“The mixture of perfection and pleasure” this phrase has represented the trajectory of the chef Thomas Keller who has managed to surprise palates and elevate American haute cuisine to fineness and emotion schemes. The media refer to him as a magician, a purist, a man obsessed with doing better … clearly a well-known “Superstar chef” with numerous books, TV appearances, film advice and many other achievements.

But if there is something to highlight about his character, it is his excellent contribution to the gastronomic field that has influenced many with his guidelines and techniques of preparation of dishes, handling of ingredients and assembly art. We will concentrate on that. Continue reading “Thomas Keller: Superstar chef in Haute Cuisine”

Surely when you watch cooking shows on TV that is currently in fashion, you’ve wondered how the hell the chefs do to handle the knives with that insulting ease. But the truth is that learning to use the knife professionally, like almost everything, depends on two conditions. The first is to know the technique, and the second is practice and work between the stoves.

In this article we will give you some tips to learn how to use the knife like a professional. Take note!

Before using the knife as a chef

Before imitating the professionals and cutting ourselves for not doing things well, let’s prepare. First of all, have a good knife with the best cut and possible balance. Continue reading “How to use knife as an experienced chef?”

Not everything is beautiful in gastronomy; you have to know how to deal with problems in order to find ready solutions. Usually, in a kitchen, we are faced with a team of people who have the purpose of achieving an excellent and tasty work. But always within any brigade, we will find some or several people who have errors or attitudes that do not seem very appropriate to us. From unhygienic actions, abundance of pride, sabotage of colleagues, dislike of dishes, criticism without foundation, rumors, gastronomic ethics, etc…

Within the learning in the kitchens, when I assume high positions I worry about the good functioning and professionalism of the work team. The idea is to show why you are here and to encourage people to correct mistakes in a disciplined and respectful way.

The vocation and constant monitoring are keys in this. Even so, it is normal to find attitudes or actions quite unpleasant, and each can assign the degree of severity in each case, as far as I respect, this is a listing of 5 things that I personally cannot tolerate in a cook: Continue reading “5 things that (personally) can not be tolerated in a cook”

When thinking about dishes, one of the first things that come to the mind of the cooks is: how I am going to assembling the dish; how to order things, the decorative elements, the harmonies of the ingredients, the final appeal. A lot of things that we ended up translating into leaves with several paths and smudges to achieve what we want.

Many chefs give their advice and everyone has their own style of doing things, there are those who prefer the simple, others the complex. Some classic, another avant-garde. A few elements to the plate, many others. Here the vital thing is to look for the attractiveness of the product and not to sell false promises in the dishes.

In order to get started in the art of assembly, the essential thing is to practice and learn from as many styles as you can. Here are some tips that I recommend to all who wish to reach a little beyond the usual. Continue reading “5 Essential Tips for Assembling a Dish”