chefzadi

As I've spent all of a couple of days in the UK over the past decade let me continue to ask questions, but first, I realize I didn't thank you for coming here and subjecting yourself to this for our pleasure. Thanks for the insight you're offering here. I'll suggest it would be naive to believe any guide, especially one with scores, be they numerical or the award of stars, doesn't have an effect on the very things it rates, if it is a successful guide. We've all heard of French wineries that attempt to "parkerize" their wines. In fact it was a winemaker from the UK working in France who first used that expression in speaking to me. Do you, the corporate Michelin "you," take any responsibility in this regard and is there really anything you can do about it. You have your standards and certainly it would seem as if anything an establishment did to meet your standards would be good for the consumer if you believe in your standards. Thus my question might better be phrased as do you worry that establishments will misconstrue your standards and do the wrong thing in a misguided attempt to gain a star and is that your problem? Would it serve any purpose to be more explicit about the ratings why they were given? Has any thought ever been given to the idea of offering full blown text critiques of the multistarred establishments? ← Our responsibility is primarily to our readers but if the standards we set lead to a general raising of standards in the industry then we would regard this as a bonus for everyone. We are however concerned that chefs sometimes misunderstand our standards and cook what they think we would like rather than what their customers would like. This can be a recipe for disaster and we would always advise chefs that any decisions they make should be for sound commercial reasons. I take your point about greater transparency in our ratings and it's something we will certainly consider in the future as is your suggestion of full blown text critiques for our multistarred restaurants. ← Surely Michelin must have SOME idea that Michelin starred restaurants, at least in France, don't operate deeply in the black, if at all. And that to meet the Michelin criteria for stars is an expensive business. Do you see the contradiction in this? Advising decisions on the basis of sound commercial reasons while at the same time setting forth criteria that are becoming increasingly costly ($$$$$$) to meet?

What would be the situation if a chef said to an inspector that he wanted to know what he would need to do to improve his rating, say from 1 to 2 stars? ← The inspector would tell the chef that 2 stars requires an greater degree of finesse and some originality in the cooking and he would suggest the chef try some existing 2 stars restaurants to see the level required. ← Have you ever really found the need to offer such feedback? In France at least, there is a process to becoming a Michelin starred Chef. I'm not implying that it can be attained by just anyone following the process or that there is a single trajectory. Nonetheless, it doesn't happen incidentally. By the time a chef is at the level of being considered for a Michelin star he has a grasp of what the criteria is. And he also knows the exhorbitant costs involved in such entreprises. .. By the way welcome to the forum. I didn't notice this chat untill a short while ago. I'm glad I caught it.

Ditto here, I really love my my old carbon steel Sabatiers, but did you know Sabatier is a style of knife not a company. Just like Laguiole knives, lots of different companies make them. This accounts for the huge variation in quality. Some are even made in china, so be careful! I mine are from several different companies but the ones from "Chef au Ritz" Paris are the highest quality. ← My wife bought me a set of authentic full carbon steel Sabatier knives. I feel like a Samurai Chef with them. They just sing.

You can think of baked pate a choux as a plain base for any number of canapes or fried pata a choux as a base for fritter type preparations. You have an almost endless number of options.

I tend to think of the Japanese as diligent record keepers. One would think there would be some mention at least in Japanese regarding Fernand Point's trip (which I'm increasingly believing never occurred) and also that there would be some accounts of the influence on his cooking other than someone's rather bold statement. The man mentored alot of the next generation of chefs also. I don't know how successful this will be but I will email some "sources" I know. This could take a while.

Which I suppose, is why I don't search out Korean food in Paris. gdg, in the US we refer to milk without the cream as "skim milk," and milk with the cream in it as "whole milk." Most dairies in the US now sell milk with various percentages of cream. There is skim milk with no cream, 1% milk with 1% cream, 2% milk and whole milk which I believe generally contains about 4% cream. The cream is removed from the milk and sold at a much higher price, but the resultant skim milk is no cheaper to buy. Skim milk is no less expensive, just inferior. ← Since you bring it up. I actually did seek out Korean food in Paris. I found a restaurant that was clearly making few attempts at authenticity. I had to try it! My wife protested the entire way to the restaurant. She didn't understand the point. But I wanted to see how the dishes would be altered to suit French tastes. My report: The food wasn't that bad. It was tasty enough, the ingredients were pretty fresh. But all the flavors were toned down. The fire and sourness that Korean dishes can have were noticeably absent. They also had a wine list and most of the other diners were drinking wine with their grilled meat, even with kimchi. I would recommend the restaurant to French people who are curious about Korean food or already like Korean food, but have a hard time forgoing wine with their meals. Yes context, there are quite a few French who must have wine with their meals. And it's nearly impossible to enjoy authentic Korean food with wine. On the other side of the pond: I was an Executive Chef at a French restaurant in Korea. Instead of trying to alter French foods to a local palate that I didn't understand I strived for authenticity as much as possible. So I purposely and quite successfully culivated a largel French and European clientele. The Koreans complained that the food was "flat" tasting and cloying, they needed a palate cleanser in between bites, perhaps kimchi would be nice, they suggested. I told them that Koreans get acidity and sourness from their pickled dishes to round out a meal. And yes, I've heard many Koreans refer to the "palate" cleansing qualities of pickled dishes in between bites of richer foods. But in French dining sourness and acidity come from wine., it's what refreshes the palate. Context and habits.

I actually like Vache Qui Rit. And it's very nice in a Vietnamese roadside sandwich. (Context!) To horrify the audience a little further: I love Apéricubes too, they're my favorite kind of French decadent gastronomy. The tomato Apéricube is tops. ← In my mind all of your past and future posts will be forever tainted by your "confession."

Will you find out the name of the book your instructor found this information in and post it?

It's all in the context. Shortly after the War, when I was 18, on my first trip to France, bicycling from Chartres to the Point du Raz, I thought "La vache" was a revelation; my grandkiddies still do. Hey back in the 1950's our Mom's used to make grilled cheese with what we now think of an unspeakably industrial yellow Kraft cheese and in memory anyway, it wasn't all bad. "Context, history and memory distortion" help us appreciate how come it still sells. ← Yes, context. They serve La Vache in the First Class Lounge of Asiana Airlines in Seoul. They sincerely offered it me as French Cheese.

This is the version that I would try. Thank you for the recipe.

Um, you would booger around with a piece of Camembert instead of just eating it? My "poor man's" comment had nothing to do with the quality of the cheese, but with the fact that it's made with skim milk. I was assuming that the cream had been skimmed for use in some other more luxurious product. It's not (if internet sources are to be believed) not even remotely a new cheese, and it looks as if pretty much all of the manufacturers are local to the original area and include both small and large producers. The brand I purchased actually bore a "small business labeling exception" tag instead of the usual required nutritional info tag. ← I reread my post and I said IF I wanted this type of cheese/condiment sauce I would just make it. I didn't say that I would make it. What is boogering?

Same shit. We can start talking about childhood memories here...

With all of these qualifications, it may well be worth a taste, no? ← How do I answer as subtlely and politely as possible? Non, non, non! If I wanted a cheese sauce/condiment that tasted of ripe camembert with the consistency of a fondue I would simply make one. It doesn't take much time at all. I would peel the camembert (which is a staple in our frigo) give the rind to my 6 year old to eat (she loves the stuff, eats the cheese outside in anyway), add a little of this or that, voila sauce. As for La vache qui rit, the laughing cow, I still have nightmares about it. The cheap package with 1,2,3,4,5,6 little wedges of cheese wrapped in foil. The surprise inside, cheese that had the mouthfeel of a poorly made roux. The film it left it left in my 4 year old mouth. The horror!

I won't be trying it anytime soon. Don't want to. La Vache qui rit is a sin against cheese. It seems that you missed my "tongue in cheek" comments. I offer my opinions, I'm not wagging a finger. And while we're at it why don't we just agree to disagree?

Cheese product/condiment in a tub sometimes with added flavors. So it's French Cheese whiz. I couldn't resist. All in good fun. I'll refrain from further comments untill I actually try it. You're correct The Laughing cow is more like Velveeta. I've heard of Velveeta being referred to as Arkansas Brie. Would Vache Qui Rit be Goussainville Velveeta?

Elie- Did you boil the maghrebyaya in the liquid? Or did you steam them first and finish in the liguid?

I've heard of the steam/fry combo for dumplings. Let the dough rise after stuffing, before baking. I'm not hot a stuffed bun expert. But in bread making steam will give a light fluffy interior and a crusty exterior.

Bake= dry heat, moisture loss Steam= moist heat, added moisture

What does he extract the chlorphyll from and what types of sauces does he use it for? I can't give an opinion untill I know this.

It's not really cheese. It's a commercially processed cheese product . Presuming that it's a "poorman's product" is not entirely off base. It's an ordinary product for ordinary tastes. Small children probably really like. I've never tasted it. In answer to your question, think of it as French Velveeta (of course better, because its French )

The Korean buns are pretty much the same as the Chinese buns. In Korea it's considered to a be a Chinese dish and it is not something that is made at home. Chinese (Immigrants or Korean born of Chinese descent) who are called Hakyuh sell them in restaurants or food stands. Even in LA's Korea town most of the vendors are Hakyuh. I've noticed it's usually the sweeter dough that's used. As for the Korean versions you had in Russia, some morphing must have happened along the way. At a certain point it became a Korean-Russian version. Are there any Korean-Russians here? You gotta love how food travels.

RE: I'd personally like people to know what a good veal stock is and how to use it instead of being taught by certain august publications that it's not really important. ________________________________________________________________ Veal Stock not important? Wow, that's actually a trend now? Serve a good veal reduction sauce in a restaurant, if the customer's don't lick the plates clean the bussers finish the job for them. It's terribly sad that in the name of food trends, sometimes just plain good stuff that people love to eat gets thrown out.

I enjoy competitions like this. I doubt that PBS would churn out something that is the nadir of foodtv. There's enough "drama" in the premise for it to be interesting. Also it seems to me that PBS is quite good at making personal stories interesting without exploiting the story teller. The audience base too is so different from foodtv. The expectations are different. With that said, I'm game for the competition. But I already have years of Executive Chef experience, I'm not American (resident status though) and I don't want the "Ultimate Prize." Does that automatically take me out of the running? I'm not joking.

People do know about Japanese curries in the states. It's not widely known, but there are restaurants that serve curry dishes. Obviously most of them are targeted toward Japanese and Koreans. It's also on the menu of alot of Korean-Chinese restaurants in LA (these restaurants are usually owned and operated by Korean born folks of Chinese descent). It's kind of funny, because the Chinese population is off the beaten track in LA, over in the San Gabriel Valley. But the Koreans have a huge presence smack dad in the middle of LA. They also run alot of Japanese restaurants. So I don't know if very many Los Angelenos realize they are getting Koreanized versions of Chinese and Japanese food when they eat these places. They've also opened up a huge number of Pho restaurants (but these are targeted to mostly Koreans) Anyway, back to Curry. There was a chain (it's probably still there) called "Hurry Curry" that had a location on La Cienega Blvd in Beverly Hills. You might want to look up the company. You can also find S&B curry bases in almost every Supermarket in LA, so it would be safe to guess that alot of Non-Asians are making it at home as well.

RE: Fillings for Korean Buns. The most common is a sweet bean filling. Adzuki beans, I recall. The rice cakes that have a filling have the same. Or a sweet sesame filling (reminds me a little bit honey is a way), or sweet mung bean (?) filling (delicate yellow). As for the rice cakes that aren't filled but are topped with something, the ones just topped with adzuki beans are not sweet. The ones topped with squash (sometimes nuts as well) are a little sweet. As for Korean beverages. Soju! It's a grain alcohol. Also malkulee, it's another alcoholic beverage. Creamy appearance, strong fermented taste. Also, all of the prepared (well maybe I shouldn't say all) but in every Korean market I've been too (which is a lot) the prepared foods in the deli are ready to as is.