Chef's Diary

L’été dernière, au restaurant de Terry Laybourne “Jesmond Dene House” à Newcastle en Angleterre, j’ai travaillé pour la première fois avec les St Jacques que l’on avait pêché en plongée (en Ecosse, en l’occurrence).

Non seulement c’était un produit d’une taille impressionnante (entre 80 et 110g la noix), avec la finesse et le goût à la fois sucré / iodé que l’on connaît, mais c’était aussi une façon de pêcher les coquilles très respectueuse de l’environnement (la quasi totalité des coquilles sont pêchées à la drague, qui est très nocif pour l’écosystème marin, à la différence de ramasser les coquilles à la main, et beaucoup moins de carburant consommé par le pêcheur).

A mon retour aux cuisines de Paris j’ai demandé à mes collègues s’ils savaient comment sourcer des bonnes St Jacques pêchées en plongée. Mais aucun des cuisiniers à qui j’ai posé cette question ne savaient même que ce produit existait !!

Donc, j’ai commencé à chercher sur l’internet et à poser la question ailleurs (en dehors de la cuisine) – est-ce qu’il y a un pêcheur en France qui cherche les St Jacques à la main ? C’était au Salon de l’Agriculture à Paris en mars 2009 que j’ai rencontré un scientifique de l’Ifremer qui connaissait un pêcheur en baie de St Malo qui pêchait en plongée….ouufff !!

Le pêcheur en question s’appelle Philippe Orveillon – 1 des 3 pêcheurs qui cherchent et commercialisent les St Jacques pêchées en plongée….tous les 3 en Baie de St Malo. Je vous laisse découvrir l’homme (et la coquille St Jacque) dans un reportage réalisé par une chaîne Suisse. J’ai parlé avec lui il y a qqs semaines – très sympa, il s’agit d’une très petite production aujourd’hui (6 tonnes par bateau par an), mais qui commence à devenir plus importante, et le prix de St Jacques est un peu plus élevé que celle qui est pêchée à la drague.

Pour terminer, quelques articles intéressantes….

L’ormeau, coquillage 5 étoiles traqué par des plongeurs respectueuses

Article St Jacques sur un blog dédié à la pêche

Rare breed pigs…..don’t you just love ‘em !!!

Just to be clear on one thing before going any further – I am not an expert on rare breed pork, far from it. However, having tasted rare breed pork from 2 different farmers in the North East, I can certainly say that the pork is magnificent (in terms of flavour, texture and visually also) and that I will always search out rare breed instead of commercial pork wherever possible.

Now that I’m back in the rainy bustle of the big city that is Paris (yep, the weather here really ain’t that different to back home in Newcastle after all !), my visits to Ravensworth Grange farm a stone’s throw away from the Angel of the North (Anthony Gormley’s magnificent public art project in Gateshead) seem along way away. Ravensworth is a pig and sheep (I know that they would correct me by saying that there are cows, cereals and probably loads of other things) farm run by Ann and Hugh Gray – hidden in the countryside and yet only a few miles from Newcastle. It is the home of the marvellous Middle White pigs.

First things first…..why rare breed pork, and indeed, what is rare breed pork ? With regards to the “What”, rare breeds are simply those that were once bred all over the country before the Second World War, with each region having a speciality. These breeds were then slowly but surely replaced by 1 or 2 more “profitable” and “commercial” breeds (such as the Large White) following a campaign by the British Government during the 50’s to make British Pork more competitive on the open market. The different “rare” breeds in the UK are

There are other more commercial breeds in the UK (Land Race, Welsh, Large White, Duroc, Hampshire and Pietrain) of which Large White is the most widespread.

With regards to the “Why?”, well there is one answer as far as a chef is concerned – flavour ! All rare breeds will have their own characteristics, but in general terms, they take longer to reach maturity, they need more space (unlike the Large White which seemingly accepts being kept in confined places, and thus suits “intensive” commercial farming), the relationship between what they eat and the amount of meat produced is not simple to calculate (thus making it “less efficient” for mass production) and they tend to have much more fat (seemingly from the 1950’s onwards the buying public wanted pork with less fat with the result that low fat breeds became more popular and are now widespread in our supermarkets). This last point is of particular importance to a chef since a good amount of fat ensures that the pork will remain juicy and succulent when cooking, that it will “baste” itself and that the flavour will be much deeper (don’t forget that fat “traps” flavour and is thus an essential part of traditional, flavoursome cooking….leave your butter open in the fridge and you’ll soon see that it will absorb any flavours floating around the fridge). So, basically it’s a “no-brainer”……rare breed is infinately better (in my opinion !!) than the commercial supermarket stuff.

As for Anne and Hugh Gray, I had heard about them through Terry Laybourne’s magnificent book (“A Quest for Taste”) on the real food heroes of the North East – the farmers and the producers. At one time they supplied Terry’s restaurants in Newcastle with their beautiful Middle White pork.

So, off I went for a sunny afternoon outing with Antonella, the kids and even my Dad (who was a bt grumpy that day ’cause he obviously is not used to not driving). Even though the farm is actually not far from Newcastle, it took us about 1 hour to find the place (after several trips out to different farms I now know that the city habit of signposting everything simply doesn’t happen in the “country”)…..I think that this is also why my Dad was a bit grumpy ! Anyway, fortunately it was worth the effort.

Upon arrival, Anne and Hugh were just coming back from herding up their sheep (they also have 500+ sheep in addition to their Middle Whites). We were welcomed with a big smile and though I knew that they had a lot to do during the day (Anne told me on the phone that she’d only be able to spend a short time with us) she took us all around the farm, told us their story, explained about raising the Middle Whites, asked her kids to show Jade and Noé around, talked about her trips to the various Farmers Markets…..in short, we were very well looked after and even my Dad managed to spend a good 30 mins drinking tea with Hugh in the farm kitchen (atleast he wasn’t grumpy anymore) !!

During the summer I was able to buy pork from Anne 3 times – a rolled shoulder (magnificent slow roast at 90°C for 20 hours), a boned top of hind leg (simply roasted for a couple of hours at 160°C….I did nothing, except baste it occasionally) and a beautifully fatty “slab” of pork belly (sealed in a vaccum bag with spices and star aniseed and cooked overnight at 140°C and then cut into square portions for finishing off and reheating “à la commande”). Every time the pork was just gorgeous.

So now that I am back in Paris, the search for the French equivalent is on. At the moment I get the impression that rare breed (”les races anciennes”) is less widespread than in the UK. Once I know more I’ll get back to you all.

I’ll sign off, and if you’ve got any sense you’ll get yourself off to your local Farmer’s market and buy some beautiful rare breed pork !!!!

ps…some sites on rare breeds just to get you (and me!) started

It’s almost 1 year to the day since this incredible, crazy, passionate and sometimes stressfull conversion process began.

The first step was my “Initiation” – 1 CAP Cuisine (infact my actual diploma only arrived this morning !), 6 restaurants / caterers, umpteen cookery / chef books (of which my latest is a true gem – “The French Laundry – Thomas Keller”) and a 2 month stint back home in Newcastle.

I am now finally on the point of embarking upon phase 2 of this magnificent journey, as I have finished almost 2 weeks of interviews by agreeing to join the restaurant “Au Petit Marguery” in the 13th arrondissement in Paris. I will be the “demi-Chef de Partie” in a team of 6 (1 Chef, 1 Second, 2 Chefs de Partie – fish and cold starters, me, 1 Commis) where I will be working mainly on the Fish Section (having sole responsability for the section on Sunday & Monday, whilst supporting the Fish Chef de Partie for the other 3 days of the week).

Overall, the restaurant is 150% “cuisine traditionnelle” and “terroir”, with a particular focus on game (when in season….and now where right in there !). So, I’ve really got what I was looking for – small team, chef who is very present and who loves to share ideas and pass on knowledge, good quality produce (everything is fresh and seasonal). The only minor negative point is that I am definately stepping out of the “fine dining” arena….but then again, that could be the subject of another debate, namely “What is Fine Dining ?”. In my opinion, the only aspect lacking “Au Petit Marguery” is the presentation in the plate. All of the other aspects of fine dining are there.

Anyway, as a start to my professional career, I’m delighted to start in a kitchen where the emphasis is placed wholly on quality and flavour (the 2 main principles of the cooking of the much admired chef from my home region, Terry Laybourne), which many a supposed “Fine Dining” restaurant do not seem to share.

Just a few practical points on the process of searching for work and negotiating ones salary. Yes, the overall restaurant sector is having a hard time and thus people will always say that it’s difficult to offer “decent” salaries (especially for those starting out). However, the same restaurants are having a great deal of difficulty in finding “good” staff. So, we newcomers are in a relative position of “power”…..or atleast, we are not without a certain bargaining power. Listed below are the aspects that were important for me when securing this position,

So, there you have it. The next step starts tomorrow (assuming that the contract is sorted today), my family are happy with my planning and I am delighted with the quality of the team and the menu.

Watch this space.

Yesterday I had a much needed discussion with my wife (whilst the kids were jumping around in a softplay castle with hundreds of other little Geordies) about the next step after the end of my time here in Newcastle. There’s a bit more than 1 and a half months to go here in Newcastle before I return to Paris and continue my “apprentissage” as a chef, and overall 8 and a half months before the end of my 11 month sabbatical period from Capgemini.

Our main priorities over the next 9 months / year are to move away from Paris (west of France being the current favourite destination….Atlantic coast or Brittany) and to start the process of buying a house. My wife (and my family) needs the security of knowing that we have atleast bought a house before I throw myself fully into this new chef / restaurant career…..understandable.

So, I have set out the following plans for the coming 8 months…..

That’s where I’m at at the moment.

Just a quick note to let those interested know how I am getting on over here in Newcastle at Terry Laybourne’s flagship restaurant “Jesmond Dene House”.

It’s now been almost 1 month (remember that I’m here for 3 months) and I am now pretty well integrated into the Meat section within the team. There are 3 of us on this section and I am working as the commis chef preparing the different garnishes for the various meat dishes for the lunch and evening menus. Our lunch menu changes every 2 weeks and the dinner menu every season (3 months).

So far so good…..even though I’m a commis, I do all of the cooking for the garnishes for the meat dishes when the orders come in….so I’m finally au fourneau / at the hot plate, and it’s fantastic !! I work 5 days per week, split shifts every one of those days (8h30 – 15h and 17h30 – 11h).

I’ve been out to meet one or 2 of the local suppliers (Steve Ramshaw with his organic beef / lamb / pork, and Anne and Hugh of Ravenshaw Farm with their magnificent middlewhite pigs), but more visits are planned (flour mill, lobster diver, Jersey Dairy cows….amongst others).

I’ll be back soon with a film of where I work so that you can see what a typical day is over here…..but one thing that I can say is that the guys that I work with are passionate about their food / cooking, and the quality is atleast as good here as I saw in Paris.

On the day of my departure for 3 months work at Terry Laybourne’s “Jesmond Dene House” in Newcastle, I received my official CAP Cuisine results. Overall, a decent mark, but I’m disappointed with the practical exam score (15 out of 20). Anyway, it’s all pretty academic, as we say….the main thing now is the real work in the professional kitchen.

Good luck to those of you who are still waiting for their results. As for me, I’ll keep you updated on my progress in Newcastle…up until my return to Paris in early October.

Cheers, and have a great summer.

Mardi soir et je commence à m’organiser pour mon départ pour Newcastle Upon Tyne….j’ai commencé avec mes livres de cuisine, mes couteaux et mes “trucs” gastronomiques (que mon papa n’aura absoluement pas) comme mon syphon, une mandoline…..

J’ai hâte de commencer dans la cuisine de Terry Laybourne, de travailler avec les produits de ma région et de partager les expériences avec l’équipe en cuisine. Je commence chez lui lundi 14 juillet, et ma famille me rejoigne à partir du 22 juillet (jusqu’au 1 septembre).

Je ne sais pas si j’aurai bcp de temps pour écrire des billets sur mon blog, mais je ferai de mon mieux.

Un petit mot sur les qqs heures que j’ai passé aujourd’hui dans la cuisine de Mark (un cuisinier Gallois) au restaurant “Draco” qui donne sur le canal de l’Ourcq (dans le 19ème de Paris). Je voulais créer un contact avec ce chef cuisiner avant de partir pour la cuisine à Newcastle – question de continuer à développer mon réseau dans mon nouveau métier et aussi question tout simplement d’entendre l’histoire d’un autre Brittanique qui travaille en cuisine à Paris. En l’occurrence, ce Gallois part la semaine prochaine pour la cuisine de Ducasse à la Plazza Athénée, dans le rôle de sous-chef !! En tout cas, un bon contact avec un cuisinier sans complexe….dommage que j’ai passé la matinée à faire rien que de la mise en place. Je reprendrai contact avec lui à mon retour à Paris.

Yep, I’m nearly there….the end of my CAP Cuisine will be upon me in 3 weeks exactly !! That’ll be the end of the first step towards my own restaurant.

Well the first bit of news is that I’m not stopping there. The overriding aim of me spending 8 months doing this CAP was to give myself a “test run” to see if professional cook was my “thing”. I have to say that the CAP has totally lived up to my expectations – the school has allowed me to build up the basic skills and to meet other people embarking upon a new cuisine career (my fellow students), whilst the stage (Fontaine) has given me a good feeling for what life as a cuisinier in Parisian kitchens is about…..and I like what I see.

In order to take the next step, I have to postpone my return to Capgemini…which I have managed to do this week since I have been given the go-ahead by my boss at Capgemini to take 11 months off on sabbatical (thus my contract remains intact should I ever want to go back to work, which is a great form of security).

So where am I at with my plans for life after my training and how is my current work in Parisian kitchens ?

Well, first off, the Parisian restaurants that I work in….I am still at La Fontaine Gaillon where I finish my “stage” in just over 1 week. My overall feeling is that this is a great place to spend the 1st 4 months of my cuisinier career, but the underlying frustration of not actually “cooking” during the service never goes away. I’ve loved working with the fish and some of the fantastic other products, such as some beautiful green asparagus, the very fresh “italian purple” artichokes and the magical flavour of the sea urchins (oursins). I feel more confident amongst the other cuisiniers, and I’m taking part a lot more in the general “banter” within the kitchen…..but I’ve never been able to become indispensible for doing one particular thing in the team (that said, the whole ethos of the team is that if one person isn’t there, others absorb his work). When I leave I will miss the team, their unassuming expertise and the “buzz” during the service. I would have liked to stay to get to the point where I feel in “control” during the service….that I know follow all of the orders coming in and anticipate all of the moves necessary to complete those orders. When I left today there were 150+ reservations for tonight’s service….I would have liked to be there.

The new thing is me working in a restaurant in the 13th arrondissement of Paris – La Zygothèque, and the chef / owner M. Noel. For an idea of what dishes are concocted in M. Noel’s cuisine, his menu is available on-line. We’ll see what happens here…..the idea is to work in a small restaurant (30+ covers) have more opportunities to work on the hot plate / stove. I’ll be there tomorrow night (my 3rd time), so fingers crossed that I continue to work my way towards cooking the main dishes. What I can say is that M. Noel has a good attitude to food, products and the customers, and he likes to share….so, if I stay it should be a good learning experience.

As for my life after the training course, there are 2 things which have happened this week,

So, all in all, I feel as though I’m making progress and that this desire to create my own restaurant in 3 years time is getting stronger and stronger in my mind and in my heart…..and what’s more, my family are becoming more and more involved in this whole cooking conversion !! The implications for me and my family of what I am doing and what I am trying to set in place are enormous…..

As I said in the title, one step for me and a giant step for the Family Quirke !!!!

Quite some time since my last post, and since there’s been a few difficult moments, burns, cuts and even managed to stab myself (purely by accident, I might add) ! So, in today’s post I will cover

So, organic food and sustainable fish first of all. For a few months now, I’ve known that what is important to me is the produce, the producer and the quality of the product. Whether it’s because I have some catching up to do, or simply because, like Terry Laybourne, in my opinion it all starts with quality products regardless of the final dish being prepared. As I’ve already said elsewhere on this blog, it’s not only quality, but also the link with “local” produce is important to me….creating the link with the people and identity of a particular region.

I’ve been reading about the seasonality of fruit and veg in France, as well as checking up on what is available in my home region of Northumberland. In addition, at school we’ve been looking at fish, beef, veal (strangely not very available in England, at least not in Northumberland), lamb, offal, veg & fruit. This reading has been backed up by being able to work with good quality fruit, veg, meat and fish at La Fontaine – seeing how the quality is measured by the chefs. There’s a hell of a lot to learn and discover, a journey which is just beginning and should never end – especially when you consider only one particular food source, fish for example, and you touch upon the huge depth of information / variety that exists just in the UK and France….even in France Sea Bass has several different names (Bar or Loup de Mer) depending upon where it is fished, with different breeding periods between Channel / Atlantic / Mediterranean bass.

On the topic of fish, and particularly sustainable fish, I’ve been reading a fair bit these last few weeks (partly in preparation for our meeting with the London chef Tom Aikens who champions this topic). It’s such an enormous topic that it’s all a bit much at times – I’m trying, at the same time, to get to know fish, their names in English & French, seasonality, their availability / vulnerability, adult size (and thus the minimum size they should be when buying them), their cost, the different techniques for catching them and so on….so loads to take in. But fascinating.

With regards to organic food, I’ve been checking out the different shops in Paris which deal with organic fruit and veg – Naturalia, CanalBio (specific to the 19ème arrondissement), Nouveaux Robinsons, La Vie Claire. They’re all more expensive than our local greengrocer and Monoprix, though Nouveaux Robinson seems to be by far the best value – generally not being much more expensive than what we currently buy (unlike La Vie Claire which is outrageously expensive). I still don’t know why BIO is more expensive – maybe because the crops are less “controlled” and thus yield is not always optimal and thus the producer charges more to compensate ? Anyway, as with many things at the moment, I am at the beginning of understanding what BIO is about.

At the end of next week is our trip to London. Really looking forward to getting my French collegues’ reactions to what’s going on in London. I’ll be taking photos and film of the visit so you’ll be able to see what we got up to in a week or so’s time.

I’ll sign off with a short note about my sagging confidence at the moment. I’m not feeling creative, I want to be tested in a kitchen working a service at the hot plate (to prove to myself that I can do it – I know that I can do “cold starters” for 100, but cooking the main courses ain’t the same thing !). Went out to eat last night with my wife at the Ziggothèque in the 13ème in Paris – an opportunity to talk with the chef who is someone that I would like to work for. It was a really good evening – good food prepared by a chef who tries to get good products, who goes to Rungis (Paris’ main market) 2 or 3 times per week, who makes his own stocks and who was available to chat for quite some time. We’ll see what comes of it. I also boosted my confidence by spending today preparing the meal for tomorrow lunchtime when a friend comes to eat. I’ll post the photos in a few days when the final meal is available.

OK, I’ll sign off. I’m meant to be writing more, but shorter, posts…..so this isn’t a very good start….sorry !….and Happy Easter to you all.

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2008 hardly started and I have had 2 trips back home already to see my family in Newcastle Upon Tyne. One visit was for pleasure, the other for more personal and painful reasons (which I will cover in another post when the time is right).

During this extended time in Newcastle I have been able to set in place the initial “stones” upon which I hope to build my first “post-CAP Cuisine” culinary experience. As I have said in earlier posts (I think), I have an overall plan to

All of this is being planned by myself at the moment, even though I would greatly appreciate advice from an experienced chef – someone who could play the role of my “mentor“. My general strategy (for gaining the experience that I will need to prepare me for setting up and running my own restaurant / kitchen) is to get a varied experience, in several different kitchens with different chefs and different styles of cooking. I am particularly interested in learning about the “products” – be they French or English. I will also make sure that I spend time delving into the accounts and running of a restaurant.

So, my first step along this “post qualification” road will be to spend 2 months working in Michelin star chef Terry Laybourne’s English kitchen back home in Newcastle. Terry was the first Michelin starred chef in the North East of England, and is now so well known and respected that he even has an OBE (special award given by the Queen), to go along with his 5 restaurants. Most importantly for me, this is the chef who feels so passionate about the importance of quality, local products that he states

“everyone assumes that the chef is an artist. Let me tell you something. If the guy who supplies my asparagus does his job properly, and it arrives in perfect condition, all I do is sling it in a pan of boiling salted water, take it out when it’s ready, put it on a nice plate with a dish of melted butter and a wadge of lemon…and people fête me as a magician…..90% of good cooking is good shopping…..write a book about the asparagus grower. He’s the artist”

I couldn’t agree more.

The original idea was to spend 2 months, during the summer 2008, in his Jesmond Dene House kitchen – especially interesting since it is 5 minutes from my Mum and Dad’s house ! Take my wife and kids over for their summer holidays – me work as much as possible, they get out and about with their grand-parents and speak English as much as possible. The famous Ségolène Royale “Win-Win”, non ?

Why so interested in Terry Laybourne ? Essentially because

So, we met with Terry (I really wanted my wife and kids to meet him, create a contact and make sure that they are fully with me on this first step – which they most certainly are, I can happily confirm !) at Jesmond Dene House to talk about me working there. We finished with the suggestion that I work in several of his restaurants, notably :

So, with a “gentleman’s agreement” achieved about working during the summer, I set about learning about the products from the region – being a formerly industrial (coal and ship building) region, this might not have been easy, one would have been forgiven for thinking. However, using Terry Laybourne’s book “Quest for Taste” (a beautiful book which talks about 13 different types of products within the North East region, focusing on 1 particular supplier in each case) as a starting point, I took off with my wife and kids to see various producers (oysters, kippers, flour and honey). As it happens, no one was open (well it was Jan 2nd, snow was lying on the ground and the festive period was coming to an end). But simply driving around the region and talking with some locals, I started to appreciate the richness of our local produce. For an idea of some of the great products that can be sourced on our own doorstep – well if I was back home in Newcastle rather than in Paris !

For a look at other products and suppliers in the NorthEast region, take a look at the Northumbria Larder website.

During my latest visit to Newcastle I spent an afternoon discovering the little fishing port of North Shields. I’ll complete this post with some photos, but suffice to say that I was able to see “first hand” how the fishing industry is suffering because of “over fishing” by the big trawlers which stay out for 5+ days and use nets of over 1km in length ! Only 3 boats work out of North Shields, even though boats from other cities / countries stop to sell their fish. The locals complained particularly of Spanish and French boats, but from what I understand, overfishing is something that we are all guilty of – regardless of the nationality (even if some countries are suspected as being worse culprits than others !). The local fishmonger (Taylor’s of North Shields) confirmed that things would never be like they used to be – however, he also confirmed that he still has daily fresh fish coming in from small and big boats. When I was there I bought a lovely 1,8 kg Turbot (well, my Dad did !) and, at £15 per kilo, it was quite a lot cheaper than the turbot that I bought in Paris just before Christmas (approx. £19/kilo). During our visit, my Dad and I went to eat at a local restaurant – Sidneys - which takes its fish directly from the Norht Shields market, and which has a “bib gourmand” along with a recommendation in the latest Michelin guide (no star but “one to watch out for”).

That’s it for now – got to get on with my revising for my exams which take place this week.