Have Blade Will Travel: The adventures of a traveling chef (30 page)

It is possible that ice sculptors operate at a higher level of aesthetic understanding – and this has been a logical evolution, given the ultimate transience of their work.  From my own experience in the transient food medium, this is the mindset I imagine ice sculptors must cultivate: 'I am an artist, and I have been working most of my adult life towards perfecting my artistic expression.  My passion will manifest in the form of an exquisitely sculpted block of frozen water.  At the end of this passionate expression, there will be a block of ice shaped into an incredible form.  You may come and see this result of my passionate expression, but you must come now.  Within an hour it will be gone forever.' 

In this case, the expression is the thing; while the end result is just the by-product of that process of expression.  When working with food, the chef and cuisinier must take a similar stance.  "I will create a meal for you that you may not soon forget.  I will endeavor to prepare it with great harmony, beauty, and expertise.  It will nourish you, soothe you and comfort you.  What you think of this meal is not important.  My expression is the thing.  It will be nothing less than what I would make for myself, my family, or my friends.  But when it leaves my kitchen, my work is done."  Indeed, when that meal is carried out into the dining room, it will be like a lover I have given my deepest feeling and passion to.  And when it is gone, the expression is finished, and I am done.

After my first eight years of working as an artist in a culinary medium, I found myself at the same juncture where Luc Brondel once stumbled.  After so many years of expressing passion, I had not received sufficient nourishment to keep those fires of passion burning.  I was moved to find a way to express the art in the culinary medium, and put that expression in book form.  Thus was conceived the idea of a book which could instruct other culinary practitioners in the skill of carving fruits and vegetables into various flower and aesthetic forms.  The Japanese word for this work is mukimono, literally "to slice things."  In Japanese cooking, this is not a compartmentalized discipline, but rather an integrated style in the presentation of food.  Since we do not have such an organized style in the west, I decided to call my particular garnishing techniques California mukimono, and entitled the book
Edible Art
.  Four years later, I had a contractual agreement in hand, and two years later (1985) the book was born.  (Edible Art remained in print 15 years, and a revision –
More Edible Art
– was released in 2000.  Unfortunately, due to a shift in cooking styles, it was out of print in less than a year, in spite of the fact that it was a vastly superior work.) 

Realizing that my published books could be viewed, used and enjoyed repeatedly by other culinarians, I created two recipe collections –
The Pillar House Cookbook
(1988) and
A Taste For All Seasons
(1990).  These were followed by
The Sauce Bible
(1993),
The
Hors D'oeuvres Bible
(1995),
The Professional Garde Manger
(1996).  Through these published works, I was able to pass on the torch of my passion, via the photography, illustrations, and writing that inspired other practitioners. 

There is a stereotypical image of crusty old chef standing in the demanding environment of a commercial kitchen, where he is subjected to the wear-and-tear of glaring light, scorching heat, simmering caldrons of stocks, splattering fat, and a broad spectrum of ego-driven personalities both in the kitchen and among the dining room service staff.  After years and years of operating in this harsh environment, no matter where he places himself on the Larousse Creative Gauge, he may find himself drinking alcoholic beverages to excess at the end of his day, not only in an effort to unwind, but to alleviate the buildup of stress and strain – the result of working many years in that rigorous environment.  That picture is not appropriate in our time, though the elements of that environment still exist – both the harshness of the physical plant and the stress of the emotional interaction.  It is just the nature of the beast – and eventually the beast is going to exact some flesh.

So what does this mean to students of culinary arts, who are leaving the comfortable confines of an educational environment and heading out into the kitchens of the world?  First, it is essential that students understand the harshness of this environment.  Whether male or female, first career or second, the kitchen is a very demanding environment.  It may be likened to a battlefield, where the Chef de cuisine is the general in charge, and all parties on that battlefield are required to express their allegiance to that Chef, and follow orders without hesitation.  In my youthful idealism, when I first entered the field, I believed that the kitchen was at its best a democracy, where all the members of that microcosm of a community had a vote and a say in what happened there.  But it was a flawed and naïve concept.  In practice, the kitchen is an autocracy, which when operating at its most enlightened, is a benevolent autocracy.  Teddy Roosevelt's talk softly, and carry a big stick credo epitomizes that environment.  It must be an autocracy, since the responsibility for the successful operation of a production kitchen falls upon the shoulders of the Chef in charge, not the rank and file. 

The darker side of this is totalitarian rule, where the chef's ego-mania – often driven by a deep, personal insecurity – colors the working environment.  I worked for a chef who had such a serious drinking problem, even during the daylight hours, that I had to leave the kitchen during one of his deranged harangues.  The Manager dismissed him on the spot, and I took over the operation of the kitchen until a more-seasoned executive could be found.

Second, culinarians need to consider where they stand on the Larousse Creative Gauge.  If one possesses the temperament to work more in the mechanic mode, they can be assured of endless opportunities in the trade, for good mechanics are essential in every food service operation.  If they lean more towards the artistic side, they must be steel themselves, and be prepared to work many long hours, until they find the appropriate place to express their creativity.

And finally, one must adopt and maintain a regular regimen of physical, emotional, and spiritual maintenance.   During my school years, when I met chefs who had succumbed to excesses of alcohol consumption, I made a life-long rule that I would never consume alcohol while in the environment of the kitchen, and that has been a wise decision.  I have also separated the physical exertion of a ten-hour shift in a production kitchen from physical exertion for the purposes of fitness.  Bicycling has always been my primary mode of keeping fit.  At the same time, the martial arts has been another vehicle to help keep myself fit and grounded.

In conclusion, at its core, culinary art is not an art, but a craft.  The culinary practitioner's audience for the most part does not want art, they want something to eat.  The art does exist, though we must keep in mind that it is in the eye of the beholder.  When the eye of the beholder is able to, and ready to perceive well-prepared victuals as both a creative art form and a form of sustenance, and all the other elements of service and ambiance are in place to allow this to happen, then the culinary offerings may rise to a level of art.  The important thing for the student of culinary arts, and all current practitioners, is to be aware of both the art/craft dichotomies and the danger of working in a transient medium.  With this awareness, one is free to express culinary practice at its highest level.  And this is one of the qualities that makes the culinary profession at once exciting and fulfilling.

Appendix A

Peter van Erp’s Á la Carte Kitchen Dinner Menus

The following menus are from Peter van Erp’s Food Preparation à la Carte Kitchen, CIA, which I attended in March 1973.  I have transcribed these menus as they appeared, though I did correct several minor typos and removed the typewriter lines used to separate the item sections: hors d’oeuvres, then soups, entrées, vegetables, salads and desserts.  (I inserted a double-space to separate these sections.) 

Van Erp used a mix of French and English, to add some Euro-elegance to the menu, but still allowed it to be readable for those not fluent in French.

 
March 13, 1973

Hors d’Oeuvre Variés / Harang à la Crème

Artichauts Frais, Sauce Mousseline

Potage Parmentier / Soupe à l’Oignon Gratinée

Quenelles de Fera à la façon du Chef

Côtes de Regards Tante Elise

Fricassée de Veau, Jardinière

Bitôks à la Russe, Sauce Smitane

Risotto / Pommes Purée

Macedoine de Légumes / Broccoli Polonaise

Salade de Saison

Crêpes Parisienne

March 14, 1973

Hors d’Oeuvre Variés / Suprême de Poulet, Armagnac Dressing

Clams on the Half Shell / Fonds d’Artichauts Quo Vadis

Consommé Alexandra / Potage Cressonaire

Homard Thermidor

Poulet Sauté Forestière (en Cocotte)

Grenadins de Veau Anglaise

Brochette d’Agneau Syrienne

Riz Nature / Pommes Biarritz

Broccoli au Gratin / Courgettes Piemontaise

Salade de Saison

Pudding Diplomat

March 19, 1973

Hors d’Oeuvre Variés / Clams Casino

Avocado Norvegiènne

Crème Argenteuil
 / 
Consommé aux Profiteroles

Rouget à la Venitiènne

Suprême de Volaille Florentine

Boeuf Wellington

Escalope de Veau Chasseur

Choux-fleurs Polonaise / Haricots Verts Amandine

Pommes Fondantes / Riz Étuvé aux Fines Herbes

Salade de Saison

Crêpes Normande

March 20, 1973

Hors d’Oeuvre Variés / Cocktails Fruits de Mer

Croquettes de Volaille

Crème Chabrillon / Consommé Tricolore

Sole de la Manche Colbert

Poulet Sauté Madras

Longe de Veau Dubarry

Émincée de Boeuf Stroganoff, Riz Sauvage

Pommes en Robe de Chambre / Riz Nature

Endive de Bruxelles au Gratin / Légume Frais du Jour

Salade de Saison

Pâtisserie du Jour / Orange en Surprise

March 21, 1973

Hors d’Oeuvre Variés / Crevettes au Pernod

Pamplemousse au Kirsch

Crème Mulligatawny / Cockie Leekie

Homard à l’Américaine

Poulet de Grain Garci aux Nouilles

Carré de Porc Rôti Normande

Carbonades de Boeuf Flamande

Pommes Sautées / Pommes Duchesse

Choux Rouge Braisé au Vin Rouge / Broccoli Frais, Hollandaise

Salade Coeur de Laitue

Pâtisserie du Jour Omelette Soufflée

March 22, 1973

Hors d’Oeuvre Variés / Hareng à la Crème

Artichauts Vinaigrettes / Crêpes Farcies Toulousaine

Gulyas Soup / Essence de Celeri

Scampi à la Pescatora

Blanquette de Veau à la Reine

Chapon Rôti, Sauce Périgordine

Gigot d’Agneau, Rôti au jus Tomate

Riz Pilaf / Pommes Bataille

Petits Pois à la Française / Legume du Jour

Salade Césare

Soufflée au Chartreuse

Appendix B

LIST OF THE DISHES

Small Dishes

Broiled tomatoes with anchovies (Tomate grillée aux anchois)

Shrimp in Beer Batter, Chutney Sauce (Crevettes en pâte, Sauce Chutney)

Fried-bread Scrambled Eggs

Soups

Egg Drop Soup (Soupe aux oeufs tombe, à la Chine)

Mushroom Bisque (Bisque Champignons)

Cuban-style Black Bean Soup (Soupe aux haricot noir, à la cubane)

Gazpacho, Summer of Moon (Gazpacho, à la lune)

Kænemælkskolskål (Swedish Chilled Buttermilk Soup)

Salads

Excellent Potato Salad

Arugula Salad for Serious Arugula Lovers

Cole Slaw

Sauces

Larousse All-Purpose Industrial Strength Tomato Sauce

Sauce Rémoulade

Demi-glaze, Summer-of-Moon-1974-style

Larousse Internationally Infamous Mustard and Parsley Emulsified Vinaigrette

Creosat Relish

Vegetable and Side Dishes

Tomate Clamart

Creamed Leeks, Gratinée (Poireaux à la Crème, Gratinée)

Potatoes Florentine (Pommes St. Florentine)

Mélange de riz sauvage (Wild Rice Mélange)