Weekend Ramble: "When I cook, I am looking to..."

Have you ever thought about your cooking? ... I mean really thought about why you cook the way you do? What has shaped your style, your ingredients, your go-to flavors? Were you taught by Mom and Dad? Did you take some cooking classes or go to culinary school?

Well, regardless of background, we all have our individual style, and that's a really cool thing, isn't it? Just like the famous chefs out there, there are certain things about our cooking that define a dish as our own.

When I first started cooking (decades ago...ahem) it was all about spices... the notion being that the more spices you added, the better the dish would be. Over the years that did tone down some, but for the most part I have always been heavy handed on adding herbs and spices to my dishes. That is... until I retired and found I had the time to really get into flavors and more complex dishes.

A number of years ago I received as a gift my all-time favorite

cookbook, which is not really a cookbook at all. 

The Flavor Bible by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg is an outstanding compilation of food items organized alphabetically along with lists of complimenting flavors for each item. 

There are no recipes in the book... AT ALL. Just... flavors. The recipe is up to the cook to design... and I just love that! I really enjoy being in my kitchen with the book... imagining what the different flavor combos will produce. IT'S FUN!

Scattered throughout the book are little blurbs and quotes from some of the most famous chefs in the culinary field. One, in particular, caught my eye and made me think... Really? Huh! It was a notion so foreign to me that I was blown away by its simplicity. Chef Michael Anthony of Gramercy Tavern in New York City suddenly became my role model with this line:

"When I cook, I am looking to pull myself back from a dish

rather than add to a dish. I would rather a dish feel too

simple than too fussy. Sometimes, though, you need some

extra ingredients as long as they work dynamically."

With this kitchen creed as my guide, I have learned to focus on letting the main ingredient of a dish shine rather than hiding it with spices and cover-up flavors. It's very similar to the art of sushi, where the VERY subtle differences from fish to fish can only be fully appreciated if the base flavor of the fish itself remains the focus at hand.

Stepping back from a dish is often not easy, but with practice it will actually change the abilities of a pallet. Subtle flavor differences become wow factors, and flavor levels within a given dish? Well let's just say it's a whole new world!

Just so you can see I'm serious about Chef Michael Anthony's creed... here it is as seen every day in my kitchen!

Have a great week, everyone, and thank you for your support!

Blessed be… and happy cooking!

                                                            Chef Michael R