Classic Beauty: Finding One’s Soul
By Chef Cheryl Lewis
In Escoffier’s “The Complete Guide to Modern Cookery”, he is not eschewing classic technique; rather he is exalting it – using the new technology of the time (1907), given to the world through the Industrial Revolution. As Escoffier wanted it to be, the book is a tool – allowing the reader “to be free to decide on the way to carry out the work according to his own personal views”. Escoffier is careful not to give exact recipes, because recipes are soulless. The soul of a chef is translated through proper technique, the educated choice of good ingredients, and the (once again, educated) blending of flavors. A true chef does not rely just on passion or enthusiasm, but also on geographical and historical research.
Young chefs, who rely on the Internet for recipes, frustrate me! Students, who want a quick fix with an easily found recipe, are not learning technique!They are not researching history, geography, indicative ingredients, or even their own passion. They are allowing the anonymous entities on the Internet to dictate to them through mere recipes, and that is just lazy. How can students expect to redefine the classics, if they never learn classic technique, or explore what really excites them?
Learning classical French cuisine is not about just memorizing a recipe; it’s about learning how to cook on this stove, in this pot – on this day. Can a recipe tell a young chef how to achieve the proper viscosity needed for a Béchamel – or if the seasoning is correct? I’ve checked – and no recipe tells one to stir the milk constantly during the initial heating, in order to prevent the protein from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Students must learn technique – not from recipes, but from the proper coaches. In “The Crito”, Socrates suggests that if one wants to become and Olympic swimmer, he should not go to the man on the street for training, but rather go to the coach who can make him a gold medal winner. Technique is not taught on the Internet, and not in recipes; it is taught side-by-side, with a dedicated coach.
Okay, Gen-IM – Socrates lived well over a thousand years ago. Why listen to him? I think it was last season’s “Top Chef” – when Collichio cried out, “How can you reinvent the classics when you don’t know the classics?” Yes, I’m talking to you – all of my amazingly bright students who are enamored with Molecular Gastronomy. It’s fun to read a recipe that transforms Bisque d’Ecrevisses à l’Ancienne (666) into a “Crawfish Cappucino”, but have you researched and perfected the classic technique? Did Escoffier just read some recipe for Crawfish Bisque? No! He lived the technique of making bisque for decades.
A recipe doesn’t tell you when a Hollandaise is too thick to napper a poached egg – or not to cover the crispy skin of a perfectly roasted chicken with sauce. Technique is learned in the kitchen, over and over again, with the right mentors. There is no restaurant beneath serious consideration, if the chefs are dedicated to research and practice. When the ideal of perfection is always just out of reach, chefs continue to develop their classical skills – while experimenting and creating the future.
A San Antonio Whirl Wind Food Tour
By Pastry Chef & Professor Michele E Brown
Part1
We began our spring break family vacation feeling a bit like the Griswold’s; kids piled in among pillows, backpacks, laptops and coolers, bitter that we did not leave at the early hour of 8 AM but closer to 10 AM because mom had to color her hair lest she look like Cruella Deville. Resigned to the fact that I will embarrass them no matter what color my hair, we push on our journey driving our bland, Stay-Puff Marshmallow Van thru Garland Texas, Dallas, and Ennis, Italy and beyond.
First planned stop was at Louie Mueller’s BBQ in Taylor Texas. Walking into this James Beard Award Winning joint, it hits you square in the face: smoke and history. The walls are a shade of brown reserved for a hallowed place, a place of worship. The natural casings on the sausages snap with the first bite initiating you into a club of dedicated gastronomes who take pride in their sophisticated palates, not necessarily sophisticated tableware. Opened in 1949 this establishment is family run with reverence and love for its patriarchal founder, his son and his children and the art of BBQ itself. Paper- no plates, plastic- no silverware, white bread slices-nothing fancy to see here but the aroma, the flavor- oh my!
We had heard of Mueller’s by way of an article in the Dallas Morning News that my husband had been holding for the year and a half we’ve been here in Texas for just such an occasion. Being from New York, what do we know of Texas BBQ? Not much, so the kids were expecting sticky sweet tomato based “Kraft” brand style BBQ sauce dripping pulled pork sandwiches.
Welcome to the world of intensely delicate smoke that haunts each bite allowing the meat to just cling to the bone of the beef ribs causing my 9 year old foodie to exclaim, “These are the best ribs I’ve ever had in my whole life!” My teenagers ate their brisket sandwiches so fast, I have no clue what they ate, and there was no trace left … Wayne Mueller gave me the 5 cent tour of the well seasoned kitchen space, it was a thing of beauty to behold in smoky sepia.
Come to find that many media outlets had been there before and since including all manner of Food Network folk, radio hosts, rock stars, movie stars, culinary professionals, enthusiasts and novices alike.
It’s not a small place, but not a barn either, situated in the heart of Taylor, Texas well wroth the detour, well worth the drive and well worth the experience: a slice of Texas history.
Coming Soon: Part 2 Doughnuts
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