I'll take my chances with a fire inside
Fresh air is not an option
Where does it come from? Where do you look for yours? The last couple of months I have been collecting up a good sized stack of “Cookbooks”, from chefs from all over the world almost. Between the actual physical books and the healthy handful of blogs that I read on a regular basis I have been searching for the answer to no avail. While the actual recipe part of the tomes that I have been purchasing is interesting and informative I have been hunting for some insight into the thought processes of these well known and successful chefs. As I say, I have not found the answer yet, but to be truthful, for the most part I have only had time to scan through the books so far, and am still somewhat hopeful to find some insight into inspiration, but therein lies the problem, I am not looking to just duplicate the creativity of others, I want to be able to understand how the mind of these leaders of the field come up with the outstanding, sometimes outlandish, and over the top dishes that they create. I mean, one does not go to school somewhere to learn creativity, I’m reasonably sure that Ferran Adria did not have a mentor to teach him the ropes of his “molecular” cooking techniques. (Although I am still waiting for Amazon to ship that particular volume). Grant Achatz did have a full, formal culinary education, and apparently some wonderful mentoring, but with his newest endeavors he is following no one, how does a mind like that work, to come up with amazing new idea after idea. The other well published, and televised chef that is intriguing made his way without the formal culinary education yet devises some of the world’s most unique presentations, Heston Blumenthal is yet another chef that I would love to get inside the mind of, just to discover how that gray matter differs from the vast majority of us stove monkeys. Of course I have just named a trio of the worlds most celebrated chefs of the day, I’m certain that there are thousands more out there that produce equally inventive dishes on a daily basis as well, off the top of my head I could name a couple dozen that also have achieved “celebrity” status with their creations, but the point, or the question of the day is how.
To be sure, part of the answer lies in the fact that these chefs have a free hand, so to speak, in what they are going to make, and these three can really do no wrong I’m sure, no matter what it is, the patrons at their respective establishments are going to be willing to try it, that is in fact why one would go and spend several hundred dollars per person on an evenings dining pleasure after waiting a couple of months after having secured your reservation.
One thing is for certain, for anything to work in the kitchen, a solid background in the classical techniques is advisable, if not essential. Otherwise a lot of time and effort will go into a lot of failures before anything new is created. I am also starting to wonder if the creative streak I seem to be lacking at the moment is not a function of my current position, and if I should be looking at the psychology of creativity and inspiration rather than at some of the chefs that seem to have more than their fair share.
Just a little humor that I read today:
Ham and Eggs:
A days work for the chicken, a lifetime commitment for the pig.
Quite often I have little thoughts like this one running around in my head and when I do I always hear Andy Rooney from 60 minutes doing his segment at the end of the program. We’ll see how this works out but for now I’ll just share this one with you and see how this category progresses.
Observation #1
Why is it that almost every employer I’ve worked for has no trouble when I use my own knives or other small equipment day in and day out, yet when I take the time to sharpen said knives that have become less than sharp with use, on their time, they have something to say about it? Am I wasting time, not being productive? The way I see it, the time invested in an activity such as sharpening my knives, while not only necessary, makes me more productive as well as safer, not to mention the fact that I’ll be somewhat quicker and less worn out so that I can be more productive when service time rolls around.
Well, another set of days off have come and gone, and for some reason, while the clock or the calendar proves to me that this set was in fact a few hours longer than most, psychologically they seemed very short indeed. Perhaps it’s the fact that, as I posted over at my other site that I only have seven more days at home prior to the 25th of December, or it may be the fact that I didn’t manage to cook quite as many dishes as I was planning to this past weekend. The Sous Vide Magic however, did work all weekend churning out some interesting eggs, I tried the temperatures that several chefs have blogged in regards to a perfect temperature but found that while the yolks were perfect, the whites left something to be desired in the texture department. I’m certain that with a bit more experimentation that will be solved as well, and if it isn’t it seems that the chefs at Ideas in Food have come up with the perfect egg going a different route altogether, but it also seems that we’ll have to wait for their book to be published which is apparently going to be sometime next year, ahhhh well. Also tried out a short rib type dish with mixed results as well, but nothing about that experiment went quite the way it was originally planned, started with a brisket cut in a “short rib style”, and only managed to have 42 hours in the Sous Vide, (many recipes state about three full days) which was all the time I had before having to fly back to work. While the flavor wasn’t to shabby, I am going to assume that I went a little too light on the seasoning and will adjust accordingly the next time around, also will take the time to find a proper cut of rib, instead of the local chain grocery store’s idea of a short rib.
Only managed to have a little bit of fun with the new hydrocolloids that Nealanders sent out recently, but like I was saying, time was certainly my nemesis this set of days off. I did however manage to find a great deal on a higher end domestic juicer, so the gels worked out nicely. Finally found a Canadian supplier for Calcium chloride as well, so if they work out I should be able to try some of the spherification techniques that look to be very appealing (visually anyways). If all works out well in that particular department I think most of the holiday menu will be garnished with red and green “ravioli” and “caviar”, until I can manage to move forward on my own. Following in other chef’s footsteps is one thing, but while I am learning new and different things on an almost daily basis, it is still just following, while I never expect to be the “leader”, some of my own ideas must enter into the scheme of things once the techniques have become mastered.
As my library grows, quicker than I could possibly read it, let alone digest the information I am starting to wonder if I could be a candidate for a diagnosis of OCD or if it is just a case of being driven to learn or catch up? It certainly feels like I have a lot of catching up to do, since over the past few years I had been so busy rebuilding my life, and just having one, that the culinary world seems to have bounded off into the future without my being aware of even its’ first couple of steps in that direction. Granted, in the backwaters of Canada, here and there, culinary innovation is not a big drawing card to restaurant venues. Especially in the area I’m in now it seems that the old cliché (and my paraphrasing) hold true, they listen to both kinds of music, Country AND Western, and do like both kinds of food, Meat AND Potatoes.
Latest additions
While I certainly realize that giving the guest what they want is paramount to the success of any venture, I am a little uncertain these days that the guest actually does know what they want. In my present position we often get the request for lighter and healthier menu selections, and vegetarian choices but when they are offered, the guest invariably still opts for the tried and true, deep fried and char-broiled meat and potato dishes. But this is nothing new I’m sure, I’ve written about this phenomena previously myself and I’m sure that many of you experience the same. Much is being written these days about a return to comfort foods in the dining sector. The downturn in the economy has people eating out less often, and I guess that when they do they want to spend their dollars on dishes that they are familiar with, and just do not feel up to preparing themselves. Just the other day I read an article that states that the main reason that people are going out to eat is to “feel good”. What exactly that is supposed to mean I am unsure about, but the impression I get is that the experience of the restaurant is becoming more important than the meal itself.
Study without action is futile, and action without study is fatal.
I can’t remember where I read that little saying but it just came to mind again this evening as I was “studying” away here in my room at camp. This particular adage, while I fully understand its’ merits is one that I find totally frustrating at this point in my career/life/interest level/enthusiasm. While I certainly would not call it futile, since I do get the opportunity to put some of my study to action when I go home for my days off. I have a fair amount of time to be studying, reading, researching new and intriguing techniques and ingredients, but next to no time to put any of them to action. Sous vide cuisine and hydrocolloids as texture modifiers are just not about to happen in this venue. As the months go by my list of things that I would like to be cooking, and experimenting with grows to the point that if every day off at home has three totally new and different meals prepared I am still set until the spring of next year, and that’s as of right now. On top of that, that would only give me one shot at each of the new dishes that I would love to be trying out these days. Good, great, absolutely fantastic or a total disaster, I don’t have the luxury of trying the same dish again, to be able to reproduce it or tweak the recipe/technique unless something else on my personal little menu gets put off for another month or so. But Christmas is not too far off anymore and I’m actually getting two whole weeks off, and that will allow me time to rest and relax as well as reduce the inventory of meals that I am just aching to prepare/attempt. As posted a little bit ago the sous vide steaks turned out wonderfully but one meal with a new piece of equipment makes for an awfully expensive piece of equipment, it also does not let me justify the purchase of a chamber vacuum sealer or a proper thermal circulator from Polyscience, would love to get the high end equipment, but like I said, the gear that I have now seems expensive enough when I have only used it once and only have the opportunity to use it four days out of the month.
Years ago I always use to say that if I’m working, I don’t have the time to ski or play golf, and if I have the time, that means I’m not working so I can’t afford it. These days as I have the time off I certainly don’t have the energy for golf, (in the very short season around here), and I surely don’t have the knees or the lungs for serious skiing either. These days it’s enough to make it home and cook a few new and interesting dishes for personal enjoyment. I would love to be able to cook professionally in a venue that would allow me to let my imagination run free, (or free-er anyways), but of course then we have the same catch-22 that I mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph, the oft and honestly lamented state of remuneration in the field of cooking. Should I go back to being the “starving artist” to be able to pursue the wonderful world of finer dining, and modern cuisine, or should I remain the “camp cook” making a wage that I could only dream about in the city?
Well, in my mind anyways it feels like a wonderful gift. For months I had been sourcing out some of the lesser used hydrocolloids, xanthan gum and agar were easy enough to find around town, but with some of the recipes and techniques I have been reading about one quickly realizes that there is so much more to the new textures and gels than just those two. Carrageenan, Locust Bean Gum, Gum Arabic, etc… All the sources I had found until very recently were all based in the US or even further abroad, with the exception of one. That one that I had found though only offered the line from Ferran Adria, which in and of itself is not a bad thing, but I had quickly discovered that while Mr. Adria basically invented the use of these products in the kitchen, rather that in a manufacturing environment. His products seem extremely expensive, compared to any of the other sites I had found. Being such a newbie to the world of hydrocolloids, I am not certain of all the different formulations of these products out there, but that is also exactly the reason I did not want to dive in with the Texturas line. Any mistakes I am bound to be making in the measurements and use of these gels and gums would have been much more costly. Finally, as I mentioned in an earlier post I discovered Nealanders. Based in Canada they are the distributors of Tic Gums in this country, as well as a wide variety of other products. After a number of emails back and forth between myself and a couple of very helpful and patient ladies at Nealanders I was able to get my hands on a good solid variety of the hydrocolloids that had been eluding me all this time. Now the fun, experimentation, research and learning can really begin in earnest. The price was also such that I just can’t say enough about this company. While all the purveyors of the hydrocolloids in question out of the States are undoubtedly fine companies and just as helpful as Nealanders, as I have often stated now, dealing with on line purchases and international shipping is a dicey proposition at best. Once that these hurdles were overcome, or in this case eliminated, it was just a matter of arranging an account with Fedex, and specifying what I wished to receive.
With all their help getting the assorted hydrocolloids you’d think that that would be enough to make my day, but as I opened the parcels I discovered that they had tossed in a couple of nice little knick-knacks just to add to the Christmas present feeling.
Nice "starter set"
Great Starter setup
To anyone experienced in the technique it might not seem like all that much, it might even seem laughably simple, but my first foray into the world of cooking in a controlled temperature water bath can go into my history books as a success. Two perfectly cooked medium rare Striploin Steaks, cooked Sous Vide for just under two hours and then quickly seared as the protein for our supper last night made my initiation into Sous vide cooking an enjoyable one.
Back in the spring, as I began my journey into the world of the new and different techniques so many things caught my attention that I quickly felt quite overwhelmed, I felt that the last few years cooking in the north had isolated me from the new and progressive trends that are becoming more mainstream by the month. Hydrocolloids and sous vide cooking top the list of techniques that piqued my interest, but upon first glance, the first few weeks of research into sous vide cooking, I truly thought that it would be something that I would just be reading about and eventually run into in some progressive, well to do restaurant kitchen sometime in the future. The equipment involved, at least the equipment that is “advertised” around the Web is quite expensive, doubly so when you factor in the exchange rate to our Canadian dollar, and the shipping costs involved to get said equipment to our rather remote little corner of Northern Alberta. Enter the world of the chef’s blogs, chefs from all around the continent, indeed all over the world, sharing their knowledge on the World Wide Web. At this point a big thank you appropriately goes out to Chad, of Chadzilla for the links he provides on his blog to steer me in the direction of Fresh Meals Solutions, ironically a Canadian company, (it still sells it’s products in US$). Sous Vide Magic, the temperature controller that Fresh Meals Solutions sell, is quite reasonably priced when you compare it to the thermal circulators out there. Couple that controller with a rice cooker or slow cooker or, as I decided to try, a roaster oven. This past weekend was our Canadian Thanksgiving weekend and these roaster ovens were on special everywhere for the obligatory turkey dinner. So, for about $320.00CDN you can set up an entire Sous Vide system, including the vacuum sealer. Beats the heck out of a minimum $3300.00USD investment. At that price point I certainly could not resist giving the whole thing a try, and as I have said, with a resounding thumbs up, both to the entire technique, as well as my initial meal. I just wish that I had more time this weekend to fine tune the controller, as well as cook a few more items. Now all that having been said, while this set up gives you the ability to truly cook sous vide, the only thing really missing is a chamber vacuum sealer, which in turn would give you the capability to incorporate liquids in your recipes much easier and compress ingredients as well, not to mention a much better vacuum than a household type Foodsaver can give you. The chamber vacuums seem to start at about $1300 USD and quickly go way up from there. So while my starter setup works great, it does have some limitations. The chamber vacuum will make it onto the shopping list eventually, it is definitely something that’ll require more research, saving, and planning. For now this setup is the answer and perfectly adequate to begin my self education into the world of sous vide cuisine.
Vacuum Sealer Set
It really is a huge book!
As I read back through the majority of my blogs, other than realizing that after the first couple of months the fact that my posting frequency has diminished I have also noticed that I may have not come up with the best name I could have for my little website here. While webrestaurateur.com is still to my liking and I am going to live with it, it does seem that I have gravitated to my own little corner of the restaurant, and that of course is the kitchen, (if my last couple of dozen posts haven’t made that crystal clear). But so be it, and at that point, as my title for this piece suggests, what’s in a name, and is it really that far off the mark anyways?
I have said it before, even a couple of times but it’s worth mentioning again that as I began this endeavor I had no real direction in mind other than getting some of my thoughts, opinions and ideas out there and sharing them with any and all interested parties. As I began this site I also began to hunt around the Web much more seriously in regards to other sites and blogs in the same genre. Not that I should have been at all surprised to find hundreds, if not thousands of sites devoted to food, cooking and the hospitality industry in general, but for the life of me I can’t figure out why I did not discover most of them until after I began my own. Of course every site and blog is unique and I am hopeful that this one is as well. So for you dear reader I pose the question of what is in a name? Granted, in the future I will post on topics more in line with the overall picture of the restaurant, but for now given all the inspiration I have found to keep me growing and searching as a chef, my focus is centered on the kitchen. I hope you enjoy the discoveries I’m making as much as I do.
Not exactly haute cuisine.
