Who is the most daring-gutsy Chef in Charlotte? Inspired by a dish I ate at Halycon on Friday night that has had my mind going like crazy I felt like writing an unsolicited diatribe on cooking. I know I don’t live in Charlotte anymore, but I do still own property and pay taxes. This is just opinion or observation and we all know what we say about that. We all also know that the Charlotte food scene is bountiful, has very talented chefs and cooks, fantastic resources, and is becoming more ethnically diverse bringing a greater and often more authentic experience in both restaurants and stores. The dish in question Salmon Kulebiaka ( the spelling varies from Russian to French). What is it? “Russian hot fish pie, that includes the spinal marrow of the sturgeon, and that the French borrowed it at some point (early enough that Monsieur Escoffier includes it in his 1903 bible). It is more commonly transliterated from Russian as Kulebiaka or Kulebyaka. How and where the first Russian kulebiaka was made, we do not know, but it reached its heyday in the decades leading up to the Russian Revolution on country estates with private chefs and in big-city taverns ochef/answers/1608.htm.” It is on page 195 of Escoffier The Complete Guide To The Art Of Modern Cookery, recipe number 1662 Coulibiac de Saumon. Who would put this on a menu in a beautiful Uptown Charlotte restaurant? Who would be that naïve to think that in 2014 you could put Salmon Kulebiaka on your menu and that 1 person would order it? The picture I posted on Facebook of it Friday night didn’t even get 1 like Who has the balls to do this abomination? I stand up and applaud Chef Jim Stouffer – who? – I don’t even know if the guy does social media? I am not sure why this dish has impacted me – maybe because I know that all the students that graduated from the Art Institute of Charlotte while I ran the culinary program (think hard past students) from 2002 to 2008 made this. So did my students in Houston. The amount of time and proper classic techniques involved in making this dish and getting it cooked properly is tremendous- skillful!! On top of everything else that I ate at Halcyon the dessert was a beautiful Chocolate Marqiuse- another classic- is it the 1960’s? But wait it tasted awesome! It was made with high quality ingredients, made with skill and care. But there was not any fluid gel on the plate, no tweezed flower buds, micros, or sorrel, not immersion circulator involved, the fillets not meat glued together, no Korean taco, no southern ramen, although there are grits used in the filling (cool) you get the point etc etc. I like that stuff too. But I have heard nothing of what he is doing – been ignored by Helen Swab, Kathleen Purvis, Cat Harris, Keia Mastrianni, etc. Why he is not a tattooed hipster, or playing with the right crowd? He has been there over a year and the restaurant was busy, and I had five of the dishes on the menu- all good. I guess for me I am looking at this as a culinary educator and an appreciator of craft and tradition. My craft, the craft many of my friend’s practice, one that we spend our entire lives to this point practicing and pursuing knowledge, skill and refinement. I suppose that I feel I spent many years trying to teach people how to properly cook. I know cooking has evolved, but we have to look to history, know and practice technique and build a solid foundation. In speaking with other chefs they agree that most people coming into their kitchens lack the skill to properly and efficiently execute cooking what we may call classical cooking techniques – braising, stewing, sautéing, poaching, grilling, working with pastries, breads etc. That a few techniques like caviar, fluid gel, powders, sous vide, compressed- buzz words take the place of proper and real cooking. Cooking with a sense of history – were we came from as cooks- to help get to new places. What i teach, cooking is pretty basic – you need to cover three areas – need to know 1. ingredients (all about ingredients from growing, harvest, processing, cooking) 2. Flavor profiles, 3. Techniques - all these can be learned and need to be mastered by Chefs-takes a lifetime. The other thing is Palate- I feel a palate can evolve, and learn – but some are gifted with the knowing palate. It knows the right balance in all areas. I was just talking with one very prominent chef and he said he feels many of the young cooks –“don’t let the food speak to them- to tell them what they are going to do with food.” That they already have a plan for the food-regardless of what the food is calling out for. So as a young cook I see I get no notice if I cook properly executed, great tasting ingredient driven food using classical technique? I love modern food. Anybody reading this is my friend. I love discussing food and it really blew my mind Friday night when I saw a cook cutting a piece of the Kulebiaka. It made me smile, and giddy. Who the hell would put this on the menu? They say it actually sells. It is good-maybe that is why. Maybe I am getting old – But I just wanted to give a shout out to Chef Jim Stouffer and the Folks at Halcyon for having the guts to put a Russian classic dish on the menu. Na Zdorovie Good Cooking Discuss among yourselves……………………………
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 19:40:41 +0000
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