We live in a world full of diversity, where we can explore so much. We need to be curious and have the will to try. In the kitchen I find a whole universe of things, different shapes and colors, flavors, textures, perfumes. All we need to do is open our senses and let them guide us to creation. When you are passionate about food, you become attentive to everything, the minimum detail is something to be considered, deeply. If you like vegetables, you can become one, it just feels like you are part of nature. Go and discover your own galaxy of food.
Early in the morning, I started getting the clay oven ready. The nigh before I had prepared my vegetables mise en place. I wanted to do an individual side dish to go with the marinated roasted lamb. I made a variety of 17 different vegetables and one fruit, each one of them cooked separately by respecting their organoleptic identities. One of them, the yucca had an asafran touch, and the fruit was a honey and butter roasted pineapple, the other vegetables where mostly prepared by respecting their original flavors.
I also made a vegetable broth with the left overs, then reduced it, and gave it a bacon perfume, I also added a few small pieces of fresh goat cheese for it to melt. This broth was added right before they went into the clay oven, where the lamb was almost ready. I also added a baby lamb rib to each of the vegetables side dish. This menu dedicated to lamb was a good option for that rainy day. The clay oven gives everything a very good taste.
Foie Gras is a specially fattened liver of a duck or goose, that has been part of a process called gavage ( corn force-feeding ). It is a very well known delicacy in French cuisine, it has a rich and delicate flavor unlike that of a regular duck or goose liver.
This technique dates as far as 2500 BC, the ancient Egyptians used birds for food, and fattened them through force- feeding. These days this process is controversial in many countries and some of them have adopted a natural voluntary feeding process with good results. It is a very versatile product, used as terrines, pâtés, parfaits, foams and mousses it can also be part of a sauce, or used to stuff raviolis, or even marinated with Cognac or Armagnac, then seasoned and cooked mi-cuit. The easiest way to eat it is to spread it on a piece of toasted bread, then season it with salt crystals and black pepper, and finally add a touch of sweet, as a jelly or marmalade. It goes well with a late harvest chilled wine. In my house we made a papaya - ginger marmalade to go with this Laguiole foie gras sent to us by Michel Bras!
This dish was made in a very short period of time, although, the result was quite good. Red tuna fish is a good option when it comes to preparing a quick meal, it only takes a minute to be ready, you can grill it or pan fry it. Remember that in general fish should not be overcooked, specially this kind of fish that offers a tender and delicate texture when raw. I prepared a variety of vegetables such as bell peppers, celery, green onion, carrots, and a type of radish, I chopped them “ julienne” and then sauteed them with garlic perfumed olive oil. I also found some coconut milk so I added a wasabi touch to it and made and emulsion to go as a sauce.
After a long trip back from Chile, I wanted to prepare something easy and new, I found some beef tongue and some sweet potato from the Andes called “ Camote “ , I made some tannic red wine jelly and a fig vinaigrette to go with my slow cooked tongue, and I added herbs and a garlic touch to this sweet potato “ cigar “ which I finally rolled on a pumpkin seed gomasio.
I am now in this beautiful part of the world, the south of Chile, in the Lago de todos los Santos. These overwhelming landscapes inspire me to share a few words with all of you. It is amazing to be here and to be able to try all the products that this land has to offer, soon I will update El Sarten with images and all about this culinary adventure. This lake is the door to Patagonia, surrounded by volcanoes like this one, the Osorno.
I decided to make a vegetarian week, I have been eating lots of greens, raw vegetables, and a big variety of fruits and honestly I feel great. Vegetables can actually change your mood. They can be used as a simple salad or as a gourmet dish, this is a yucca pure with azafran flames, stuffed vegetables, roasted eggplant and onions and a few toasted pumpkin seeds. Choose them well, wash them well and let your body tell you what to do with them. The consumption of organic food is good for you health and can also contribute to make a better world. If you can, grow your own.
It is always good to try something new when cooking. This time I used a type of wok that comes from the south of Chile, and it was originally used to work the fields by moving the earth with metal plates pulled by bulls. These days we can find and industrial version of it. I used it to make asian-style food, something like Thai food. I used a mix of seafood such as calamari, shrimp, a few types of shellfish and three different types of fish, I also added some chicken breast and some pork tenderloin. To start, I sautéed finely chopped onions, green and red peppers and some ginger. The Thai touch consisted of giving all the ingredients a good balance between coconut and green curry. I was also careful to respect the right time to add each ingredient to my preparation.
This weekend we made a special trip to the south coast of Ecuador, the final destination was an ecological resort near the town of Puerto Lopez. Every year from June to the end of September the hump back whales come to this region of the world to give birth and reproduce, they have their annual holidays here. After, some will go to the south pole and others to the north pole. It was amazing to get to watch this beautiful and peaceful creatures in their habitat. While camping the idea was to make our own food, in the freshest way possible of course. We found a fisherman returning from the afternoon fishing. We bought two king crabs, some fish and a few vegetables and transformed them in a very nice moment shared between family and friends, to be honest it was delicious. It is great to cook with products that are just coming out of the sea combined with beautiful nature around us.
This uruguayan lamb was spit-roasted last saturday in my house. After eight hours of slow cooking the result was very good. It was seasoned with some “chimichurri” a typical sauce that is made with garlic, parsley, oregano, salt, pepper vinegar and olive oil, a few drops of beer once on a while also helped with the taste. It was also a nice occasion to share with family and friends, all together around the ambers, seduced by the tempting smell. A fresh quinoa salad with mint, a big green salad, home made bread, some slow cooked “chaucha” potatoes and a red pepper antipasti where also part of this meal before we served a light biscuit with a lime vierge sauce to give a fresh end to our celebration.
One of my favorite ways of preparing food has always been rustic, spontaneous and natural. The clay oven is a great option when it comes to making good things to eat. You can prepare a whole baby pork with roasted vegetables, or a leg of lamb marinated in oregano, olive oil and garlic, just as well as a home made chocolate cake. Last Sunday we prepared chilean empanadas, which consist in a local traditional dough stuffed with finely chopped stewed beef, caramelized onions, a black olive and a few dried raisins, everything needs to be well seasoned. Some fresh herbs would give the final touch before they are sealed and sent to the clay oven.
Every day I try to add some rock & roll to the ecuadorian traditional food, this is a ceviche , a traditional dish from the coast of Ecuador, and also from other neighbor countries such as Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Chile and Argentina, each one of them has its own version, mine was to give it an asparagus and lime touch by turning it into a smooth jelly as a base, some raw, finely chopped asparagus heads on top, followed by a green banana biscuit that holds the fish ceviche, which consists of marinated white fish with red onions, a touch of garlic, cilantro, a bit of ginger, some green chili, tomatoes and a few chopped cappers. Everything needs to be well seasoned with salt, pepper and olive oil. It is very simple to make and to enjoy.
This dish was made last sunday at my house in Quito , Ecuador, where my family and I enjoyed a very nice moment. The menu consisted of roasted prawns with a naranjilla ( local exotic fruit ) vinaigrette and a few glazed garden carrots in a orange-cumin sauce and pured fava beens, very simple to make.
Isolated in the mountains of Hokkaido , in the north of Japan, the village of Toya, hosted the group of leaders from the G8 with an official dinner at Michel Bras restaurant located in the Windsor Hotel Toya.
I asked Michel for an image with all the presidents for El Sarten. His answer was no; " it's not my style" he said, but he did give me this image of the menu served on the night of the 8th of july 2008 , and I should thank him for it. A simple and great man who is not afraid to share his passion and philosophy with us every day, but is shy enough to avoid showing pictures with the presidents of the most powerful economies in the world. For me it was more than enough, here I share it with you.
After a serious mountain-bike ride, we decided to stop for our picnic in the meadows in l’Aubrac. Before we left we made some bulgur wheat and added some fresh vegetables, shallots, radish, courgette, and bacon. Once we had sat down we seasoned our salad with what we found around us: “sistre” a plant of the dill family (the symbol of Michel Bras) and some flowers like “pensees” and “potentilles”. It felt just great to give this special touch to our meal, taking only what we needed and enjoying it in the freshest way possible. It is great to be surprised by simplicity.
The cryo-vracking phenomenon started 25 years ago. It's a cooking method that allows us to preserve all the qualities of a product and to greatly extend its period of durability in safe conditions. It has revolutionised the way the restauration business functions. Using this technique, it is possible to manipulate and control the temperature at which a product is cooked almost to perfection.
Mr. Bruno Gaussault, scientist and president of CREA ( Centre de recherche et d'études pour l'alimentation), affirms that « cooking a product immersed in water is the best way to get the best quality ». It is easy to regulate the temperature of water with great precision, making it the best and the simplest way to heat or cool a product. But how can the damage caused to a product that has come into direct contact with water best be avoided? The answer is to protect the product from the water by vacuum sealing it into special bags. It will then be possible to perfectly preserve the texture, aroma and flavour of the product, as well as monitoring how it cooks with the accuracy of a digital thermometer. It has enabled chefs to save time and improve quality - it's a complete revolution.
We had a one week course on cryo-vacking with Mr. Gaussault, also president of the number one company in the world, cuisine solutions, and we did plenty of experiments using fish, meat and vegetable: it means cooking at the right temperature, respecting the hygiene with amazing results, and above all, it means giving new solutions.
Here's some useful information:
After our tests we discovered the correct core temperatures for the following products:
Fish: 58-60°C
Beef: 58-60°C
Veal: 65-68°C
Pork: 65-66°C
Chicken: 65-71°C
Vegetables: 80-85°C
* You can use a home digital thermometer to have a go yourself, try to avoid harming the product while you do it.
Objective: To get to the top.
Difficulty Level: Very Hard
Time: Many years.
Team: Only the best.
Equipment: A back pack full of courage, the right decisions, patience and some talent.
Every day is a challenge, every night is a day accomplished. Keep thinking about the feeling of reaching the top. Everyone has his own mountain to climb, and summit to reach. Passion is a must. Dreams are there, is our duty in life to make them come true.
In my experience, it is important to feed the soul and not only the stomach. I believe that food and emotions are directly related; hand in hand they go in the eternal search of happiness. The power of food is so amazing that we can actually control our emotions by eating well. You want to try it out? I will give you some simple recipes from now on, here is the first one: 20 minutes before breakfast every morning, mix one spoonful of pollen with a glass of pure carrot and parsley juice, then have a spoonful of a good olive oil. Try this every day for a week. The next week you can change the juice using another vegetable such as broccoli, but don't add any water to it. Get into a routine and do this every day - you will see the results in your hair, eyes, skin, and especially in your mood. It works very well in many other aspects too.
People often say that in England you wont eat well, but they are wrong. London offers an enormous variety of international cuisine to suit all budgets. Pierre Gagnaire, one of my favorite chefs has created a unique restaurant concept, an incredible experience that melts the art of cooking with music, visual arts and design. The Lecture Room, a one Michelin-star restaurant, is the gastronomic paradise of the Sketch, chef Pascal Sanchez, the executive chef is a true master, he has put together a small team and improved the skills of each of its members, the result is fantastic food that achieves the true balance between simplicity and complexity that this art requires. Fresh products, and the perfect technique to transform them into very good dishes make this place somewhere worth trying. I have the chance to be part of this team during my stay in London, I would like to share this experience, this is my first impression, and these images a small bite of this perfectly conceived dish.
In the kitchen world the language used is very important to be able to describe a dish, or to understand it when reading a menu. Most of the words come from the French, because most of the techniques and cuisine bases where also created here in France. In the professional world it is also important to know how to describe your creations in an attractive and truthful way. The oral and written language are also part of the culinary world. I have been looking for a website that can help us translating and describing the techniques, from French to English and vice versa, I did not find a proper site until my friend Paul James Kirrage,a member of the Institut Paul Bocuse team gave me the link of his new website, and finally, a gastronomic translator on line, www.pjkhospitality.com, thank you for this amazing service Paul!
It is so interesting to melt different arts into one. Ideas from both sides merge together into one creation. The power of the image and the charm of food together can go far. A good dish can look even better with good photography, for instance. Add some graphic design with modern ideas to the mix, and the result will hopefully be a yummy photograph. El Sarten and RGB Studios just started to work together in a fun culinary and design experience... Click to enlarge the image.
This dish was made with a variety of shellfish and squid in a creamy light broth with vegetables. It is really interesting to work with products from the sea because of their nature and also because they have to be fresh, in fact, beside the fish, almost every other product arrives alive.
Located around a 45-minute drive from the centre of Paris, Rungis Market is one of the biggest in the world. This school trip began at 4.30am, when we arrived at the market, then we spent several hours visiting all the different areas of this enormous place. Each area is determined by product: meat, vegetable, poultry and fish. The fish section was particularly impressive; all these high-quality products from the sea were perfectly handled and stored in the correct conditions. It was a fascinating journey into the world of all the marine creatures that humans eat. Some of the fish here is even sold just a few hours later in the largest and most important fish market in the world, the Tsukiji shijō.
I am very happy that my blog will have new visitors, it is now part of the Institut Paul Bocuse website, this site is visited by thousands of people around the world, there are students of 39 different nationalities, making all this extra interesting! Check it out, go ahead and help me promoting this passion all over, lets all become cooks!
I enjoy cooking, travelling, and being part of nature. I have a Bac + 4 in Hotels and restaurants management in Chile, and a Bac + 3 in Arts Culinaires et Management de la Hotellerie at Institute Paul Bocuse in Lyon, France. >View my resume
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