So C's parents are in town this weekend and of course I am going to be busy, busy and busy. But hey this is the life that I have chosen and I am thrilled to be living my dream. This weekend I feel as if I know how to run the grill (my station on the patio) and will have great success in doing so as I did last week.
Last night, A and I had a chat which included Thomas Keller, Roland Henin, how to truss a chicken and where I am going. He feels that I will get there and even told me that he thinks that I pick things up quickly and that when he looks at how they had to bail me out the first weekend and then seeing how I operated the next that if I can continue doing that throughout my career I will be very successful as I am a quick study.
He also suggested that when it is time for me to leave Reservation that I should find a technically demanding Garde Manger job. The idea being that how can you be a chef if you don't know how to do everything; including as I've said washing dishes.
Anyway, just a quick post as I'm off to work.
Thomas Keller once said; “I have no formal culinary training, right.” and nor do I. My Chefs are my formal training and I think that it is serving me better than had I gone to school. The flame is a great teacher.
Have an inspired day and dream big.
A la prochaine
SDM
Showing posts with label Roland Henin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roland Henin. Show all posts
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
The French Laundry (file under its going to be a long winding road)
Quick update here in Thomas Keller and The French Laundry. I have a profound respect for what all Chefs do. But some, like Keller, rock my world. Today was my day off (thankfully) and I will be posting about my experience in the restaurant next, but, it gave me the opportunity to finish “The French Laundry Cookbook.”
Keller is exceptionally talented and has an awesome respect for food. He sees the ingredient for what it is and then tries to kick it in the ass thus making it that much better. Keller came to the kitchen at a young age and became a head chef even younger. His path to learning was (like mine) a long and winding road but it served him well.
One of Keller’s mentors was Roland Henin, the Master Chef who took him on at the Dunes Club to cook staff meals. This was an extremely formative time for Keller and as a result of the seemingly mundane (staff meals) he got a base from which a lot of his current shine comes from. From Henin Keller learned that if “you can cook… you can go back in time.”
Another interesting point which resonated with me is that a recipe has no soul. You can follow a recipe perfectly and never be able to create it as well as someone else. (This also relates to something that A and I were talking about recently and I will mention in the next post.) A recipe is a guide, a path that can take you to excellence, but the cook must have A SOUL TO GET THERE! The recipe can only do so much and the rest is up to the cooks sense and sensibilities.
Keller insists that in this fast paced world people slow down and especially cooks, make deliberate actions and your food will be better as a result. I could not agree more. But again I will touch on this in the next post.
As I have come to know from experience, you must trust your instincts.
That said, the food that Keller has included in the cookbook is fabulous. The images of the food leave you with the desire to be eating mouthfuls the whole time. I think that the most important point though that I took away from both The French Laundry Cookbook and Bouchon is as Keller says; “Sometimes you have to experience the really bad in order to avoid it.”
Dream Big and INSPIRED.
A la prochaine
SDM
Keller is exceptionally talented and has an awesome respect for food. He sees the ingredient for what it is and then tries to kick it in the ass thus making it that much better. Keller came to the kitchen at a young age and became a head chef even younger. His path to learning was (like mine) a long and winding road but it served him well.
One of Keller’s mentors was Roland Henin, the Master Chef who took him on at the Dunes Club to cook staff meals. This was an extremely formative time for Keller and as a result of the seemingly mundane (staff meals) he got a base from which a lot of his current shine comes from. From Henin Keller learned that if “you can cook… you can go back in time.”
Another interesting point which resonated with me is that a recipe has no soul. You can follow a recipe perfectly and never be able to create it as well as someone else. (This also relates to something that A and I were talking about recently and I will mention in the next post.) A recipe is a guide, a path that can take you to excellence, but the cook must have A SOUL TO GET THERE! The recipe can only do so much and the rest is up to the cooks sense and sensibilities.
Keller insists that in this fast paced world people slow down and especially cooks, make deliberate actions and your food will be better as a result. I could not agree more. But again I will touch on this in the next post.
As I have come to know from experience, you must trust your instincts.
That said, the food that Keller has included in the cookbook is fabulous. The images of the food leave you with the desire to be eating mouthfuls the whole time. I think that the most important point though that I took away from both The French Laundry Cookbook and Bouchon is as Keller says; “Sometimes you have to experience the really bad in order to avoid it.”
Dream Big and INSPIRED.
A la prochaine
SDM
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