Starchefs International Chefs Congress 2008

[docsconz]

The 2008 International Chefs Congress is shaping up to be another spectacular event with a roster of culinary superstars that one has come to expect from this conference. This year's theme is The Responsibilty of a Chef and will focus on mentoring, sustainability and community. Notables include Grant Achatz, Joan Roca, Heston Blumenthal, Rene Redzepi and Michel Richard amongst a host of others. Once again, much attention will be focused on the revolution in mixology including the likes of Audrey Saunders and Toby Maloney. The location this year will be uptown at the historic Park Avenue Armory at Park Avenue and E. 66th St.

[wax311]

I would love to attend this year's chefs' congress, but tickets are 375 bucks! I'm a cook, and that's a LOT of money to me. I still might go, but damn, I really wish this was more affordable to people like me who aren't making the big bucks just yet.

Anyone have any idea how to get in for less that one week of a humble cook's paycheck?

[gfron1]

I passed on my comp pass from starchefs.com, so I'm anxious to see some pics. Sounds like there are some great pastry demos in store. I particularly hope to see pics from the Zen of Pastry workshop.

[docsconz]

Unfortunately, I had to leave last night to take my son to his college orientation today (I know, it's late ), but I spent the first two days there covering it as I have the first two. This time, however, my son, L.J., was with my as an assistant to take notes so I expect to be able to provide a little more detail than I have before. I will start posting within a few days. The event is better than ever, with great content, people and sponsors. Today's events promised to be exceptional as well. It was difficult to leave, but fortunately it was for a good reason!

[adey73]

Great news John. Am looking forward to your dispatches.

[chefAZ]

I passed on my comp pass from starchefs.com, so I'm anxious to see some pics.  Sounds like there are some great pastry demos in store.  I particularly hope to see pics from the Zen of Pastry workshop.

←

I had to pass on my comped pass too....if only i didnt live so far away! dammit

Look forward to your report Doc, I have no doubt you covered it well.

[tan319]

I had to pass on it too....

[docsconz]

I'll do my best to fill you all in. I'm working on getting my pics together. Hopefully, I'll start getting something up soon.

[docsconz]

For a preview of my photos sans captions or commentary see My Webpage. It has been a very busy week. I will start posting here as soon as I can.

[docsconz]

Day One - Sunday, September 14, 2008

Hot and humid inside as well as out, the first day of this year's Starchefs' 3rd Annual International Chefs' Congress got off to a late start as the registration process for so many attendees took more time than anticipated. This gave me some time to meander and explore.

I ran into George Mendes, the former head prep Kitchen at the ICC, who is currently working on opening his own Manhattan restaurant, Aldea and Aki Kamozawa, one half of the duo behind Ideas in Food.

This year's ICC was held at the expansive Park Avenue Armory.

Though the first day's AC left a bit to be desired, the space itself was sufficient to hold all of the sponsors as well as the main stage and several workshop spaces within the main room. A few other workshop spaces were held in rooms in the front of the building. The space was not as dramatic as last year's at 7 WTC, but the proximity of everything was more convenient.

Lunch this day was to be provided by the Province of Quebec. It was prepared in a make-shift kitchen in rooms off to one side of the main hall.

Two of the main preparers were eGullet Society members Stelio Perombelon and Patrice Demers the former chefs of Les Chevres in Montreal, together again performing their culinary magic.

Empty boxes awaiting the Quebec lunch.

The sponsors booths were set up and open for business.

Chef Patrick Sheerin, Executive Chef of The Signature Room on the 95th in Chicago, is seen here sampling some of the amazing herbs from Koppert Cress USA.

The presenters of the first workshops were busy setting up their stations.

Chef Paul Liebrandt of the soon-to-open Manhattan restaurant, Corton had his entire kitchen crew to help him with his hands-on workshop on cooking lamb sous vide.

Jean-Georges pastry chef, Johnny Iuzzini arrived prepared for the day's events.

Pastry chef, Jordan Kahn, of the soon-to-open, Los Angeles Michael Mina restaurant XIV, was looking at an early copy of the voluminous Alinea book along with Alinea chef Grant Achatz

One thing that would be very different for me this year was the presence of my son, L.J., as my assistant to take notes, while I played with my camera. many of the subsequent details that I will relate are thanks to his nimble fingers on his laptop.

[docsconz]

It was already past the scheduled opening time of the Congress, but the start was delayed to accommodate those still waiting in line to register. The amphitheater was beginning to fill and a palpable energy filled the room.

Paul Liebrandt and Heston Blumenthal, who would be the keynote speaker of the Congress a little bit later, compare notes and catch up with each other.

Aki Kamozawa and Alex Talbot chat with friends.

Audrey Saunders greets Johnny Iuzzini while Iacoppo Falai looks out on the stage preparations.

Grant Achatz, Carlo Cracco and Heston Blumenthal engaged in conversation.

The Corton team.

...and it begins...

Starchefs managing Editor Will Blunt welcomes the attendees and presenters...

...and introduces Starchefs CEO and Editor-in-Chief Antoinette Bruno for her opening remarks.

My son, L.J. taking notes.

Jeffrey Steingarten studies the schedule.

Antoinette Bruno presents her opening remarks for the Congress.

Her welcome address can be found in its entirety here. In a nutshell, Ms. Bruno stated that chefs are having ever more influence in the world around them, but with that influence comes responsibility, the theme of the Congress. She discussed how a number of presenters including Barton Seaver, Rick moonen, Charlie Trotter, Michael Anthony and Daniel Boulud amongst others would discuss their respective areas of enhanced responsibility and what they do to make a difference in the world around them. She also reported on the Starchefs annual survey of trends within the industry, noting a continued rise in visibility and popularity of both creative and historical mixology, the increased casualness of restaurants, a continued trend to view culinary creativity as art and an overall decline in business: the restaurant industry, however, has so far been able to withstand the economic downturn with remarkable resilience. Over 80% of fine-dining establishments say business is down, while 40% of casual restaurants say business is down. Prices have not increased much, however, as chefs control revenue by controlling portion sizes and adjust product selection. Restaurant revenue, despite these percentages, has not declined. Bruno emphasized that the congress is not about just what is new, but it is rather about the attitude that being a chef is about more than just food. She finished her remarks by saying

This Congress isn’t only about what’s “new.” And really, we think the most exciting “new” thing in food isn’t a technique or a tool, but an attitude – specifically, the attitude that being a chef is about more than just great food. It’s about creativity, leadership, community, and, of course, responsibility.

[docsconz]

Will Blunt and emcee Ted Allen waiting in the wings.

Starchef ICC Head Chef Asbel Reyes and friend during a rare moment of relaxation.

[docsconz]

Enrique Olvera, chef of Mexico City's Pujol, in the prep kitchen readying for his presentation.

[docsconz]

Heston Blumenthal - Eating is a Multisensory Experience

According to Heston, chefs have the ability to conjure emotion through food. A chef may or may not be an artist but eating is the only thing that involves all of the senses (except perhaps for sex ). Food should be exciting and fun - if it’s not fun then what’s the point?

Heston got into food when he was about 15 years old and went to a 3-star restaurant in France. That restaurant experience changed his life, he had never been to a Michelin starred restaurant prior to that. The restaurant was very small. Because of this when he opened The Fat Duck he tried to recreate the feeling he had in that French restaurant as a kid and made it small and devoted to innovation.

Some chefs say they don’t care about the multisensory aspects of dining, they just care how the food tastes. Heston argued that the most memorable meals are so because the location, the occasion and the presentation are all important components of the experience and provide significant emotional context.

Chef Blumenthal went on to show clips from his BBC Christmas special, “Perfect Christmas,” a quest for fresh frankincense, milking reindeer and dinner in a winter wonderland to elicit memories of the ideal Christmas. He would conjure a meal to incorporate various elements that have come to symbolize idyllic Christmas. One of the major foci of his meal was to incorporate the gifts of the magi into the meal. He used the elements of this meal to demonstrate his point on how the various senses contribute to the character and enjoyment potential of a meal.

Heston traveled to the Oman in the Middle East in search of 2000 year old frankincense. He went to the site of an ancient lost city from Biblical times called Ubar where frankincense is still found as it was at the time of the birth of Jesus. The sap from which frankincense comes has a myriad of uses such as for medicine and fuel. It was very expensive back in the day, rarely used in cooking, more commonly for its perfume or scent.The taste is bitter, but very complex. getting his frankincense was difficult, but ultimately rewarding. Heston made the point that if one has to do some work to get some food, it will taste better - just part of the multi-sensory/satisfaction element. The audience was then directed to reach under their seats and withdraw an envelope, in which there were two packages, one of which contained a film of frankincense, a very exotic flavor, almost piney but much more complex.

The film was similar to and packaged like Listermints.

The chef elicited opinions and reactions from members of the audience including Jeffrey Steingarten and Daniel Boulud amongst others

to be continued...

Edited September 23, 2008 by docsconz (log)

[mexigaf]

Wonderful recap so far doc. I didn't get a chance to go so this is an amazing way to get my fill of the action. Eagerly awaiting the next post

[tan319]

Great reportage as usual!

Thank you!

T

[docsconz]

Heston Blumenthal cont.

The flavor profile of the frankincense was such that it was difficult to use within a dish, however, it made a great tea to incorporate in his special Christmas meal. Blumenthal moved on to finding a way to use myrrh, also crystallized sap, in his meal. He went to a local healer who uses it as medicine. For example, the smoke from burned myrrh is felt to relieve sore throats. Even after adding copious amounts of honey to myrrh, it was still too bitter to use and tasted like rubber. Blumenthal determined that given its extreme, unpleasant bitterness, he couldn't really use it in the meal. He needed to find another way to utilize myrrh. Since the purest stuff comes straight from the trunk of a tree, Heston accomplished this by taking some branches from a myrrh tree in the Middle East and turned them into spoons.

Heston returned to the other packet in the envelope, a wafer in a plastic wrapper.

Given Heston's desire to elicit an emotional response from his diners and that he was trying to convey the essence of the ideal Christmas, what would present a more ideal Christmas than the presence of children, specifically that of an infant. To convey that to this audience, he provided the wafers that tasted like the smell of a baby! It was so right on that I laughed aloud as I tasted mine!

The last gift of the Magi, gold, also proved somewhat difficult to incorporate into this meal. The hand-hammered gold leaf he procured was about 100 times too thick to eat. Blumenthal decided to use langoustines for a course as the frankincense trees were on an old sea bed (a stretch he acknowledged). After creating a langoustine broth, Blumenthal freeze-dried it to create a honey-comb effect. To this he added gold leaf flakes. Frankincense tea was then poured over that to create a kind of shiny tea, that was, in turn, poured over various garnishes including egg yolk cooked with saffron, coffee with saffron gelatin, crystallized pistachios and tiny, pickled onions with sea urchin that worked well with the frankincense and tarragon tips. This was the first course of his yuletide meal.

Next dish: hot sorbet. Heston next went to Paris, to a perfumery, one of the most well known in the world. He wanted a fragrance that would evoke memories/scents of Christmas and he wanted to get the classic memory of a roaring fireplace into the meal by setting the sorbet on fire. He did so through the use of a gelation agent that would prevent the sorbet from melting. He blended apple products with the agent, then transfered it to the sorbet machine to create the sorbet. Whiskey is poured over it, and set on fire, but it doesn’t melt. Heston has used this gel in his restaurant to create dishes like hot+iced tea, with two different temperatures in one cup, split vertically. He has been using this product in his restaurant for a few years now. For the meal, a hot cast-iron dish was garnished with macerated apples, upon which the flaming sorbet was set. The guests then poured the whiskey onto the sorbet and lit the sorbet themselves. To include the scents of leather and fire, he put the scent underneth the centerpiece with dry ice to carry the scent. The waiter poured hot water upon the dried aroma to release it, and the scent spread around the table. Underneath the pot they hid more dry ice and popping candy with some apples on top, so when the water was poured on it made a popping sound like a fire. The smell is astounding. Heston and his assistant gave us a demonstration of it by watering some of the dried scent hidden along with some dry ice in props at the front of the stage. The scent wafted quickly into the audience. Heston proved that smell can be a very powerful trigger, and can tie into the emotion of a dish.

to be continued...

[docsconz]

Heston Blumenthal cont.

Taste and smell are not the only senses explored by Blumenthal. In an aside from his Christmas meal, he described a now well known dish, one that exploits the power of sound. He talked about how eating a chip in front of a microphone, with a loud feed of the sound to headphones, the eater heard a sharper crisp and it seemed as though the chip was fresher and crispier. The opposite, with a quieter headphone, actually made the chip seem stale. The dish he described, includes the sound of the sea. The ingredients used for the dish include tapioca and grape nut "sand", seaweed, which uses the “rockpool” smell to remind one even more of seaside, on top of that an oyster and some razor clams along with sea urchin. He drips ponzu sauce, with some foamed seafood juices on top of that. The dish was served with a conch with headphones, playing sea sounds via an ipod. As a test, he cut an oyster in half and asked the tester to taste the first half whilst listening to a recording of the sounds of the sea. 87% of the people found it better while listening to the sea, and 67% found it more salty. He then played barnyard noises while the testers ate the other half of the oyster with the result: 63% found the oyster to be less pleasurable, and 8% found it to be more salty. Blumenthal and academic colleagues did a similar test with bacon/egg flavored ice cream, and played both chicken sounds and pig sounds. Despite expectations from the testers, it was found that the brains were almost hard wired with the appropriate associations.

to be continued...

[docsconz]

Heston Blumenthal cont.

After his aside, Heston returned to his lavish holiday meal. The final dish: reindeer ice cream. Heston went to Siberia to search for reindeer during the reindeer festival there. His first taste of reindeer came from the marrow of one that was freshly killed. Despite how good it was he couldn’t bring himself to cook "Rudolph", so for another solution he went to a reindeer farm. He was able to milk the reindeer at the farm and the milk tasted like incredibly rich cow's milk. He wanted to use the milk in a breakfast-like dish, with the milk made into "egg" ice cream. The chef tempered the high-fat milk with some skim. He dipped a brioche in a mixture of milk, eggs and sugar, which he then fried, before caramelizing the brioche in a clean pan with some sugar. Mincemeat was placed on the toast, (which actually contained a secret ingredient -reindeer marrow) and then put some crystallized bacon on top. Returning to the eggs, (or ice cream) he encapsulated egg flavor in the cream by using quite a few eggs and then "scrambled" it all in liquid nitrogen. he provided the audience with a demonstration of this technique by cracking a couple of "eggs" into the liquid nitrogen and "scrambling" them.

This concluded the main body of Heston Blumenthal's demonstration, but Ted Allen then moderated questions from the audience.

Q: Is there a way for a young chef to know when he is crossing the line into gimmickry?

A: One must look at the balance of the tastes and the textures and everything, and there is subjectivity, but he looks at his gut feeling, and thinks it is very important to go with that. The conferences have made a huge difference in the world of gastronomy. there is a lot of pressure on young chefs nowadays, but one of the best things about these conferences is that they give honor to the young, creative chefs, but these young chefs need to follow their instincts, they need to be true to what they believe in, the “old-fashioned” quality controls to keep their food from becoming gimmicky.

Q: What type of gelatin, and what proportion were you using?

A: We use a mixture of the gelatins depending on the dish, and the gel strengths change depending on the dish. The key for the hot + cold tea dish was making sure that the hot gel was solid enough to ensure stability, but not overpowering the cold side, making the cold side seem too solid

Q:Do you think when you are cooking that your work is for the very sophisticated British food connoisseur? Is it for the world? What inspires you?

A: I’m a big kid, I didnt grow up with champagne and caviar. Anything that brings excitement and innovation to food is what keeps me coming back. You can’t experiment until you understand the basic, classics of the food world. It takes a long time to understand the classics, but once you do you can finally ask the questions that it takes to innovate.

Q: Liquid over the dry ice, what created the smell?

A: The smell was created by Christophe (perfumer), but there were hundreds of different molecules, each of which had a tiny nuance that it brought. The dry ice is infused with the perfume, and when the hot liquid is poured over it, the ice vaporizes and the CO2 is able to spread all over, carrying the perfume with it.

Q: One technique he has noticed is in the sense meets mouth vein. Where do you go to learn the combinations between certain ingredients and techniques?

A: For me it's dogged determination and a ridiculous level of inquisitiveness. I keep on asking questions. I met someone from one of the largest flavor companies, who invited me to one of their places in Geneva, and I was sitting in this man's office and I saw a book on confectionery, wrote down the names, and when i got back to Britain I looked up the books, found the authors and had a chat. The main problem is that there is not enough information out there to chefs. There are university papers written on creative techniques, but the usable info is buried in these papers, and it is difficult for young promising chefs to find what is usable. There are no secrets in the fat duck book. The recipes are 100% accurate. I believe that the spread of information is key for other chefs to learn and innovate on their own.

[docsconz]

Enrique Olvera - Traditional Mexican Techniques in a Fine Dining Context

From Mexico City, trained in Chicago and with a degree from C.I.A. in Hyde Park, Olvera and his restaurant, Pujol, is a major part of the new Mexican cuisine. Having had a wonderful meal there in 2006 (despite the fact that I didn't get his name right then ), I can attest to his skill, creativity and utterly delicious food.

Olvera started his presentation with a mouth-watering video showcasing the absolute variety of the street food of Mexico in Mexico City. As the video began, he started preparing two recipes based on traditional Mexican cooking.

Enrique Olvera's mis-en-place

One was a prickly pear dish and the other a tamal. Olvera started preparing nopales (cactus) by mixing it with a lot of salt, until the color became a darker green. He strained and plated the nopales, garnished with with onions and tomatoes on top, Mexican oregano and a Mexican canasta style cheese on the side. He finished the dish with a vinagrette on top. The point of this demonstration was that he took a common dish and turned it into a fine-dining experience by applying aesthetic principles to it.

to be continued...

[hathor]

Grazie mille John. I know how much work it takes to do a report of this depth, and believe me....I appreciate your efforts and your sons. Grazie!

The Heston Blumenthal section is certainly thought provoking....

[docsconz]

Grazie mille John. I know how much work it takes to do a report of this depth, and believe me....I appreciate your efforts and your sons. Grazie!

The Heston Blumenthal section is certainly thought provoking....

←

Thanks, Judith. The Heston Blumenthal presentation was certainly a rousing start to the party! Getting a feel for what he does in person gave me a new appreciation for what he does and renewed a desire to get to the Fat Duck someday. I also got a sense that the oft-joked about ipod is not really too far out there afterall. I would certainly like to hear (and taste) for myself. The baby smell wafer really was sensational and fun even if it was not of the utmost classic gastronomic value.

[Anna N]

That's quite the dressing Heston is wearing on his hand/arm! I'm guessing that it is cooking/kitchen related.

Heston always strikes me as someone who is having an enormous amount of fun and that he is somewhat puzzled that his playtime in the kitchen should interest so many people.

Many thanks, as always, for sharing so generously.

Anna N

[docsconz]

That's quite the dressing Heston is wearing on his hand/arm!  I'm guessing that it is cooking/kitchen related.

Heston always strikes me as someone who is having an enormous amount of fun and that he is somewhat puzzled that his playtime in the kitchen should interest so many people. 

Many thanks, as always, for sharing so generously.

Anna N

←

I believe that I heard that the injury was accrued in the line of fire, though I am not certain of it. I agree that it seems like fun is such an enormous component of his art. I feel that the same is true for most if not all of the great technoemotional chefs like Adria, Achatz, Dufresne, Andres, etc.

Thanks for reading and commenting!

[docsconz]

Enrique Olvera continued

Olvera next showed a video demonstrating how to make tamales from the south of Mexico. These were wrapped in banana leaves and combined green tomato leaves, star anise, corn masa, black beans cooked with water and salt and pork fat. When cooking the lard, it is important to brown it to give it the necessary depth of flavor. again, using traditional techniques and ingredients,they try to keep it as simple as possible. They mix in some whole beans into the hot pork fat and puree, let the whole thing rest until it gets cold, and then form the tamales.

After their formation, the tamales are cooked in a steamer and wrapped in a banana leaf that has been burned a little bit. The tamal should feel a bit moist before wrapping, indicating the correct consistency. For best results the banana leaf must be fresh and smell like banana. If necessary one may also use avocado leaf. The tamales are then steamed for about 15 minutes. As opposed to a traditional Mexican restaurant, he does not serve tamales wrapped. Instead, he unwraps them and serves them with some sour cream and grated cheese, along with a green sauce made from tomatillos, onion, garlic, cilantro and serrano peppers.

The ingredients are combined and pureed, and then heated and served on the side. The cilantro sprouts are served on top of the tamal.