The Mind of a Chef

Part II: Technique

Greetings Fren, 🏝 

We resume The Mind of a Chef (Part 2) today… a few quick housekeepings first!

We are two weeks away from the closing of Founders Sub Memberships. If you still haven’t upgraded to get your Octopod “Few” Knife, make plans soon as time will run out quickly. 

Again, this knife will never be released again. This is for the “Few”, a piece of Jungle History… a great holiday gift that any cook could get 10+ years out of easily!

Friday, I’ll be dropping the first Meal Combo in the Paid Sub, using some great hacks for delicious Japanese 🇯🇵 Chicken, Rice, Mushrooms and a Seaweed Salad. This will be a quick prep, lots of hacks, maximizing your time, efficiency…. And enjoyment! Don’t miss it 

As we continue in The Mind of a Chef Today, we previously discussed Creativity, Perspective & Approach. These were largely cerebral considerations so let’s carry on with a discussion on blending the cerebral with practical. 

Technique: 

This lies at the heart of separating the great chefs. Technique. You can have all the great ideas in the world, but a great chef must be able to execute those ideas into a unified, cohesive plate. We will discuss flavors next time, but aside from flavors, technique covers many more areas. 

If you’ve spent much time around food, restaurants, or had the misfortune of spending a truck ton of money going to a culinary school 😉, you’ll often hear of the “French” or “Classic” technique as the bedrock of culinary tradition. This was my introduction to cooking, and is still a love. The regimen and processes from Escoffier and on, were helpful in defining a specific cuisine that rose to prominence as “Fine Cuisine”. 

At this point it’s important to point out that I was blessed to grow up overseas from my country of origin. It wasn’t until many years later that I realized what a profound effect this had on my culinary passions and inclinations. I grew up eating foods from cultures all over the globe, in a house with parents who prioritized good cooking (not expensive), and this inspired a natural curiosity in me of global food cultures. 

So while my rise in the culinary profession was classic, fine dining French, I then spent time learning specifically about seafood. Techniques of butchery, fabrication and preparation were pivotal for me in adding a certain finesse to my approach. A brief stint cooking with an Italian chef immersed me in the joys of handmade pastas, the minimalist Italian approach of using high quality vegetables, good ingredients, and the resulting alchemy of intuitive cooking. 

I then spent an extended period of time cooking with smoke and fire. This was an integral to my technical growth, as you are learning to control a living force: fire. You don’t turn a knob to medium high, and turn to low when needed. You have to understand building a fire, the stages of heat and coal development, ash formation and when to feed the fire. 

It was after this period I became heavily interested in learning about legit Asian food cultures. I spent time traveling in Asia and fell in love with the amount of regional diversity within the food cultures. A lot of these techniques date centuries back before the rise in popularity of the Classic French cuisine. Absolutely fascinating. This also led to a heavy exploration of Indian cuisine, as I’m obsessed with spices, blending flavors, and curry. 

So when it comes to technique, guess what I learned? Every culture, or specific regions of the globe, have different techniques. There is no “right or wrong”, essentially. It all depends on your objective. 

Take butchery, for instance. The European method of butchery is very different from the US method. European butchery uses more muscle and joint separation, less sawing joints. Depending on your objective, would decide which technique you would use. 

Or Fish fabrication. The classic French technique for deboning a fish is markedly different from the Japanese approach. 

Knife cuts? The Chinese culture has a whole catalogue of different knife cuts that are mostly executed with a kitchen cleaver. Contrasted with the Classic French cuts. 

Roasting Poultry? A classic French style roast chicken is one of my pure culinary delights to consume. As is a perfectly crisp Peking duck, with shatteringly crispy skin. Two different techniques. Neither is “wrong”

Autist Note: A few technical considerations. Texture: soft vs crisp. Temperature:  cold vs hot. Are both technical contrasts that talented chefs use appropriately for maximum effect. 

So as a home cook, what does this mean for you?

The more reps you put in, the more skill you gain with any technique. Roasting, Frying, Sauteing, Grilling, Steaming, Braising, Baking, Knife work, and the list goes on… and you’ll find you have a certain preference for some over others!

I’ve been lucky enough to learn many of these over the years, and I continue to learn… which is why I never tire of cooking. So you can see now, how a chef’s technique is completely dependent on exposure to other cultures and methods. A lot of chefs desire one technical discipline. I wasn’t cut from that mold. This was influential in my approach to combining flavors… which we will discuss next time!

Keep an eye out on Twitter for a recipe drop, most likely tomorrow!

Until next time, Fren! 🥂