The Food and the Soul - part two

It is ironic to talk about health and looking after yourself when my own system is not working properly at the moment, but this is also an opportunity to remember that health issues are important and things can go wrong at any time, that is the reality. The importance of having a healthy lifestyle should not be forgotten, even if our mind or body is going through a period of crisis. Personally, when I eat well I find it easier to look after my body and my mind, and honestly, a good meal fills me with such pleasant feelings inside that it can make problems easier to deal with. Drinking herbal teas, fresh fruit juice, and pure water and eating simple foods like organic vegetables and honey can purify our bodies and clear our minds. Make that soup that makes you happy, or those sweet home made biscuits and a cup of hot chocolate on a rainy day. Listen to your body and please your soul and your spirit, not only your stomach. I stopped eating fast food four years ago, and now when I walk beside one of those places I feel fresh and clean inside. Think about it: we need food to survive, it is the lifeblood of our bodies, so we ought to do it properly. Food can help you or harm you, so make the right choice and care for your body and your soul.

Illustration by Andres Pacheco RGB Studios

Satisfaction

In life things are not always easy, and satisfaction demands time and effort. It was hard, and it was new, but I take good memories with me. The road is still long, and the effort is not yet over; it never will be. Thanks to everyone at La Palme d'Or for this great experience! I leave with a "Sourire", a smile-shaped dish that is one of Chef Sinicropi's amazing creations

A Culinary Adventure

Objective: To get to the top.
Difficulty Level: Very Hard
Time: Many years.
Team: Only the best.
Equipment: A back pack full of courage, the right decisions, patience and some talent.
Every day is a challenge, every night is a day accomplished. Keep thinking about the feeling of reaching the top. Everyone has his own mountain to climb, and summit to reach. Passion is a must. Dreams are there, is our duty in life to make them come true.


Illustration by Andres Pacheco RGB Studios

Chef Christian Sinicropi

Chef Sinicropi, The Executive Chef at the Hotel Martinez and the head Chef of La Palme D'or where I now work, has an impressive way of leading the kitchen team with a good sense of humour and total concentration and control at the same time. His strong temper comes from his experience in big restaurants with big Chefs: Hotel du Palais in Biarritz with Jean-Marie Gauthier, a Meilleur Ouvrier de France; The Buerehiesel in Strasbourg with Chef Westermann, at the Louis XV in the Alain Ducasse restaurant in Monaco, ran by Franck Cerruti, and of course with the great Chef Christian Willer at La Palme d'Or. I helped my friend and co-worker Thomas Herblot, one of the chefs de partie. We made a tasting menu for Chef Sinicropi, and here he is eating the "Panier a Crab", a shape reminiscent of a crabbing basket. We used a very special type of crab that is caught whilst it is changing its shell, making it entirely edible. We covered it with a light tempura batter and served it with a crab meat pistee, a fresh herb salad with a touch of raspberry vinegar and a pretzel dough basket with a lobster bisque emulsion.

On The Run

At La Palme D'or, the two Michelin-star restaurant where I now work, things work in a very particular way, namely fast and perfect. Their mentality is to push the team to its limits, all in a very hot environment.
One of my duties as the lowest ranking member in the team hierarchy is to go and look for things for other people, bringing them from the fridges to the different stations.
One day at work, I started to wonder just how far I walk in fetching all these different things in a day. So I did the calculations and found out that every day I travel 2.4 kilometers, around 12 kilometers for every week. In this profession whoever wants to success, has to run for it. Distance is just a number, the will to succeed is what really counts.


Illustration by Andres Pacheco, RGB Studios

The Food and the Soul - part one

In my experience, it is important to feed the soul and not only the stomach. I believe that food and emotions are directly related; hand in hand they go in the eternal search of happiness. The power of food is so amazing that we can actually control our emotions by eating well. You want to try it out? I will give you some simple recipes from now on, here is the first one:
20 minutes before breakfast every morning, mix one spoonful of pollen with a glass of pure carrot and parsley juice, then have a spoonful of a good olive oil. Try this every day for a week. The next week you can change the juice using another vegetable such as broccoli, but don't add any water to it. Get into a routine and do this every day - you will see the results in your hair, eyes, skin, and especially in your mood. It works very well in many other aspects too.

Illustration by Andres Pacheco, RGB Studios

Big Time

Yes, finally after two long years, the dream had come true. The training may not be quite finished yet, but getting my diploma is a great start to this personal and professional challenge that will take years of effort and endurance. Step by step we achieve our goals. This has been an important milestone on the long journey to becoming a chef. I feel happy and thankful to those who believed in me, and to my family and friends who supported me and shared this special moment with me, thank you all.
Now, I start at La Palme D'or, a two michelin star restaurant, part of the Hotel Martinez in Cannes that is my new home.

Design & Gastronomy : Stir Well

It is so interesting to melt different arts into one. Ideas from both sides merge together into one creation. The power of the image and the charm of food together can go far. A good dish can look even better with good photography, for instance. Add some graphic design with modern ideas to the mix, and the result will hopefully be a yummy photograph. El Sarten and RGB Studios just started to work together in a fun culinary and design experience... Click to enlarge the image.

Saisons: the gastronomic teaching restaurant

The Institut Paul Bocuse gastronomic restaurant is a place to visit. The chef : Alain Lecossec, one of the Meilleur Ouvrier de France 1991. The menu changes with the seasons, and the current menu was created by us. This time I went to try the menu out as a customer, since I had already tried all the dishes while I was working there. It was an interesting experience to go to a restaurant and have a dish created by me but made by someone else. I always like to visit this beautiful castle for a culinary experience. It was a great way to finish our cooking school - congratulations to everybody!

Serge Vieira says hello to El Sarten

We are about to finish with cooking school. In our last few days we had the chance to work with Chef Serge Vieira. He was the winner of the most important cooking competition in the world in 2003, representing France at the Bocuse d'Or. A few days ago he did his second cooking demonstration at the Institut Paul Bocuse, a very nice moment. This is his original way of making his dishes, he is inspired by history and architecture.It is a pleasure to see someone like him working, here you can see it too. He has also sent a greeting to El Sarten...

Ginger Overdose

It was a hard week at Saisons, the gastronomic restaurant in the Institut Paul Bocuse: not only were we cooking, but we also created the menu. While I'm working, I have a habit of eating slices of raw ginger, as it has several qualities that help me in the kitchen. It's great for energy and concentration, and it keeps me awake and active. During our last service on Friday night I started to eat a bit too much of it, and at one point my body temperature rose to a point where I was too hyperactive, I was breathing really fast and I just couldn't stop moving. I enjoyed it, but I also learned that I should start taking smaller doses. I accept it: my name is Rodrigo Pacheco and I am a ginger addict.

Hoping For a Piece of Cake.

This article is written by my friend and co worker Mickey, as I always say, El Sarten is open for people who are interested in this beautiful world of cooking.


"A long overdue request of my good friend Rodrigo, it’s actually been months since he asked me to write an article for his blog.
It’s been two weeks, since I spent my last week in Saisons, the Institut’s restaurant which showcases the students’ skills, in the kitchen and in service.
As a 3rd year student, together with my group we created the week’s menu. Whether being in Patisserie was an obligation or otherwise, I spent the week, together with another group mate, Sofia.
The desserts that were presented in the menu were chosen by our pastry Chef, Laurent Cordonnier (formerly, the Pastry Chef of Jacques Lameloise, 3* Michelin Guide) from those that were presented by my group. Desserts featuring the fruits of the season: The “peche de vigne” and the Pear.
The “peche de vigne” was sous-vide in a spice infused syrup, then slow roasted, caramelized and served lukewarm. Inspired by the classic “coolant” of Michel Bras, we decided that a fruit could be very well served with a liquid centre, but with what? With a roasted sesame seed ice cream, to top of the dessert, a “tuile” in hazelnut “nougatine”.
A classic French dessert, the “poire belle helene” is pear, vanilla and chocolate. Our pear dessert was composed of two different flavours, three sauces and a single unifying component. We began with a cardamom, star anise, cinnamon infused syrup which together with the pear was sous-vide. A second preparation was with the same syrup, but was spiked with a red wine and oranges. A marriage of the pear and the jelly was conceived. A chocolate, salted caramel and red wine reduction was served with “pain d’epice” ice cream.
Whether, we finished the last week of our lives in Saisons with a bang or a tear. The experience of coming up with desserts the one can be proud of is reason enough to push one’s self to the limits. I’m still hoping when I can have my next piece of cake."

Nage Crémeuse de Coquillages et Chipirons

This dish was made with a variety of shellfish and squid in a creamy light broth with vegetables. It is really interesting to work with products from the sea because of their nature and also because they have to be fresh, in fact, beside the fish, almost every other product arrives alive.

Camping food with style

This is an article written by Andres and Emily in their trip to the canadian west coast. I find that this way of looking at life is very interesting. Trough food you can make a great moment from simple things, anywhere you go. El Sarten is open for people with vision. Congratulations!

"During our many nights of camping we did not miss out on great food. We made sure we were stocked with fresh produce and local meats and cheeses. This dish is a fresh, local, Canadian salmon, that we marinated in maple syrup and grilled. We served the salmon over a bed of spinach linguini in a white wine, tomato, basil, bell pepper, garlic sauce. The pasta dish was accompanied by a South African white wine. The meal was incredible. We slept very well under the stars that evening in Victoria, Canada."

Private lunch for Michel

It was such a nice experience to work with people like Michel and his wife, who hired me and another student from the Institut to make them a private lunch in celebration of Michel's retirement. They invited their best friends and we all had a great time at this special occasion. I designed the menu for them, and Michel supplied us with all the herbs, fruits and vegetables we needed from his own garden. For any cook to work with fresh products is a true pleasure. To start, we prepared a melon gaspacho with Spanish ham, and Vol-au-vents with black pudding and caramelized apple, followed by marinated mi-cuit red tunafish with a Thai-style fish jus over a warm salad of garden vegetables, and a civet de lievre made by them and touched up by us. To finish, a selection of cheeses and a chocolate biscuit entremet with Grand Marnier and a red orange mousse.

Everything went very well and they enjoyed the meal, and at the end we had the privilege of sampling a glass of 1945 Burgundy with them at the table. It was certainly a magical moment; not only was it the best wine I have ever tasted, but I was touched by their generosity and appreciation of what we had made. Thank you for your hospitality!

Hotel Martinez

I found out that my next stop on this long road to becoming a chef will be the Hotel Martinez on the boulevard de La Croisette in Cannes, where I will be working from November this year. Extravagent, elegant, and located in extraordinary premises, this hotel is well-known for being one of the best in Europe. It offers its clients luxurious service and comfort, as well as three excellent restaurants: 'La Palme d'Or', a 2-star Michelin restaurant headed by Chefs Christian Willer and Christian Sinicropi; 'Le Relais Martinez' and the 'Zplage Beach Restaurant'. Although I know it will be hard work, it will be a pleasure to be part of such an enterprise. Part of becoming a successful chef is learning how to handle tough schedules and working under pressure, and I am determined to do my very best to succeed in this next stage on my journey.

To Chef Franck Petagna

Awarded the title Meilleur Ouvrier de France in the year 2000, Chef Franck Petagna worked in the Hotel Martinez in Cannes before spending 10 years in Biarritz at the Hotel du Palais with Jean Marie Goutier. He worked in many countries, was respected everywhere, and joined the team at the Institut Paul Bocuse in 2001. His intelligence, technical skills, and generous spirit made him one of the best chefs we have ever had the pleasure to work with. Franck Petagna was a great chef and a great man, there is so much to say about him, and I can't find the right words. He lost the battle to a terrible cancer, and we lost a very special person. I dedicate this article to him, to Chef Petagna, to this great man, this great warrior.

(credit thuries magazine)

The beauty of nature

The sight of beautiful countryside, the sound of thunder in the sky, the feeling of the wind on our faces or water from the ocean on our skin can overwhelm us with the awesome power of nature, and it's great, isn’t it? Well, for some of us, itś a similar experience to go to the market and see all the wonderous products produced by nature, on display in such an extraordinary variety of colours, shapes and textures. I was going through old pictures of La Boqueria in Barcelona, one of the most amazing markets in the world, and this feeling came back. These images give you a taste of what is on offer - visit this market yourselves and I´m sure you´ll see what I´m talking about!

Cryo-Vacking (Sous vide)

The cryo-vracking phenomenon started 25 years ago. It’s a cooking method that allows us to preserve all the qualities of a product and to greatly extend its period of durability in safe conditions. It has revolutionised the way the restauration business functions. Using this technique, it is possible to manipulate and control the temperature at which a product is cooked almost to perfection.
Mr. Bruno Gaussault, scientist and president of CREA ( Centre de recherche et d’études pour l’alimentation), affirms that « cooking a product immersed in water is the best way to get the best quality ». It is easy to regulate the temperature of water with great precision, making it the best and the simplest way to heat or cool a product. But how can the damage caused to a product that has come into direct contact with water best be avoided? The answer is to protect the product from the water by vacuum sealing it into special bags. It will then be possible to perfectly preserve the texture, aroma and flavour of the product, as well as monitoring how it cooks with the accuracy of a digital thermometer. It has enabled chefs to save time and improve quality - it’s a complete revolution.
We had a one week course on cryo-vacking with Mr. Gaussault and we did plenty of experiments using fish, meat and vegetable: it means cooking at the right temperature, respecting the hygiene with amazing results, and above all, it means giving new solutions.
Here’s some useful information:
After our tests we discovered the correct core temperatures for the following products:
Fish: 58-60°C
Beef: 58-60°C
Veal: 65-68°C
Pork: 65-66°C
Chicken: 65-71°C
Vegetables: 80-85°C
* You can use a home digital thermometer to have a go yourself, try to avoid harming the product while you do it.

Pistachio Minute Biscuit

This simple recipe created by Ferran Adria is a great idea of how to make a dessert in just a few minutes. Mix 80g of pealed pistachios, 20g of flour, 3 eggs and 80g of sugar in a bowl, combine the mixture and put it in a siphon loaded with two CO2 cartridges. Leave it to rest in the fridge. Put some of the mixture in long, thin glasses (fill them up to about the middle), then put them in the microwave for 40 seconds at maximum power. Take them out and remove the biscuit from the glasses. The result is an extremely light biscuit that you can use to make small desserts combined with other ingredients like a pistachio cream, or a pistachio mousse; it also goes well with chocolate. I always say: try a recipe and then create something new with it. I, for example, was thinking of making a biscuit like this with a lobster bisque and little pieces of shrimp as an appetizer. The important thing is just to have a go.