soon to walk, I am aware that you can’t really pick to be a great chef, YOU HAVE TO BECOME ONE. On a path that is clear but winding. That path is what has made all these Chefs great.

George Bernard Shaw once wrote; “Forget about likes and dislikes. They are of no consequence. Just do what must be done. This may not be happiness but it is greatness.” Think about that for a minute.

Are you dreaming big and inspired? WHY NOT?

A la prochaine

SDM