cook like a rock star
When I was a young cook attending culinary school in Florida, I was always star struck by the city’s best chefs. They were rock stars! And I wanted to be just like them. Their plates were their canvas, and every dish had numerous elements that would typically encompass eight or ten ‘moves’ – a culinary term that describes the number of components on each plate. It also determines the amount of time a chef will need to plate each dish.
Every morning before school I’d sit poolside in the sun and study countless cookbooks. I spent an abundance of time reading about brilliant chefs and their food. I’d have a note pad beside me ready to document any dish that I could create in my mind. Then I’d quickly sketch it out to get an idea of how it would look on a plate. I think I was trying my best to replicate how I imagined the ‘rock star’ chefs created their own masterpieces. They had no doubt spent decades honing their skills and evolving their styles, and at that time I was searching for my own. But I was young and inexperienced and had SO MUCH more to learn before I could truly create my own style of food.
the sacrifice
On the very first day of culinary school the teaching chef said, “if you’re going to wash dishes, wash them in the best restaurant you can”. Which meant, if you want to learn the most, work in the best kitchens, under the best chefs. I employed this strategy from day one, setting out to learn as much as I could, as quickly as possible.
In the first few years that I worked in the culinary world, I made $7.50 per hour, worked 90 hours a week, and was paid for 40. But as a young cook, I wanted to learn from ‘the best’, which meant being present when ‘the best’ was preparing. If I was scheduled to be in the kitchen at 3pm, I would show up at 9am. Meat was butchered, fish was filleted and all of the stocks and soups were made long before my 3 pm call time. I learned a lot. Those extra hours were an investment in my future.
Thankfully, that investment paid off.
global influences
In South Florida, the local cuisine is known as ‘Floribbean’; a cross between Caribbean and Pacific Rim cuisines. There is a ton of fresh seafood, ginger, wasabi, tropical fruit, coconut, shitake mushrooms and dumplings. It was an incredible introduction to food in a professional kitchen.
Cooking in California was an altogether different but just as rich an experience. Every day I welcomed local farmers and foragers into my kitchen, eager to explore their crops or fresh finds from the forest. I was enamoured with the opportunity to create new menus, on a daily basis, that were based on the local ingredients I was buying for the restaurant.
When I worked in Colorado, we used a ton of meat – lamb, bison, deer, foul, you name it! If you could hunt it, we could cook it. Even though it was a meat and potato crowd, we bought the best meat we could. The ‘keep it simple stupid’ approach was the foundation of that kitchen.
I also had the opportunity to move to Israel to receive Psoriasis treatment at the Dead Sea, for one year. I slept in a tent and would eat fresh local fish, vegetables and fruit every single day. Things like dates and pomegranates which were foods I had only seen on TV were readily available, and the watermelon I ate and picked with my own hands, remains the greatest melon I have ever had to this day. I loved the food I ate!
Different styles, different foods, different kitchens. I liken the journey of creating my own style to that of finding my soul mate; I went through many relationships, pulling from each one the qualities that I was looking for in a life partner. Similarly, I went through numerous kitchens in numerous cities across multiple countries and took from each the qualities and influences that reflect my own approach to food and what it means to me today.
‘baby, i like your style’
I am light years away from the days of sketching plates with multiple ‘moves’ or looking for the obscure, expensive ingredient to work with, just because it’s obscure and expensive. Yes, sadly that’s how I used to create menus, but I was young and very naïve.
As I’ve matured, my approach to food has matured too. Long ago I moved away from having ten ‘moves’ on a plate and replaced that with buying ingredients that are fresh and in season, making them the star of the show. Squash and celery root get bought in the winter and plums, peaches, and corn are purchased in the summer. When food is in season, flavour is at its best.
Today, my approach to food and what makes a great meal is simple; the best ingredients and simple technique. To be served and enjoyed with family and friends.
this food is your food
My food is approachable, appealing, delicious and easily replicated. Since the launch of my blog I have received numerous texts and pictures of dishes that have been re-imagined in your own kitchens. Which is awesome! I’m amazed at your own additions to the recipes; garlic and minced onions in the ‘Chicken and Kale Meatballs’ or raspberry puree on the ‘Macaroons’. You’re reading the blog and making the recipes your own, which has been the goal all along. To create amazing recipes for my family and inspire you to cook and create for yours.
So, continue making the additions (and subtractions!) from the recipes to make the dishes work for you. And please, please, please continue sending me all of your pictures – they are part of what continues to inspire me!
This week’s recipe is Wild Mushroom Salad. This incredibly fresh salad can be made days in advance and assembled just before your guests (or family) arrive. You can find it here.
