I want to start this post by saying that I’m so proud of the love of my life, my future wife and the mother of our children for the great success she has had in NYC. Babe, I’m so proud of you. I knew that you would kick ass and you did, have and will continue to. You are a true rarified and unique gem and I’m grateful to know you, to be with you and to share love with you. You are amazing. That said…
What does it mean to feel? To taste? Smell? Hear? What does it mean when one person likes one thing and another something else? I know that these questions might seem like a reductum ad absurdum but I assure you they are not. In the kitchen I now find myself wondering why what is crunchy to one is not to another. How the sound is heard, analyzed and internalized. Flavour is an easy one because every one has a different palate and different taste sensations. Is everything that I am doing now subjective? Or is there objectivity? Is there a way to create a universally appealing dish? Anyone? These are questions that I have running through my head at least eighteen hours a day.
Another question I have running through my head right now is; if you could have any meal what would it be? I’ve now come to expand it to any meal at any time. Before expanding it my answer was the Emperor’s Banquet inside the Forbidden City. I know that at this particular moment given the fact that China has the Olympics and that there are all kinds of geo political forces at work that it may not be the politically correct answer but really. The Emperor’s feast. For those of you who are unaware of what the Emperor’s Feast is just go here; http://www.flavorandfortune.com/dataaccess/article.php?ID=234 . Now obviously the feast has changed a bit. But still can you imagine being a party to something like that even today.
In terms of the historical context it is hard for me to decide which meal I would want and in what time period. There are so many people that I would love to have dinner with from history that the question could literally take ten lifetimes for me to answer. What about you? What meal would you want?
So in the past week I have read about four hundred and fifty very dense pages on the culinary arts. I didn’t write yesterday because I was trying to figure out how best to present it to you. I decided to give a salient top down view of what I’ve learned.
Obviously I wrote last week about the culinary journey I took around the world. That journey now complete I have started trying to figure out if there is a way to mix, as example) traditional Polish food with French? Or Japanese with Southern? Or you get the idea. Food is meant to be played with, experimented with and enjoyed. If you enjoy something from one culture and another, why not find a way to marry the two. Harmony of course being the goal. I believe that the answer to harmony will come from being true to the ingredient, exposing its strength as well as its weakness and letting the palate work it all out. But we’ll see as time goes by how that changes for me.
I learned all proteins as well. The various cuts, what they are used for and some of their flavour profiles. On my next day off I will spend some time explaining further. As it is right now, I’m going to study.
I hope you all are doing well. I trust that you are all working on isolating your dream and taking the first steps to get there.
The Dalai Lama once said; “I believe that the very purpose of life is to be happy. From the very core of our being, we desire contentment. In my own limited experience I have found that the more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own sense of well being. Cultivating a close, warmhearted feeling for others automatically puts the mind at ease. It helps remove whatever fears or insecurities we may have and gives us the strength to cope with any obstacles we encounter. It is the principal source of success in life. Since we are not solely material creatures, it is a mistake to place all our hopes for happiness on external development alone. The key is to develop inner peace.”
I hope you all find inner peace. I have and am grateful to those both outside and inside the kitchen that have helped me find it.
Dream inspired.
A la prochaine
SDM
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
Michel Roux and Sauces (file under REALLY?)
As I mentioned in my post on Saturday Executive Chef loaned me another book, Michel Roux’s; “Sauces.” I’ve been reading it this morning for about five hours I guess it is now and I’ve just finished tearing through it. This book is a must for anyone who is serious about cooking. Sauces are, as I’ve mentioned before, one of the foundations of all that is right and just in cooking. Of course, as I mentioned in a previous post, the French developed sauces because the ingredients they had were not great as a stand-alone item and therefore had to be hidden by a sauce. In a current context sauces are not used to hide ingredients or make something that doesn’t taste good taste good. Today sauces are used as a compliment. An element that can add colour, texture, aroma, etc.
Upon opening the book I got a wider understanding of the Roux principles. With a mastery that few have on the planet today he takes items and enhances them. Sauces, as the title would suggest, is all about sauces, how to make them and how to enhance them. One of the things that struck me was when Roux said; “Any excess is ridiculous!” This stands out in my mind because I have been in some of the finer eating establishments in the world and some of them practice excess as a means of disguising something, such as an inadequacy. I know this sounds like a harsh comment but after reading that I started to think to some of the restaurants I’ve been too and wondered whether what I was eating was adding complexity and character. I started to look at the excess of a certain one and was actually able to isolate what they were attempting and why. I could only think of two restaurants where I believe that excess was the principle and I will not name them here.
I spend a good portion of my work concentrating on stocks. As Roux says stocks are the base of a great sauce. As I’ve mentioned before the veal jus that I work on is the result of a veal stock and remi combination allowed to reduce which takes three days to come to the proper consistency, clarity, colour and flavour. A sauce, it would seem to me, among certain people, is nothing but an additive, something added as an afterthought for some unknown reason. I however, as stated earlier, look at sauce as one of two things. A wonderful compliment to an extraordinary meal or as a so so drab going through the motions experience. Stocks are the very lifeblood of sauces. It is from their complexity that the seemingly simple sauce is born.
Roux talks about striking a happy balance and that’s what I believe a sauce is for. To create harmony between the ingredients, to accentuate rather than to thrill. Sure a sauce can be absolutely divine and thrilling but what is its purpose?
Having read this book this morning and learning that Roux created more than 100 sauces (most of which were included in the book) caused me to see that there is so much to learn. For example he has one sauce that he uses that caused me to think that perhaps I would use it as a base and change minor elements within it to reflect the flavour profile that I am seeking. And I am seeking a flavour profile. I just don’t know exactly how to explain it yet.
Roux is a talented writer and an even more talented Chef. I would strongly recommend this book for anyone who is serious about cooking. It opened up my eyes to how I can create a dish starting at the end (the sauce) or at the beginning (the main ingredient or star of the plate). There are no hard and fast rules as to how to create a dish and lately I seem to find myself starting in the middle. With an ingredient but no divine inspiration with what to do with it. That is of course until I figure out accompaniments and sauce.
I understand why Executive Chef gave me this book to go through next. It is another element in the classical training that I am receiving.
I also went through the Nigel Didcock book over the past week or so. I really liked some of the elements of his dishes, he presents beautiful plates and without knowingly having eaten something he created (I’ve been to the Granite Club quite a bit growing up) I can’t comment on flavour. I can say that there is a great complexity to his dishes and I wondered whether or not the complexity would still allow the flavour to come through as the star or whether it was the presentation itself. I can tell you that the recipes sound incredible and I will attempt to do one or two of his dishes.
I keep going back to the question form over function. Form? Or Function? Or both? Can there be a harmony between the two on the plate. I believe there can be and it is something that I work on. I also believe that Head and Executive Chefs present plates that are beautiful but moreover that the taste is the star of the show no question.
At any rate, now I’m going back to read the CIA’s “The Professional Chef.” I will be back later today with an update on that. I’m so excited at all I am learning and I can actually feel it in the depth of my soul. Genuinely happy and out there trying to be me is a wonderful place to be in my life… FINALLY!
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said; “The high prize of life, the crowning fortune of man, is to be born with a bias to some pursuit which finds him in employment and happiness.” Happiness is not some elusive conceptual dreamland. It is a reality that you can choose to live each and every day. Finally, after 33 years of life I internally (and outwardly) know that I have found that purpose and moreover that that purpose has brought me endless happiness and hitherto untold joy. Who knew?
I’ll be back, but in the time between then and now, dream inspired, love life, laugh and sing.
A la prochaine
SDM
Upon opening the book I got a wider understanding of the Roux principles. With a mastery that few have on the planet today he takes items and enhances them. Sauces, as the title would suggest, is all about sauces, how to make them and how to enhance them. One of the things that struck me was when Roux said; “Any excess is ridiculous!” This stands out in my mind because I have been in some of the finer eating establishments in the world and some of them practice excess as a means of disguising something, such as an inadequacy. I know this sounds like a harsh comment but after reading that I started to think to some of the restaurants I’ve been too and wondered whether what I was eating was adding complexity and character. I started to look at the excess of a certain one and was actually able to isolate what they were attempting and why. I could only think of two restaurants where I believe that excess was the principle and I will not name them here.
I spend a good portion of my work concentrating on stocks. As Roux says stocks are the base of a great sauce. As I’ve mentioned before the veal jus that I work on is the result of a veal stock and remi combination allowed to reduce which takes three days to come to the proper consistency, clarity, colour and flavour. A sauce, it would seem to me, among certain people, is nothing but an additive, something added as an afterthought for some unknown reason. I however, as stated earlier, look at sauce as one of two things. A wonderful compliment to an extraordinary meal or as a so so drab going through the motions experience. Stocks are the very lifeblood of sauces. It is from their complexity that the seemingly simple sauce is born.
Roux talks about striking a happy balance and that’s what I believe a sauce is for. To create harmony between the ingredients, to accentuate rather than to thrill. Sure a sauce can be absolutely divine and thrilling but what is its purpose?
Having read this book this morning and learning that Roux created more than 100 sauces (most of which were included in the book) caused me to see that there is so much to learn. For example he has one sauce that he uses that caused me to think that perhaps I would use it as a base and change minor elements within it to reflect the flavour profile that I am seeking. And I am seeking a flavour profile. I just don’t know exactly how to explain it yet.
Roux is a talented writer and an even more talented Chef. I would strongly recommend this book for anyone who is serious about cooking. It opened up my eyes to how I can create a dish starting at the end (the sauce) or at the beginning (the main ingredient or star of the plate). There are no hard and fast rules as to how to create a dish and lately I seem to find myself starting in the middle. With an ingredient but no divine inspiration with what to do with it. That is of course until I figure out accompaniments and sauce.
I understand why Executive Chef gave me this book to go through next. It is another element in the classical training that I am receiving.
I also went through the Nigel Didcock book over the past week or so. I really liked some of the elements of his dishes, he presents beautiful plates and without knowingly having eaten something he created (I’ve been to the Granite Club quite a bit growing up) I can’t comment on flavour. I can say that there is a great complexity to his dishes and I wondered whether or not the complexity would still allow the flavour to come through as the star or whether it was the presentation itself. I can tell you that the recipes sound incredible and I will attempt to do one or two of his dishes.
I keep going back to the question form over function. Form? Or Function? Or both? Can there be a harmony between the two on the plate. I believe there can be and it is something that I work on. I also believe that Head and Executive Chefs present plates that are beautiful but moreover that the taste is the star of the show no question.
At any rate, now I’m going back to read the CIA’s “The Professional Chef.” I will be back later today with an update on that. I’m so excited at all I am learning and I can actually feel it in the depth of my soul. Genuinely happy and out there trying to be me is a wonderful place to be in my life… FINALLY!
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said; “The high prize of life, the crowning fortune of man, is to be born with a bias to some pursuit which finds him in employment and happiness.” Happiness is not some elusive conceptual dreamland. It is a reality that you can choose to live each and every day. Finally, after 33 years of life I internally (and outwardly) know that I have found that purpose and moreover that that purpose has brought me endless happiness and hitherto untold joy. Who knew?
I’ll be back, but in the time between then and now, dream inspired, love life, laugh and sing.
A la prochaine
SDM
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Brunch Prep and Surprise Tasting Menu (file under exciting)
I hope this finds you all well. I myself am up at the crack of dawn because there is so much that I need to get done.
As always on Saturday I started doing prep for brunch. L was on vacation that meant that we all had to pick up the slack. I developed a further appreciation of L and how hard he works and the things he gets accomplished in a day. He really is a machin (misspelled on purpose). I didn’t really have to do anything for the line; my primary focus was on the brunch prep.
Brunch prep involves each of the following;
Crack 2 case eggs
Dice red onion, peppers, mushrooms, Kessler and green onion
Prep the sausage, bacon and peameal
Cut Top butt into useable sections (in this case 10)
Make Greek Salad, Tuscan Bean, Roasted Vegetables, Meat Platters (8), Cheese Platters (8), Fruit Platters (a lot), Chicken Salad, Potato Salad, Caprese Salad (8 platters), Waffle Batter, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, strawberry compote, babaganoush, whipped butter, whipped cream cheese
These are just some of the things that I got done today. I had only been scheduled until five but because there was so much to get done I said that I was more than willing and able to stay and that I was willing to come in earlier tomorrow in order to make sure that we got everything done.
Chef J was working near me and I saw that something was up and asked what was going on. As Head Chef was not there Chef J went out to deal with something and then came back. I asked what was up and he said that we had to do a tasting menu on the fly. He started thinking about it and I felt that I had an opportunity to assist both with the idea and construction. For about seven or eight minutes I blurted out things that came to mind that I would do if I had to build a menu quick. It was fun bouncing ideas off of him and he was bouncing ideas of me too. After this short time Chef J developed the plan and we started working it.
We made a four course appetizer tasting and a main course. We started with an amuse Bouche of Wild Mushroom Gnocchi with a cream sauce, spinach and crispy pancetta on top. Second tasting was a stuffed quail. Third course was a Salmon Tartare wrapped in a crepe. Fourth was Curried apricot and duck. It was exciting and exhilarating to develop something and execute it so quickly. I loved it. I really felt as if I was in my element. Moreover Chef J really appreciated it as well and said so several times. He actually said that my blurting things out helped him to create what he did and that he was super appreciative of my assistance.
I also realized again today that when I think about what I am doing too much rather than just do it it becomes like a chore, it is extremely difficult and I find that I fight my mind and my body. BUT, when I just do what I know how to do and don’t over complicate it with unnecessary thoughts I can execute quite well. I know that time and experience are my best teachers but I now also know that I need to quiet my mind quite a bit more when I am in the kitchen.
By quiet what I am referring to is that nagging little voice that is inside all of our heads. It is filled with malice, mean spiritedness, doubt, fear, etc. I’m sure you all know that little voice and the way that it causes you to respond either physically or through a loss of mental acuity. I am making a concerted effort this week to silence that voice and to allow my body to do what it knows how to do.
I also got a new knife today. This caused an excitement that used to be reserved for the death of a pen or the purchase of a new one. My heart actually skipped a beat as I put a new tool in my hand. A tool that means far more to me as I realize my life’s purpose and my own personal if not selfish realization of my dreams. I purchased another Mac knife (www.macknife.com ). (I really like the style, construction, weighting, ease of use and sharpness). The one I just bought can be found here; http://www.macknife.com/images/knives/pmsk65.gif .
As well I also wanted to make a side note about my last post. I often consider the other side of food. In Canada, and in fact in the industrialized world we take food for granted. It is a secondary concern or even lower. The reason for this is that we live in a society of gross (read a lot) abundance. Think of the industrialized world as if it were a child of wealth. There are two kinds of children who grow up in wealth. Those that have a full appreciation and understanding of it and then there are the wayward ones that become spoiled, complacent and unaware of the lengths that are gone to for wealth to amass. With food in the industrialized world we are the exact same as the second child. I mention all this because my mother lives on the ground in Africa. She is surrounded by poverty and lack and I felt that I needed to mention that we are spoiled here and have little or no understanding of how the food we eat arrives at our plate and have even less respect for it (in most cases). I wasn’t even going to make this side note but I felt it was important to try to get everyone to see that food is much more than what we put on our plate or is put on the plate in front of us. Yes of course it is sustenance but if you look at the world today you will see that food is used as a weapon, as a tool and there is an ugly side to it.
But this realization is something I have known my whole life. It is also something that I plan on working to correct. We have no attachment to our food here. Most kids could not tell you that a carrot grows underground or that a mushroom grows in the dark. Most kids today have not seen a farm, whether animal or vegetable, and as such there is little or no appreciation for the food we eat. Do you think that if we took a child from Africa, India or China and brought them to a farm that they would have a greater appreciation then would a child from the industrialized world?
At any rate Monday is my day off and I plan on finishing The Nigel Didcock book. Moreover, Executive Chef gave me another great book; Michel Roux’s “Sauces.” And let me just tell you how excited I am to tear through that while sipping a great whiskey.
Thus I leave you with the following thought from Albert Schweitzer; “Ethics cannot be based upon our obligations toward [people], but they are complete and natural only when we feel this Reverence for Life and the desire to have compassion for and to help all creatures insofar as it is in our power. I think that this ethic will become more and more recognized because of its great naturalness and because it is the foundation of a true humanism toward which we must strive if our culture is to become truly ethical.”
I hope you are all truly inspired today, tomorrow and next week. Dream big and HAPPY EASTER!
A la prochaine
SDM
As always on Saturday I started doing prep for brunch. L was on vacation that meant that we all had to pick up the slack. I developed a further appreciation of L and how hard he works and the things he gets accomplished in a day. He really is a machin (misspelled on purpose). I didn’t really have to do anything for the line; my primary focus was on the brunch prep.
Brunch prep involves each of the following;
Crack 2 case eggs
Dice red onion, peppers, mushrooms, Kessler and green onion
Prep the sausage, bacon and peameal
Cut Top butt into useable sections (in this case 10)
Make Greek Salad, Tuscan Bean, Roasted Vegetables, Meat Platters (8), Cheese Platters (8), Fruit Platters (a lot), Chicken Salad, Potato Salad, Caprese Salad (8 platters), Waffle Batter, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, strawberry compote, babaganoush, whipped butter, whipped cream cheese
These are just some of the things that I got done today. I had only been scheduled until five but because there was so much to get done I said that I was more than willing and able to stay and that I was willing to come in earlier tomorrow in order to make sure that we got everything done.
Chef J was working near me and I saw that something was up and asked what was going on. As Head Chef was not there Chef J went out to deal with something and then came back. I asked what was up and he said that we had to do a tasting menu on the fly. He started thinking about it and I felt that I had an opportunity to assist both with the idea and construction. For about seven or eight minutes I blurted out things that came to mind that I would do if I had to build a menu quick. It was fun bouncing ideas off of him and he was bouncing ideas of me too. After this short time Chef J developed the plan and we started working it.
We made a four course appetizer tasting and a main course. We started with an amuse Bouche of Wild Mushroom Gnocchi with a cream sauce, spinach and crispy pancetta on top. Second tasting was a stuffed quail. Third course was a Salmon Tartare wrapped in a crepe. Fourth was Curried apricot and duck. It was exciting and exhilarating to develop something and execute it so quickly. I loved it. I really felt as if I was in my element. Moreover Chef J really appreciated it as well and said so several times. He actually said that my blurting things out helped him to create what he did and that he was super appreciative of my assistance.
I also realized again today that when I think about what I am doing too much rather than just do it it becomes like a chore, it is extremely difficult and I find that I fight my mind and my body. BUT, when I just do what I know how to do and don’t over complicate it with unnecessary thoughts I can execute quite well. I know that time and experience are my best teachers but I now also know that I need to quiet my mind quite a bit more when I am in the kitchen.
By quiet what I am referring to is that nagging little voice that is inside all of our heads. It is filled with malice, mean spiritedness, doubt, fear, etc. I’m sure you all know that little voice and the way that it causes you to respond either physically or through a loss of mental acuity. I am making a concerted effort this week to silence that voice and to allow my body to do what it knows how to do.
I also got a new knife today. This caused an excitement that used to be reserved for the death of a pen or the purchase of a new one. My heart actually skipped a beat as I put a new tool in my hand. A tool that means far more to me as I realize my life’s purpose and my own personal if not selfish realization of my dreams. I purchased another Mac knife (www.macknife.com ). (I really like the style, construction, weighting, ease of use and sharpness). The one I just bought can be found here; http://www.macknife.com/images/knives/pmsk65.gif .
As well I also wanted to make a side note about my last post. I often consider the other side of food. In Canada, and in fact in the industrialized world we take food for granted. It is a secondary concern or even lower. The reason for this is that we live in a society of gross (read a lot) abundance. Think of the industrialized world as if it were a child of wealth. There are two kinds of children who grow up in wealth. Those that have a full appreciation and understanding of it and then there are the wayward ones that become spoiled, complacent and unaware of the lengths that are gone to for wealth to amass. With food in the industrialized world we are the exact same as the second child. I mention all this because my mother lives on the ground in Africa. She is surrounded by poverty and lack and I felt that I needed to mention that we are spoiled here and have little or no understanding of how the food we eat arrives at our plate and have even less respect for it (in most cases). I wasn’t even going to make this side note but I felt it was important to try to get everyone to see that food is much more than what we put on our plate or is put on the plate in front of us. Yes of course it is sustenance but if you look at the world today you will see that food is used as a weapon, as a tool and there is an ugly side to it.
But this realization is something I have known my whole life. It is also something that I plan on working to correct. We have no attachment to our food here. Most kids could not tell you that a carrot grows underground or that a mushroom grows in the dark. Most kids today have not seen a farm, whether animal or vegetable, and as such there is little or no appreciation for the food we eat. Do you think that if we took a child from Africa, India or China and brought them to a farm that they would have a greater appreciation then would a child from the industrialized world?
At any rate Monday is my day off and I plan on finishing The Nigel Didcock book. Moreover, Executive Chef gave me another great book; Michel Roux’s “Sauces.” And let me just tell you how excited I am to tear through that while sipping a great whiskey.
Thus I leave you with the following thought from Albert Schweitzer; “Ethics cannot be based upon our obligations toward [people], but they are complete and natural only when we feel this Reverence for Life and the desire to have compassion for and to help all creatures insofar as it is in our power. I think that this ethic will become more and more recognized because of its great naturalness and because it is the foundation of a true humanism toward which we must strive if our culture is to become truly ethical.”
I hope you are all truly inspired today, tomorrow and next week. Dream big and HAPPY EASTER!
A la prochaine
SDM
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