Thursday, March 31, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
The Evolution of a Modern Chef - Part I
My first experience in the restaurant industry was working for one of the greatest American chefs at the time. This was pre Food Channel era when you had less than ten nationally acclaimed chefs. It was the time when the term "celebrity chef" was first introduced in the American food lingo. It was also the time when the chefs were in their kitchens cooking for their patrons and the only food show we had on tv came to us from Japan and featured "kitchen battles," between some of the greatest Asian chefs competing in cook-offs against the most talented of the new world chefs. Then came the creation of the Food Channel and the whole culinary landscape was changed forever.
Before I get to the chefs of the day, I have to share some memories of my youth, when my love for food was first developed. It all started with my mother, whose cuisine I crave and enjoy to this day. Being of Hungarian roots with Serbian (we grew up in Serbia) and Austrian influences (my mom went to a finishing school in Austria), her style of cooking is central European. Basically, if you are concerned about your waistline avoid stopping by mom's house. We still tell stories, how she used to make gourmet baby food for me and my sister(with chicken livers, all kinds of fresh veggies and best of veal). I remember her cooking elaborate stews for our dog Buca (it means fatty and guess why). I remember seeing illustrations of the spreads that were created at different courts around Europe and I guarantee you that those had nothing on my mother's New Years menu. Imagine a large dinner table with 15-20 dishes that included her version of deviled eggs (with ham and home-made mayo), Russian salad, bell pepper and eggplant spread-mousse, terrine de fois-gras, at least three different savory pies, a roast pig, cucumber and yogurt salad, a baked bean dish, stuffed cabbage, just to name a few. There was so much good food that our house was always full. My parents friends would stop by several times to wish us Happy New Year, my friends would stay for sleepovers over and over again and the neighbor's dog would just sit in front of our door, waiting for a treat from my mom. Her cooking definitely helped for a very happy childhood.
In addition, I was also fortunate enough to have parents who from my young age tried to instill an appreciation for food and different cuisines of the world. We traveled a lot and on our travels I got to taste all the wonderful European cuisines with an occasional foray into Asian art of food making. The biggest treat was a special dinner my parents organized in honor of my 18th birthday and it took place at the "Crissier," in Lausanne, Switzerland. At the time "Crissier" was considered the best restaurant in the world and it was home to the legendary Freddy Girardet. I will never forget when Mr. Girardet came out of the kitchen to wish me a happy birthday and then spent about 15 minutes talking to me about my life, my likes and dislikes, trying to get a quick picture of who I was. What ensued was, to this day, the most memorable meal I ever had. I remember discovering tastes buds in my mouth that I never knew I had. If an orgasm of the mouth is possible, it happened to me on that glorious day almost 20 years ago.
That day I realized that cooking is an art. It evoked in me the memory I had when I saw Van Gogh paintings for the first time. Both experiences were so beautiful, so transforming, that they left a permanent mark on me. They created a belief that life is beautiful because we, humans, are able to create such wonderful things. For years later, a memory of those two events, helped me at times through hardships of war and destitute.
To be continued....
Before I get to the chefs of the day, I have to share some memories of my youth, when my love for food was first developed. It all started with my mother, whose cuisine I crave and enjoy to this day. Being of Hungarian roots with Serbian (we grew up in Serbia) and Austrian influences (my mom went to a finishing school in Austria), her style of cooking is central European. Basically, if you are concerned about your waistline avoid stopping by mom's house. We still tell stories, how she used to make gourmet baby food for me and my sister(with chicken livers, all kinds of fresh veggies and best of veal). I remember her cooking elaborate stews for our dog Buca (it means fatty and guess why). I remember seeing illustrations of the spreads that were created at different courts around Europe and I guarantee you that those had nothing on my mother's New Years menu. Imagine a large dinner table with 15-20 dishes that included her version of deviled eggs (with ham and home-made mayo), Russian salad, bell pepper and eggplant spread-mousse, terrine de fois-gras, at least three different savory pies, a roast pig, cucumber and yogurt salad, a baked bean dish, stuffed cabbage, just to name a few. There was so much good food that our house was always full. My parents friends would stop by several times to wish us Happy New Year, my friends would stay for sleepovers over and over again and the neighbor's dog would just sit in front of our door, waiting for a treat from my mom. Her cooking definitely helped for a very happy childhood.
In addition, I was also fortunate enough to have parents who from my young age tried to instill an appreciation for food and different cuisines of the world. We traveled a lot and on our travels I got to taste all the wonderful European cuisines with an occasional foray into Asian art of food making. The biggest treat was a special dinner my parents organized in honor of my 18th birthday and it took place at the "Crissier," in Lausanne, Switzerland. At the time "Crissier" was considered the best restaurant in the world and it was home to the legendary Freddy Girardet. I will never forget when Mr. Girardet came out of the kitchen to wish me a happy birthday and then spent about 15 minutes talking to me about my life, my likes and dislikes, trying to get a quick picture of who I was. What ensued was, to this day, the most memorable meal I ever had. I remember discovering tastes buds in my mouth that I never knew I had. If an orgasm of the mouth is possible, it happened to me on that glorious day almost 20 years ago.
That day I realized that cooking is an art. It evoked in me the memory I had when I saw Van Gogh paintings for the first time. Both experiences were so beautiful, so transforming, that they left a permanent mark on me. They created a belief that life is beautiful because we, humans, are able to create such wonderful things. For years later, a memory of those two events, helped me at times through hardships of war and destitute.
To be continued....
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