Mikeb19

Just recieved Pierre Gagnaire's newest book in the mail, "Lucide et Ludique". Will report back when I read through it.

I don't know about down there, but up here the fines are massive if a restaurant is caught not IDing patrons...(in the tens of thousands of dollars for a single incident) I personally don't think anyone should be exempt, or any type of establishment exempt. I do think having the drinking age set at 21 is rediculous, but the server is simply doing his job by enforcing it. The potential loss of a liquor licence could ruin the restaurant, it's not a risk worth taking. Before you start complaining, put yourself in the server or restauranteur's shoes...

I'm looking forward to seeing how they turn out, Nick! Incidentally, MikeB posted a macaron recipe a few pages back, also from PH10, and his version instructs to "add the TPT to your meringue, then the fresh whites (un-whipped) and coloring." Your version on the other hand has the TpT mixed first with the fresh whites before combining with the meringue. I tried MikeB's version 2-3 times, and while they produced a macaron with excellent taste and texture, I had a hard time incoporating the dry TpT into the meringue, and the appearance was somewhat off. Now that you've posted this recipe, I'm thinking the order of combination was the problem I had. ← Sorry, I should have mentioned I modified a step but I wasn't really thinking when I was writing the recipe down. I'd been adding fruit purées into the macaroons for extra flavour/colour (instead of food colouring), so to be able to better control my product I modified the steps, as well as the amounts (although I remembered to put the original amounts in the recipe I wrote down for everyone). - Make meringue - Dump TPT over meringue, fold in - Add egg whites (smaller amount though) - Add fruit purée and mix batter until I got proper consistency For instance, we did a blueberry macaroon with lemon-curd filling. I replaced a bit of the almond powder with freeze dried blueberries (that we processed into a powder), and replaced some of the fresh egg whites with blueberry purée. Worked out pretty nice, the cookies themselves had huge flavour, went well with the lemon curd. Looked pretty nice too (baby-blue colour, perfect shape too).

What TK says isn't gospel. I know many professional chefs who disagree with alot of TK's methods... Since when is browned flour flavour a bad thing? I don't know about you, but I love toast, fried chicken (wouldn't be the same without being dredged in flour), etc.... Anyhow, I'm not arguing for or against flouring meat before searing and braising, each gives you a different result, neither is 'better' than the other in my opinion. When I do a braise, I usually don't flour my meat, I sear it on very high heat, and usually thicken my sauce with a little bit of puréed vegetable, if I thicken it at all (in the restaurant we reduce the braising liquid and mount with butter, but then again we start with a nice, gelatinous stock - at home sometimes shortcuts are taken, like starting a braise with water). Back to the original question, theres many ways to thicken. Roux works, starches work, you can get a xanthan/guar gum mix for thickening at most health stores, you can purée some vegetables and add a small amount to your sauce, reduction, butter, etc...

Back when I was a kid, I grew up on Ukrainian food. My mother is Ukrainian, my father French. Now as a professional cook, I have been trained in French cuisine by several excellent French chefs. My food definitely reflects this culinary mix, Ukrainian flavours and ingredients with good French technique, and living in Canada, the Northern climate definitely influences me too, in choice of ingredients as well as in inspiration. I go for very savoury, 'warm' flavours mostly. While I have experimented with alot of avant-garde techniques and whatnot (as a professional I need to keep ahead of all the current trends, stay up to date on the very newest techniques), I prefer more traditional food.

Even in all the restaurants I've worked in, I've never seen a cryovac machine or bags large enough to hold a whole rib roast.

Beautiful post. I've been having a pretty bad week, this brought a smile to my face, especially since I can relate. The best memories I have of my childhood are visiting my grandparents' farm, and enjoying my grandmother's cooking. When I'd be on the farm, it was my only time away from the harsh realities of city life - the violence, gangs, poverty, etc... Honestly, it's probably the only thing that's kept me level, otherwise I might have turned out like many of those I grew up with. Nowadays, it seems everytime I turn around another person is dead, or in jail, or just fell back into drug addiction... Many more people I fell out with because I don't want to be involved in all the BS, I'm lucky to not be in jail, I just want to live my life. Most days I feel as though I'm losing my mind. Of course my grandmother's no longer with us either, so all I've really got left is memories of the food she prepared (excellent Ukrainian food). It actually brings a tear to my eye everytime I cook those dishes I remember from my childhood, so many good memories, takes me back to those carefree days on the farm. She's actually the one who inspired me to cook professionally in the first place (although she never got to see it). Maybe this weekend I'll make a batch of pyrohy (aka. vareniky, or perogies in english) and some holubsti (cabbage rolls), might take my mind off everything else that's happening...

In 2007, I will eat better. While I'm in good shape (6'1", a very lean 190), especially for a professional cook, my diet could still be better. While I'm at it, I need to get out and run/hike more. I lift lots of weights, but my cardio needs improvement. I will make more food from scratch at home. I've been really slacking on my home cooking, hard living with 3 other roomates, this is a factor in my less than ideal diet... I will learn more about my culinary heritage (Ukrainian food). I've already got all my grand-mothers recipes and techniques down very good (I've had several Ukrainians tell me my food is the best they've ever had in a restaurant), but I'm always looking to improve, always looking to progress my skills and knowledge. I've also always been interested history and archaeology, I'd love to learn more about food in antiquity. I will learn more about wine, beer, spirits, and other beverages, and how they relate to food. I'm already above average in this department, but my knowledge could still be better, plus I love learning. I was unable to attend post-secondary school for a variety of reasons, so I try to get my learning fix on my own. This is the year I will try to eat out in others' restaurants more often. I'm always in the back, yet I've never experienced what I serve from the front perspective. For the first time ever I'm working a normal schedule (Mon-Fri, 9-5), very unusual for a cook, but I like it. I will teach my co-workers more about pastries and baking, Ukrainian food, flavour combinations and good technique in general. Theres alot of improvement to be made, I haven't been able to leave my mark yet this year (too busy with Christmas parties), but in the New Year I should have time. I will put more effort into creating menu items. My employer wants me to be more active and creative, he's letting me leave my mark, but (due to many outside factors) my heart just wasn't in it. I will read all my books. I've got so many, yet have read so little. First is probably to read the biographical section in Marc Veyrat's encyclopedia, then I need to finish reading Michel Bras' book. And I enjoyed it so much, I'm going to re-read Pierre Gagnaire and Hervé This' new book. I will also learn to enjoy the small things in life more. I've put so much time and energy into cooking, into my career, I've forgotton how to actually live. I've already made the first step by working less (it's nice being able to dictate what hours you're going to work to your boss), dating again, something I was never able to do working so much. I came to this realization when I got my first couple interviews and offers for an executive chef job, yet I'm only 21 years old - dream come true, except my personal life was seriously @#$%ed up (that's actually an understatement). Just need to slow things down, get my head level again, and re-organize things. And finally, I will start thinking more about my future in the culinary business. Getting a business plan together, doing some dinners to showcase my talents to local media and possible investors, maybe even some culinary competitions. I've got skills, but have never really applied them (this goes back to all my personal problems, hard to have your head in the game when your life is a mess), it's time for me to really show off what I can do, and hopefully make money off my own work, instead of making others money.

That's unfortunate. Where I've worked (especially when I'm in charge), the dishwashers get treated like gold. They get nice staff meals (whereas the cooks get leftovers), and we make sure no one abuses them We always make sure if a round comes to the kitchen that the dishwasher shares as well.

I know, I'm very sorry. I get defensive (part of the culture I grew up around) when people who really don't know me, have never cooked with me or tasted my food, call into question my ability, and knowledge. Some things are so much easier to discuss, demonstrate in person, and I'm not the best with words either. If the mods want to delete all the off-topic posts, it's fine with me. As for Molecular Gastronomy (as defined in popular food culture), I see it disappearing in the not-so distant future. It's a fad, a gimmick. Theres really nothing revolutionary about the techniques, sous-vide has been around since the 70's, and most of the chemicals being used have already been used in commercial applications. The avant-garde dishes I've tasted have left alot to be desired, they're interesting to be sure, but not satisfying. Here's an analogy for you: Molecular Gastronomy is like hooking up with a stripper for a night. Can be fun, but at the end of the day, theres nothing like a real, genuine woman. Then again, just to throw the whole discussion sideways, the word Molecular Gastronomy was coined by Hervé This and Nicholas Kurti, and for anyone familiar with their work, you'd know that this 'hyper-modern', 'avant-garde' cuisine really has nothing to do with Molecular Gastronomy. The chef most associated with Molecular Gastronomy, Pierre Gagnaire, from what I've seen and read from his work (BTW, off-topic, but his new book is an incredible read), really doesn't cook anything like American 'hyper-modern' chefs either. Molecular Gastronomy isn't about the esthetic of the food, it's about using science and modern knowledge to cook better. I'm really surprised that so much has been said about the chemical warfare aspect of modern cooking, and so little about the techniques and concepts that Hervé This introduced in his book (especially since it's been released in English recently). I've used quite a few of the techniques he's proposed, with great results.

I'm not sure what posts you were reading, or what you know about me (obviously not much), but I don't cook molecular gastronomy-type food. I cook traditional-style food using modern techniques and equipment. We fired a kid once because all he did was talk about science (unfortunately he wasn't very smart either, we had a good laugh), but he couldn't sear a piece of meat, or even assemble a salad... And no, I'm not an executive chef ATM, I don't feel I'm ready for that yet, as my personal life is very @#$%ed up, I don't need that kind of stress right now. I do however contribute recipes and dishes at every restaurant I work at even if it's not my name on the menu, when a critic comes in it's not the executive chef cooking, it's usually me and the other CDPs... /hijack

It is but so far you've shown no evidence of understanding the physics and chemistry behind sous vide cooking. ← Strait up, my braising technique DOES work. Demonstrated many times in the REAL world. In case you didn't read what I wrote properly, I heat up the braise to ~80 degrees celcius (which, BTW, is also high enough to kill any bacteria you're going to find in the meat), put in a 120 degree oven, let it go for a few hours. And no, it never boils, and yes, it makes a better product than boiling the shit out of your meat... And yes, the product will be different that cooking meat sous-vide at 65 degrees, just like cooking sous-vide at 75 degrees will again produce a different product, and boiling meat will give you yet another product. As for salt and boiling temperatures, my numbers were a little off. Your numbers are a little low as well however. And in a professional kitchen, we do salt the water for this kind of blanching alot more than you'd think... (making the food too salty isn't an issue when it's in the water for 20 seconds...) And honestly, I'll venture a guess that in the last year or two I've cooked more things (both in variety and total numbers) sous-vide than you will in your entire life.... Same goes for roasting, searing, baking, etc..., because I'm cooking for 50+ hours a week, every single day of my life. Anyhow, this thread has been hijacked enough. Maybe a new thread - young foodie thinks he knows better than the real pros...

Strait up, it isn't false. It's much easier to see when doing something like crème brûlées... I make some very thick crème brûlées (3.5 inch deep cups), and I've usually got the custards in a 300 degree oven for 2-3 hours, the water doesn't come close to 100 degrees. Another good way to see it. Meats (and most organic compounds) are mostly water. You place a roast in an oven for several hours, is the water in the centre of the roast boiling? I don't know about you, but my roasts are usually 55-65 degrees in the middle depending on type and doneness, not 100. As for what 'famous' chefs do, doesn't concern me much (although I have too braised at 350, it's not ideal, but if you are in a pinch and don't have a free oven it will still work). I've worked in restaurants that have been featured in national media, won dozens of awards, I've personally cooked for many photo shoots, celebrities, critics, etc...(btw, every time I've cooked for a critic or publication, been a very good review) I've done top-level food, both savoury and sweet. My mentor came out of a 2, promoted to 3 Michelin star restaurant in Switzerland. At 21 years old I've already been offered several executive chef jobs, one of which was already recognised nationally (turned down however, my personal life isn't steady enough, actually quite @#$%ed up). I am however working on funding a restaurant of my own in the next couple years (shooting for 2009 or 2010), I've got money of my own, and already know people who are willing to invest. I'm actually supposed to be in France at the moment, but again, going back to my life, too much going on... Anyhow, not trying to talk myself up too much (just a little ), but I do know about cooking (including molecular gastronomy). It's my profession, one I take very seriously, and will be for a very long time. Edit - BTW, I do know a cook (buddy of mine, talented guy, also worked in a couple 3 and 4 NYT star restaurants) who has worked for Wylie Dufresne... I won't tell you what he thought of working there though....

Green and/or tender vegetables, I'll have very salty water at a boil (105-110 degrees celcius or so), and blanch them very quickly. Root vegetables, I cook at a much lower temperature (65-85 degrees) for a longer amount of time, to ensure that they're evenly cooked throughout. I do like vegetables with a bit of bite to them, but not crunchy. Can't even count the amount of times I've seen vegetables disintegrating on the outside, and raw in the middle... Braising. When you cook something in water, the water transfers it's heat to the food. The temperature of the food is raised, that of the water is lowered, until it reaches equilibrium. In a braise, you can heat the water up to 180 degrees F, put in a 250 degree oven, and the water temperature will not go up for hours because the cold(er) raw food is keeping the temperature down. Also keep in mind that the specific heat capacity of water is much higher than air, so again, in an oven, things are moving very slow - that's also the reason convection ovens work so much faster than conventional - the air is moving around, so essentially you have more heated molecules coming into contact with the food to transfer their energy and heat it up. Once you reach an equilibrium between the water temperature and the temperature of the food, then the temp will start to go up, however by this time usually your food is cooked or close to it. A good way to illustrate this is to put a tray of ice cubes and a bit of water into an oven. The ice cubes will melt before the water boils, or even raises significantly in temperature... Think of your ice cubes as the food, and the water as your braising liquid. With sous-vide cooking, instead of an oven you have a water circulator, as well as much less liquid in your cooking vessel (the bag). Water's specific heat is very high, not to mention the volume of it is much, much more than the contents of your bag, so the temperature of your food raises very quickly. This is why you can have your 'oven' (ie. water circulator) temperature so much lower. Cooking is all physics and chemistry...

I don't know about you, but when I make a braise, stew, etc..., I don't cook it at 100 degrees Celcius... Heck, I don't even cook carrots in 100 degree water. Obviously you don't understand the technique. Also, I know all the benefits of sous-vide cooking. I only use a cryovac machine every single day of my life, and I've only cooked food sous-vide many hundred times in a professional kitchen environment.... We've cooked meats, fish, poultry, sauces (very cool way to make sauces BTW, no need to reduce it as much, since you use less liquid initially), vegetables, fruits, etc... sous-vide. The chefs I trained under, themselves trained in 2 and 3 Michelin star restaurants across Europe, they were using sous-vide cooking before most had ever even heard the word used in North America. You'll always hear that cooking is about knowing the fundamentals. Can't stress that enough. Whether you're roasting a filet in a pan, braising, cooking sous-vide, barbequeing, etc..., you always want to know what the water in your food is doing. Memorizing a dozen or more techniques is useless, categorizing them is equally useless, all you need to know is the basics, what the molecules in your food are doing. And yes, sous-vide is the same fundamental principle as braising, just a different cooking vessel.

If something produces a bad result, how can it be a good technique? As my first Chef said, "Shit makes shit." I'll use any technique that will give me a good result, regardless of whether it's traditional or new. BTW, theres nothing I see in molecular gastronomy that hasn't already been done in commercial applications... The only difference is the aesthetics of the end result.

No, sous vide is not just braising in a small pot. Sous vide is poaching something at sub-boiling temperatures in a fully airtight vessel which does not allow for the escape of aromatic gasses which produces a chemically and physically different product. ← Chemically and physically different? Yes, and a cut carrot is physically different from a whole carrot. A medium rare roast is chemically and physically different from a well-done roast. Anytime you alter food in any way you're changing it's physical or chemical make-up. This is a moot point... And yes, sous-vide is the same idea as braising. In both cases the product is being cooked in hot water for an extended period of time. Sous-vide's advantage is that air does not take any space in the cooking vessel, and you can mold your cooking vessel around the product. Sous-vide is to braising, as copper pans and gas burners are to sautéeing... I love sous-vide cooking, use it all the time at work, but it's really nothing revolutionary.

Space age techniques? Sous vide is nothing more than braising in a small, enclosed vessel... Yes it's a handy cooking technique, but it is nothing more than the evolution of old techniques, made more convenient. Cooking over a campfire with sharp sticks? We still do that, it's called grilling or roasting. Cooking in a pan isn't much different than cooking on a hot rock over a fire... Ovens? They've been around for thousands of years... Bread, wine, sauce - all these concepts have been around for thousands of years... I'm definitely not against using new techniques - I use sous-vide cooking often, I make crème chantilly-type stuff without actually using any cream, I've made foams, I'm familiar with the whole range of stabilisers, emulsifiers, gels, etc... and I'm much more familiar with molecular gastronomy than most other professionals, let alone amateurs... (BTW, I'm a professional myself) But I don't make food to shock people, I just make the absolute best food I can. I don't use a technique for the sake of it, I use the technique I think best suits the ingredient. I've known cooks who have worked at places like WD-50, and walked away very unimpressed... Using a technique just for the sake of it, or creativity for it's own sake, is absolutely worthless...

Agreed. I'd rather be eating 'real' food than a bunch of liquids gelled with chemicals usually reserved for the science lab... The most satisfying dishes I've had in my life were the simplest - lamb saddle cooked in butter with thyme and bay leaf, basted with the cooking fat the entire time, or a simple pomme purée. I've cooked alot of molecular gastronomy type dishes in restaurants, and while it's great fun, it really isn't cooking. And unfortunately, I don't find those dishes nearly as satisfying as more 'traditional'-type dishes. Seems most restaurants these days go for smoke and mirrors, and forget about taste and pleasure.

Have to agree with this point very strongly. Technique is incredibly important, and you need to master basic techniques before you can start getting creative and using more complicated techniques. In restaurants I eat at, I almost always see a critical mistake. Flavour combinations that are unusual, but don't work, and techniques that are advanced, but done very poorly. I'd rather have a simple dish executed at a high level than a complicated dish executed poorly... The best food I've ever had was the most basic. A lamb saddle roasted in a pan with butter and branches of thyme, chef hovering over it contantly basting it, or a simple risotto with mushrooms picked from the forest. Just a few examples.

They share the same stock and sauce-making techniques. Many bread making techniques came from the east (ex. Poolish). They treat meats in a similar manner. Many French dishes came from the east and vice versa, I mean theres recipes for Kasha in Escoffier's encyclopedia (although nowadays severely outdated...)... Yes, the flavours and ingredients are different (more sweet/sour flavours in eastern european cooking, ingredients reflect the climate), but the core of the 2 cuisines are very similar... It's funny, I remember watching my Ukrainian grandmother cook when I was younger, then I was working with clasically trained French chefs (who themselves were trained in 2 and 3 star Michelin restaurants), and the techniques are the exact same...

I hope this is a joke... Russian/Ukrainian/Polish cuisines have had a huge impact on French cuisine (and vice versa), and fine dining as we know it. I'm looking through pictures of some of Thomas Keller's dishes right now, and what do I see? Many preparations with sturgeon caviar, eggplant caviar, perogies (vareniky), a dessert involving rhubarb and poppy seeds, etc.... You can also look through Michel Bras' book and see Russian influences, Alain Ducasse serves (or at least has) sturgeon caviar with buckwheat blini, and many other famous chefs are serving Russian-influenced dishes. Heck, I'm seeing Borshch pop up on menus everywhere (although most aren't as good as they could be...). I will admit, I'm alot more knowledgeable about Ukrainian food than Russian (my mother is Ukrainian) and I'm a professional myself (most of my professional experience is in high-end French restaurants due to a lack of Russian and Ukrainian restaurants). From what I've heard from my Russian friends, the cuisines are very similar... I've managed to slip in Ukrainian dishes in just about every restaurant I've worked at, to rave reviews. Theres nothing at all wrong with the style of food, just bad cooks...

"La Cuisine - c'est de l'amour, de l'art, de la technique" by Pierre Gagnaire and Hervé This. Very inspirational, a great read.

I don't think the key is the ingredients themselves, or a recipe or formula, but as you said, balancing it all. My favourite vinaigrette was a lemon shallot vinaigrette - ingredients were Lemon juice, white balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, olive oil, shallots, fresh herbs, and a little honey if you'd like. Oh, and salt of course. Good luck with your quest.

Flavours first, then texture. Usually I'll start with 1 ingredient/flavour to be the focus of the dish, and add ingredients and flavours that will compliment the focus of the dish. Then comes texture - I decide on a preparation for each ingredient that I feel would best suit the ingredient as well as the dish as a whole. I don't do garnishes... If I put something on a plate, I want it to be eaten, and to be an integral part of the dish. As far as my cuisine 'style', I do what I know and understand. Ukrainian style food (not sure HOW authentic my cuisine is however, I'm 2nd generation living in N. America - might add that in my family theres a long line of great Ukrainian cooks, both professional and amateur). I'm also a food professional myself, working in fine dining restaurants.