FEATURE STORY
Swiss Watch: On Hand with Philippe Rochat
By Elaine Khosrova
To understand the Michelin-three-star food of
Chef Philippe Rochat, it pays to begin with a
visit to his walk-in. In this latched cold-storage
room located below Rochat’s restaurant
kitchen in Crissier, Switzerland, you will
find almost nothing. Except for a few tidy
boxes here and there, the shelves are nearly
vacant, revealing one of the central aspects of
Rochat’s cuisine: it is exquisitely fresh.
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Extraordinary Ice Creams
By Suzanne Hall
When Susan Moses makes ice cream, she doesn't waste her time with vanilla and chocolate . . . Instead she reaches for black tea, Pecorino cheese, pomegranates, and other unusual ingredients to make cold and creamy creations.
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iSanté Exclusive: Sourcing Spain
By Emily Gold
Every two years, Alimentaria, International Food and Beverage Exhibition transforms Barcelona, Spain, into a world food capital teeming with restaurateurs, chefs, and buyers searching out the top producers of the county’s food, wine, and equipment. This year the event featured nearly 5,000 exhibitors (70 percent of who were Spanish), who brought with them a range of products from beers to confectionaries.
The Intervin (wine and spirits) and Intercarn (meat and meat products) sectors of Alimentaria Barcelona 2008 occupied the largest amount of space, a dissection of territory fitting for the country that boasts the world’s largest cultivation of grape acreage, and is the number-two global consumer of meat.
In addition to the much-lauded Riojas, many excellent, value-driven wines were featured within the Intervin sector, including Monastrell from Murcia and Albariño from Galicia. Jamón was the star of the Intercarn] sector, with pigs’ legs densely lining the aisles. Renewed interest in the deep maroon, heavily marbled Iberian hams evidenced the recent relaxation of trade restrictions on the export of cured meats.
The wines, meats, cheeses, and olive oils presented at this year’s Alimentaria Barcelona were representative of a culture rooted in the past yet evolving toward the future. Beyond being a bacchanalian festival of the senses, the event presented the Spanish palate in context of the country’s history and tradition.
If your mouth is watering, mark your calendar for Alimentaria Barcelona 2010!
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Using a Standardized Recipe
A standardized recipe is one that will produce a known quality, quantity, and consistency of food items every time. A standard recipe card should contain a detailed recipe; a color photo of the presentation; preparation time; pickup station in the kitchen; required cutlery; possible allergy or dietary notes; a glossary of terms; and a financial breakdown of ingredient costs, menu price, and food-cost percentage.
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Roasted Pepper Tart
Yield: 12 servings
All-purpose flour: 1-1/2 cups
Salt: 1/8 tsp
Butter, cold: 1/2 cup
Water: 3 Tbsp
Red peppers, havled and seeded: 3 medium
Bell peppers, halved and seeded: 2 medium
Olive oil: 1/3 cup
Fresh oregano, minced: 4-1/2 tsp
Monterey Jack cheese, shredded: 2 cups
Ripe olives: 2-1/4 oz
1. In large bowl, combine flour and salt; cut in butter until crumbly. Gradually add water, tossing with fork until dough forms a ball. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Broil pepper 4 inches from heat until skins are blistered and blackened. Immediately place peppers in bowl, cover, and let stand for 15-20 minutes. Peel off and discard charred skin. Coarsley chop peppers; place in bowl, add oil and oregano, then toss to coat. Set aside.
3. Roll dough to fit 12-inch pizza pan. Transfer dough to pan and pric thoroughly with fork. Bake at 350 F for 30-35 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely.
4. Sprinkle one cup cheese over crust. Sprinkle with pepper mixture and remaining cheese. Arrange olives around edge. Bake at 350 F for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve immediately.
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Hazelnut Eclairs
Courtesy of Albert Uster Imports
Yield: 50 eclairs
Choux Pastry
Water: 1 qt
Butter: 14 oz
Salt: 1/4 oz
All-purpose flour: 1 lb 8 oz
Eggs: 20
Hazelnut Vanilla Cream Filling
Zurimix Pastry Cream: 8 oz
Whole milk: 1 qt
Confiseur d'Or Dark Hazelnut Praline Paste, small: 4 oz
Heavy cream: 14 oz
1. To make Choux Pastry: Bring water, butter, and salt to a boil. Add sieved flour, stirring constantly. Continue to roast dough until it comes cleanly away from the sides of the pan, then cool. Beat eggs and gradually add to mix; continue beating until paste is smooth and shiny.
2. To make Hazelnut Vanilla Cream Filling: Combine pastry cream powder and milk, mix at high speed 3 to 4 minutes. Blend the praline paste into the cream, then fold in whipped cream.
3. To make Hazelnut Eclairs: Pipe the Choux Dough into desired shapes and sprinkle with sliced hazelnuts then bake.
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Celebrating Women, Giving Back
On May 4 six top female chefs from the Chicago prepared the Twelfth Annual Girl Food Dinner at West Town Tavern. Event-founders Chef Susan Goss and Drew Goss, the restaurant's owners, donated all proceeds from the evening to benefit the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Chefs participating in the dinner with Chef Goss included: Chef Christine McCabe, Blue Plate; Chef Jill Barron, Mana Food Bar; Chef Karen Armijo, Gary Comer Youth Center; Chef Leah Caplan, The Washington Hotel; and Chef Nadia Tilkian, Maijean Restaurant. The evening's wines were selected and presented by Mindy Trafman of cru wine bar and café and Chef Caplan created a signature cocktail featuring her own Death's Door Gin.
The six participating chefs created special dishes just for The Girl Food Dinner and the menu included:
Trio of Appetizers
Smoked Whitefish with Herbed Crêpe
Tongue and Pickled Ramp Canapé
Spring Asparagus Salad
Cocktail
Death's Door Gin Cocktail with Cucumber, Lime, and Soda
Entree
Grilled Leek and Goat Cheese Tartlet with Roasted Pepper Coulis and Sweet Pea Tendril Salad
Louisiana Crawfish Cake with Green Garlic- Vegetable Brunoise, Julienne Asparagus, and Orange-Chili Vinaigrette
Citrus-Crusted Alaskan Halibut with Fennel Salad and Fennel Broth
Braised Wagyu Beef Shortrib with Herb Salad and Rhubarb Butter
Dessert
Cherry Olive Oil Upside Down Cake
Honey-Hazelnut Semi-Freddo
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Cyrano's Bistrot Crepe & Beer Festival
Cyrano's Bistrot, in Chicago, turned to the Brittany Region for a celebration of April in Paris. The establishment's First Annual Crepe & Beer Festival (April 22 through 26), saw Chef Didier present several savory and sweet crepe dishes:
Smoked Salmon, Crème Fraiche, and Spring Onion Frites
Grilled Pear, Walnuts, and Roquefort Cheese
Traditional Coq au Vin and Grilled Asparagus
Provencal Ratatouille, Olives, Eggplant, and Goat Cheese
Toasted Two Chocolate Sauces and Pralines
Cyrano's also featured 20 Beers from around the world, including organics from small houses, offered by the bottle, by the glass, and in a series of flights.
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Achatz Named Top Chef by Beard
The James Beard Foundation named Chef Grant Achatz as the 2008 Outstanding Chef during its annual awards ceremony, which was held on June 8 in New York City.
Achatz, of Chicago's Alinea restaurant, was among more than 50 culinary professionals who were recognized by the foundation, including: Joe Bastiancih and Mario Batali, named Outstanding Restaurateurs for their New York City eatery, Babbo; Gavin Kaysen of Café Boulud in New York City, named Rising Star; and Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson of Tartine Bakery in San Francisco, named Outstanding Pastry Chef.
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2008 US Barista Championship Winners
After hours of fierce competition at the 2008 United States Barista Championship (USBC) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Kyle Glanville of Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea in Los Angeles (pictured, left, with USBC Chair Tracy Allen) took home top honors. The Specialty Coffee Association of America’s contest took place at the organization’s Twentieth Annual Conference & Exhibition, May 5.
The United States Barista Championship, hosted by Krups, is the industry’s most-watched contest for coffeehouse professionals. In the final round challengers used three-group La Marzocco espresso machines to prepare and serve three orders - an espresso, a cappuccino, and an original coffee drink - all within 15 minutes. Contenders are expected to deliver a polished commentary that explains their technique and justifies their selections as they work. Seven certified judges granted points for station cleanliness, taste, beverage presentation, technical skills, and total impression.
As champion, Glanville received a trophy, $1,000 in cash, and an all-expense-paid trip to the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe’s 2008 World Barista Championship in Copenhagen, Denmark, June 19 to 22.
Pete Licata of PT’s Coffee Roasting Company, in Overland Park, Kansas, took second honors, and last year’s champion Heather Perry of Coffee Klatch, in San Dimas, California, won third.
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Sea Change: U.S. Shrimpers Go Green to Compete
As summer shrimping gets under way in the warm, coastal waters off the southeastern U.S., fishermen still are struggling to find a viable business model for survival. Nothing has stopped a price-depressing flood of foreign shrimp -- much of which is farm-raised and harvested without the backbreaking tasks of plying the ocean. And many environmentalists still view shrimpers as outdoor perpetrators who harm the ocean, turtles and cherished wildlife.
So shrimp fishermen are borrowing a page from organic farmers, some of whom let their chickens wander freely before being slaughtered and then sold at higher prices than their cooped-up cousins. Shrimpers are pushing their catch as an organically raised (and presumably happier-in-life) food with a fraction of the carbon tail-print of the millions of shrimp shipped in freighters that must cross the Pacific Ocean or travel from South America to the U.S.
For the complete story see: The Wall Street Journal
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Chef's Collaborative Releases "Seafood Solutions"
Chefs Collaborative announces the release of the latest edition of Seafood Solutions: A Chef’s Guide to Sourcing Sustainable Seafood.
“Many chefs want to do the right thing when it comes to purchasing ocean friendly seafood. But often, they struggle to know what the right thing is. Seafood Solutions is an indispensable reference tool for those chefs,” said Melissa Kogut, Executive Director of Chefs Collaborative.
“Chefs have a unique and powerful opportunity to influence people's dining and purchasing choices, and through it affect the health of a diverse range of seafood," says Bruce Sherman, Chef-Owner of Chicago's North Pond Restaurant and chair of Chefs Collaborative’s Chef and the Sea committee.
This new guide, available to members of the media on the Chefs Collaborative website, links timely information about the health of our oceans with practical tips for chefs on how to choose and cook with ocean-friendly seafood. A key feature of the guide, “Take 10 Steps toward Serving Sustainable Seafood,” encourages chefs to:
• Build relationships with trusted purveyors.
• Ask lots of questions when making purchases, including: Where is the fish from? Is it farm-raised or wild-caught? How was it farmed or caught?
• Cook with lesser known species of seafood, like wreckfish, wahoo, or mackerel, to ease pressure on more popular species – tuna, salmon, and shrimp.
Because chefs greatly influence public opinion about food, including the importance of buying food from trusted and sustainable sources, Chefs Collaborative is committed to educating chefs about the best ways to make their purchasing decisions.
Through workshops, publications (like Seafood Solutions), and experiential learning opportunities, Chefs Collaborative works with a national network of chefs and food professionals to expand a shared vision for a more sustainable food supply.
Founded in 1993, Chefs Collaborative is the nation’s leading network of chefs and members of the greater culinary community committed to sourcing and cooking with local, sustainable and delicious ingredients.
Download Seafood Solutions
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EPA Urged to Address Food Inflation
Agricultural economics, environmental, and food-industry leaders put out a call to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in mid-June, asking the agency to revisit food-to-fuel mandates. The request comes amidst recent flooding in the Midwest, which has combined with already-low corn supplies to push the commodity's price to $8 per bushel.
Among the reasons presented by these experts was a recent study by FarmEcon LLC, which was submitted to the EPA on June 16. According to the study, the EPA's Renewable Fuel Standard, which has some effect on the price of gas, is partially responsible for increasing food prices.
The EPA has stated that it's considering an ethanol mandate waiver request from Texas Governor Rick Perry, which will suspend half of this year's mandate in light of rising corn prices.
Source: meatnews.com
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Are Americans Ready for African Cuisine?
Growing more comfortable with the spicy profiles of Asian and Indian seasonings, are American diners ready to venture into the bold world of African cuisines?
"We explored the Asian rim thing and the Indian has been here forever," says Chef Morou Ouattara. The African-born chef recently launched his new restaurant, Farrah Olivia, in Alexandria, Virginia, combining flavors of the south -- rib eye steaks and beignets -- with spices from his homeland. "For six, seven years now people are playing with the idea of African food and people are now starting to accept it," he claims.
Of course, for those who understand the background to traditional meals of the South, the trend toward African cuisine is nothing new, claims historian Jessica B. Harris. Harris says this is because many of the Southern staples can be traced to Africa via slaves. "If you have had collard greens," she says, "you can understand callaloo," a leafy-green of west Africa.
The acceptance of Africa's bold dishes has been seen in the media as well. Until recently, Food & Wine magazine suggested substitutes whenever a recipe called for harissa, a spicy sauce from Tunisia. Gourmet magazine's executive food editor, Kemp Minifie, says, "As there is more awareness and more learning about Africa and that it isn't just one cuisine, there will be more restaurants doing it."
Source: freep.com
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Trans Fats May Be Banned in Massachusetts
The Massachusetts State House of Representatives has approved a bill that would ban the serving of foods containing trans fats. According to the Sun Chronicle, the bill passed the House with an overwhelming vote of 114 to 34. "Hydrogenated fats are poisons," claimed Representative Steve D'Amico (D), who co-sponsored the bill. "Trans fat is a dangerous chemical that damages arteries, causes heart disease, and kills people," he concluded.
The bill has moved to the State Senate for approval. If passed, the new law would require restaurants across the Bay State to eliminate foods containing vegetable shortening, margarine, or any partially hydrogenated vegetable oil by the year 2010. Only foods containing less than 0.5 grams of trans fats per serving would be served legally.
Opponents of the bill, like Representative Jay Barrows (R), say that a statewide trans fat ban attempts to dictate consumer behavior. "Let's give the consumers some credit," Barrows argued. Echoing his thoughts, Representative Better Poirier (R), said, "We're talking about adults. It's their decision. We can't legislate human behavior, or then we need to make smoking, liquor, and all things that are unhealthy for people illegal." D'Amico countered, saying that consumers "can't choose when [they] don't know what is in the food [they] eat."
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Food Prices Threatened by Flooding
Experts are predicting a poor 2008 corn harvest thanks to flooding throughout the Midwest. This and recent USDA estimates which show the harvest down by more than a billion bushels have caused price spikes in the commodities market as people fear further price increases for corn and other staples produced in the Midwest, which continues to face heavy rains. Iowa farmer Ron Litterer, president of the National Corn Growers Association, is maintaining an optimistic realism, saying, "If we get some decent weather we can still get a decent crop, though it's appearing we're not going to have a bumper crop."
Source: Chicago Tribune
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from the june 2008 issue of santé magazine |
Chocolates and Confections: Formula, Theory, and Technique for the Artisan Confectioner
Peter P. Greweling and The Culinary Institute of America
Wiley
International Association of Culinary Professionals 2008 Cookbook Awards Winner
Written by master confectioner Peter Greweling of The Culinary Institute of America, this 400-page hardcover is a comprehensive guide to the ingredients, theory, techniques, and formulas needed to create every kind of chocolate and confection. Illustrated throughout with nearly 200 full-color photographs and illustrations, Chocolates & Confections offers accessible explanations of theory as well as illustrated step-by-step guidance on technique, from tempering chocolate to candying fruit. It also includes charts that pinpoint common candy-making pitfalls and how to avoid them, guides to the best quality chocolate and other all-natural confectionery ingredients, as well as information on packaging and storage.
Buy at amazon.com >> Fish Forever: The Definitive Guide to Understanding, Selecting, and Preparing Healthy, Delicious, and Environmentally Sustainable Seafood
Paul Johnson
Wiley
International Association of Culinary Professionals 2008 Cookbook Awards Winner
Book Description: Few people know more about fish than Paul Johnson, whose Monterey Fish Market in San Francisco supplies seafood to some of the nation's most celebrated chefs, from Alice Waters, Thomas Keller, and Michael Mina to Todd English, Daniel Boulud, and Alain Ducasse. . . . Written for people who love seafood but worry about the overfishing of certain species as well as mercury and other contaminants, Fish Forever pinpoints today's least-endangered, least-contaminated, best-tasting fish and shellfish species. Johnson provides in-depth guidance on 70 different fish along with 96 stylish international recipes that highlight the outstanding culinary qualities of each. . . . Complete with over 60 beautiful color photographs, how-to tips, and fascinating sidebars, Fish Forever is a must-have kitchen resource for seafood lovers everywhere.
Buy at amazon.com >> The Kitchen Table: Brennan's of Houston
Randy Evans
Bright Sky Press
Beating out 2,689 other contenders in this year's Eleventh Annual Independent Publisher Book Awards, Executive Chef Randy Evans, of Brennan's of Houston, recently took home the gold medal for his new cookbook, The Kitchen Table. The mouthwatering hardcover, filled with images, stories, and recipes collected from nearly 40 years' worth of menus, is divided into nine chapters beginning with lagniappe (a small taste given gratuitously, thus an amuse), moving through soups, salads, charcuterie, seafood, and meats, then finishing off with desserts and special house cocktails. For those in the industry, it defines the value of offering a "chef's table" experience for guests and provides the inspiration to do so.
Buy at amazon.com >> The Food Encylopedia
Jacques L. Rolland and Carol Sherman
Robert Rose
Chefs who shop the world for ingredients, ideas, and inspiration will find the new Food Encyclopedia by Jacques Rolland, Carol Sherman, and other contributors(published by Robert Rose) an astute companion. With more than 8,000 entries on foods, beverages, tools, techniques, and notable people of the food world, this 700-page reference guide is the most comprehensive available. The hardcover describes a multitude of terms such as murmura, rhea, lussekatter, and many more culinary exotica. In addition, readers can cull the world of food personalities, including profiles on the real Chef Boyardee, Roy Plunkett, Eisai, and others. Easy cross-referencing, large type, color illustrations, and a listing of multiple names and spellings all add to the guide's smart usefulness.
Buy at amazon.com >> Truffles
Elizabeth Luard
Francis Lincoln Limited
Focusing on the subterranean fungus known as the truffle, the award-winning author, Elizabeth Luard, digs deeply into the mystique and history of this "nugget of vegetable matter . . . that looks like a lump of roughly cracked earth" yet somehow has become the world's most beloved, highest-priced culinary jewel. Truffles is Laurd's 176-page answer to the question of how and why the homely truffle arouses such passionate admirers, sending them "scrabbling in the earth or emptying the purse---whatever it takes to hold it in the hand, to smell, to taste, to savour."
Buy at amazon.com >>
The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution
Alice Waters
Clarkson Potter
This 416-page hardcover from Chez Panisse Founder Alice Waters includes recipes chosen to enhance and showcase great ingredients. Waters' philosophy on everything from stocking your kitchen to mastering fundamentals and preparing delicious, seasonal inspired meals all year long are included.
Buy at amazon.com >> Amazing Dairy-Free Desserts
Penny Wantuck Eisenberg
Surris Books
This 216-page paperback includes a comprehensive collection of original dairy-free desserts as well as information about dairy-allergic, lactose intolerant, kosher, and other individuals who want to restrict diary. Recipes include ice cream, pound cake, brownies, and more.
Buy at amazon.com >> |
