THE INTERNATIONAL CHEFS CONGRESS

On a return flight from New York recently I felt like a foie gras duck. Componere sous chef Matt Hegel and I had just attended the Star Chef’s International Chefs Congress.  Lunch at the conference each day was from the likes of Le Bernadin and Gordon Ramsey, and each night we dined at a different restaurant for dinner.

Every restaurant we went to featured a different style of cuisine. Eleven Madison Park had four star French influenced cuisine, Scarpetta was authentic Italian, Momofuko Saam Bar was trendy Euro-Asian and Nextamle in Queens was Mexican.

The conference included three packed days of demos, panel discussions and workshops by top chefs showcasing their new techniques and dishes. They came from around the world and included Yoshihiro Murata, Morimoto, Jose Andres, Peirre Gagnaire, Daniel Boulud, Charlie Trotter, Grant Achatz, April Bloomfield and many others.

Topics and techniques ranged from the traditional to cutting edge. A few of our favorites:

Zach Allen, the charcuterie guru of Mario Batali’s restaurants and the executive chef of Mario’s Las Vegas restaurants, taught an informative hands-on workshop entitled The Charcuterie Equation. We’ve been considering an in-house charcuterie program and the exceptional charcuterie I’d eaten earlier this year at B&B Ristorante in Las Vegas (which Zach is in charge of) also piqued my interest.

Sean Brock’s presentation on Bringing Back American Heirloom Ingredients also caught our eye. We’re always looking for interesting things to grow in the Componere garden. At McCrady’s in South Carolina he has a 2.5 acre farm featuring many pre-Civil War heirloom ingredients.

Famed Japanese kaiseki master Yoshihiro Murata of Kikunoi started off his demonstration with a short video introduction to “food of the four seasons.” Murata explained the importance of dashi in his cooking overall and especially as a vehicle for umami.

Masaharu Morimoto graced the Main Stage and took the crowd through a flurry of advanced fish butchery that covered eel, aji, hamo, yellowtail, and a live fluke. His knife skills were incredible.

In his workshop “the Father of Sous Vide” Dr. Bruno Goussault covered the basics of safe sous vide cooking. The low-temp cooking expert emphasized the importance of food safety throughout his workshop, explaining that the current trend of cooking at below 56° Farenheit doesn’t kill off dangerous bacteria.

Between dining out and the conference our trip to New York was well worth it.  We’re looking forward to attending (and eating!) next year.