Here’s another video in French from Luxe TV France:

I wrote this piece for F&B World after attending FCI’s Sous Vide intensive course in NY.  It appears in the current issue of the magazine (jan/feb 09)

Erratum:  The 6th sentence (lines 10 and 11) on the 2nd paragraph reads  “But all is not lost for NYC chefs as they are still allowed to cook at low temperatures albeit in a vacuum bag.”  It should read “…albeit not in a vacuum bag.”  The all too important negative “not” was inadvertently omitted.  Safety concerns are targeted mainly on the use of vacuum bags in combination with cooking at low temperatures.  Low temperature cooking, per se, is not strictly regulated.

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the ulang laid out on my chopping board

At home, I butterflied them by cutting in half lengthwise without severing the two pieces, exposing the bright orange coral, and seasoned them with salt and pepper.

butterflied and seasoned

Next, I heated up a saute pan and melted some unsalted butter. I placed the ulang on the hot butter cut side first, flipped it once, and lowered the heat to allow it to cook through.

cooking the ulang in butter

I then reserved the cooked ulang in a platter.  To make the sauce, I melted some more butter on the saute pan, sliced a few cloves of garlic very finely and put that into the butter to cook.  A squeeze  of dayap and some salt finishes the sauce.

ready to eat

5 simple ingredients: ulang, salt, pepper, butter and garlic. It turned out pretty nicely, perfect for a late and lazy Saturday lunch.

Cover

Being a chef, I am often asked what first got me interested in food and cooking.  Although at first glance it is a simple question to answer, one has to dig deep into memories and emotions to give a really good reply.   I do realize, however, that this may just be small talk so my standard reply is ‘Eating’.  Yes, I love to eat and that has gotten me interested in food and later, cooking as well.

That reply, perhaps for some people, is disappointingly simple.  And due to the figure I cut, it is also painfully (for me) obvious to the eyes.  So I am asked follow ups, coaxed to dig deeper.   Who are my influences? Do I have relatives who are good cooks? From whom did I get the talent? What is my earliest food memory?  So many questions!  And all in the first few minutes of conversation.  As if I am being asked to search my soul to defend my career choice.   Are computer programmers asked these questions too?

Uptown Talk

The saying goes “to whom much is given, much is expected.”  And the cooking profession, along with cinema perhaps, is somewhat privileged in that, even failing technical mastery, we are allowed to appeal to the emotions of our audience- something that would be construed as mere trickery in other professions.  When choosing a TV set, for example, one can compare detailed specs to make a rational decision.  But when choosing a restaurant or a meal, specs may be the last thing one considers.   One draws on memories and feelings.  An apple is not just an apple when shared with a loved one.

What am I getting at?  Simple really.  I realized that since a great meal is essentially an emotional experience, chefs are expected to be emotionally in tune with their audience.   No matter how good you are technically, for people to be excited about your food, they need to see your passion and excitement for what you do.

So back to the question, what first got me interested in food and cooking?  While it is true that it was a healthy appetite that induced my curiosity, there were two other things that played an important role.  The first one reads like a real estate broker’s motto: location, location, location.  The location of where I grew up, that is.  The first 11 years of my life I lived in a small town in Cagayan Valley.  A few kilometers outside the town limits was our farm.   Aside from the expanse of green that were the sugarcane fields, we had farm animals providing meat and milk, there were vats of fermenting cane vinegar neatly arranged in rows, there were fruit trees lining the driveway- their branches drooping with the weight of their fruit.  At home, there were tubs of marinating meat- tapang damulag held submerged in its marinade by a hunk of volcanic stone,  jars of buro of different kinds, bottles of fruit preserves- mango jam and guava jelly made from fruits harvested in the farm.   In short, I lived right in the source of every goodness known to man (or to me at least).

After that, in 1987, we moved to the center of the universe.   No kidding.  There is this piece of land in Quezon City known as West Triangle and if you were a young foodie in the early 90’s, it might as well have been just that.  Radiating from the neighborhood were street after street of restaurants- from every fast food chain that operated in the Philippines to buffet palaces to fine dining- there were supermarkets (there were 3 within a 100 meter radius), fruit stands and street food vendors (not to mention the vendors of a more carnal nature that littered Quezon Avenue which I never patronized, of course).   This presented an almost bewildering variety of food experiences.  It was a wonderland of the culinary sort.  Nowadays, of course, such a confluence of numerous food establishments is commonplace, and they are called malls.

The other thing that took me to this path is a voracious appetite for reading.  Did I mention there was a big bookstore near our house as well?  Reading got me interested in good food and in the exotic for it was through words that I first experienced them.  For example, I remember before I developed a taste for foie gras, I had read a French poem- a love letter, really- wherein a man confesses his longing for his fiancée.  In it he compares her luscious red lips to a meltingly succulent foie gras.  Before that, liver repulsed me, but if it can be anything like the sweet moist lips of a woman, I’d give it a try.   Now admittedly, I took a different meaning of the poem from the author’s intentions, but to each his own.

So you see, with such an environment growing up, it was hard not to be drawn to food.  It would have been illogical not to end up as a chef.  Now, if only I can condense this in just a few words, for small talk, you know.

Thomas Keller's latest book dedicated to all things sous vide

And I think it is only fitting that the first sous vide book for english speakers come from Thomas Keller.  Precision spells success in sous vide and there is no chef today more known for precision and meticulous attention to details than Mr.Keller.  The good thing is, his reputedly obsessive perfectionism is apparent in his food- and in his recipes as well.   No detail is small enough to be left out.

Having said that, this book is not for the casual cook.  And they are pretty clear about that in the introduction.  This book was written for chefs.  This is their manifesto of sorts on sous vide as used in a restaurant setting.  Just consider the equipment you need to execute the recipes as they were intended: a $900+ immersion circulator and a $2,000 chamber-type vacuum sealer.  Of course there are low cost alternatives and I wrote an article on that which should come out in the January issue of F&B World.

Book available at Amazon.com and Fully Booked.

The class folder in blue textured board embossed in gold

Resultats d'Examen: Mention Tres bien!

top: Auteuil (white chocolate and anise cream/raspberries/crisp almond meringue); bottom: Tourte vigneronne

My final practical exam results in paper and edible form above

top: tarte aux myrtilles (bluberry tart) bottom: gateau weekend, foret noire (black forest cake)

]]> http://chrisbautista.wordpress.com/2008/12/12/ritz-escoffier-photos/feed/ 4 Chris http://chrisbautista.wordpress.com/2008/12/12/food-magazine-articles/ http://chrisbautista.wordpress.com/2008/12/12/food-magazine-articles/#comments Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:04:36 +0000 Chris http://avenuecinq.wordpress.com/?p=131 ]]> Articles I’ve written for Food magazine.  Click on the photos to open the image in a new page, then click on the image again to magnify.

11 Commandments of good cooking

Morcon

Jams and Preserves

Popcorn Shrimp