4th Annual StarChefs' International Chef's Congress Lights Up NYC

Having wrapped up its forth year and still going strong, the International Chef's Congress, organized by StarChefs.com and held every September, is still the premier food event in America.

I've attended three of the past four Chef's Congresses, and the only disappointing thing was that I didn't attend all four.  With guests spanning the culinary elite from countries the world over, the roster of Chef's Congress speakers and demonstrators reads like a list of angels—and even some deities—from food heaven:  Pierre Hermé, Albert Adria, Frédéric Bau, Ken Oringer, José Andrés, Eric Ripert, Daniel Boulud, Marcus Samuelsson, Masaharu Morimoto, Wylie Dufresne, Oriol Balaguer, Joël Robuchon, Gualtiero Marchesi, Dan Barber, Elena and Juan Mari Arzak, Elizabeth Falkner, Charlie Trotter, Pierre Gagnier, Grant Achatz, Paco Torreblanca, Pichet Ong, Albert Trummer....

The Congress, a three day event, not only highlights the talents and trends in the universe of food, it brings together seasoned professionals with budding up-and-comers for an exciting exchange of knowledge, experiences and ideas .  Young chefs leave the event inspired, energized, and rearing to rise up in the food world and make a name for themselves with their own culinary creations.

At the fourth annual Congress I had the great good fortune of meeting founder Antoinette Bruno and spending a day watching her in action.  A veritable force of energy on two legs, without Antoinette this event wouldn't go off nearly as well as it does, year after year.  Of course every event of such a large scale has blips, but Bruno trouble-shoots in real time, juggling Blackberry messages, walkie-talkie communications among staffers, and the schedules of her star chefs, all while maintaining an air of sheer joy at watching her event unfold—like a kid who started her own candy shop.  As if that weren't enough, Bruno is also a talented self-taught photographer whose images of food and chefs grace the pages of the Congresses' glorious program book.

Antoinette Bruno w/ Juan Mari Arzak

With more hands-on workshops, demonstrations and tastings than I can cover here, I'd just like to share some photos (well, quite a lot of photos actually) of my personal favorites from this year's Congress:  Masaharu Morimoto, Jose Andrés, Juan Mari Arzak, Paco Torreblanca, Marcus Samuelsson, Rohini Dey and Maneet Chauhan.

Masaharu Morimoto (on Fish, of course), Iron Chef

The Highly Animated Jose Andres of Mini Bar, Washington DC

Owner Rohini Dey and Executive Chef Maneet Chauhan, At Vermilion

 

Hands-on Workshop w/ Chef Marcus Samuelsson, Aquavit

Pastry Chef Extraordinaire Paco Torreblanca

 

  

  

  

Last, but certainly not least, Juan Mari Arzak!

  

 

Friends at the Fore

A quick shout out to Damien Herrgott, Executive Pastry Chef at the soon-to-open Bosie Tea Parlor in NYC. Time Out New York announced the opening, in which they said: "To go with the teas are sweets like macarons from pastry chef Damien Herrgott, who’s logged hours at Paris’s famed Pierre Hermé, and as executive pastry chef at Bouley Bakery. Quick correction to TONY, Damien Herrgott didn't just "log hours" at Pierre Hermé, he was hired at the young age of 23 to be the Chef for the opening of Hermé's first store in Paris. He remained with Hermé for four years, and also headed up the opening of his second Paris location.

Another bow to Cesar Ramirez, Executive Chef at Brooklyn Fare Kitchen, for the rave review he got on The Q, GQ Magazine's blog. Congratulations, Cesar! We knew you'd be a hit from the first time we ate there, and from the glorious birthday dinner you made for me and my friends. Kudos, you deserve it!

On Sick Leave!

Dear Readers- 

Unfortunately I have been on an extended leave from work due to illness.  I wish all of you a Happy Holiday season, and hope to be back to work, posting articles, ASAP!

Right Wing Ice Cream?

If you thought Ben and Jerry's was the only ice cream dipped in politics, think again. Turns out there's a conservative ice cream company that touts itself as the counter weight to Ben & Jerry's.

Star Spangled Ice Cream Company is the name, and like Ben & Jerry's, they donate a percentage of their profits to charitable organizations, in this case, those that support members of the military and their families.

This, of course, is a good cause—supporting members of the military, that is. However, it's interesting to note that the first contribution made by Star Spangled Ice Cream was to the Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund, founded by none other than Oliver North of Iran Contra infamy (though my guess is he can't recall why he started his organization, or that Star Spangled Ice Cream ever gave him any money).

What amuses me most about this little ice cream company are the names they give to their flavors. Iraqi Road, Navy BattleChip, Smaller GovernMint, Fightin' Marine Tough Cookies & Cream, G.I. Love Chocolate, and my absolute favorites, GUN NUT, Nutty Environmentalist, and I Hate the French Vanilla. Discontinued flavors and flavors in development have names like Cherry Falwell, Choc & Awe, and Donald RumRaisin.

Of course Ben & Jerry's has some amusing hippie names like Cherry Garcia and Magic Brownies, but they don't go nearly as far as Star Spangled Ice Cream.

This is unfortunate, it would be most amusing to buy Ben & Jerry's if only it had names like Public Option Heath Bar, Clinton Surplus Sorbet, Peachy Pelosi, California Liberal Lemon, Rocky Road to Iraqi Victory, Save the EnvironMINT, Legalize It Dutch Coffee House, Tolerance Toffee, Religious NUT, Equal Pay Fudge Sunday, Truly Hip Chocolate Chip, Big Tent Berry Medley, Al Gore's Internet Cookies & Cream, Racial EqualiTEA, or Go Green Tea . And, how about I Love the French Vanilla?

Hmmm, maybe I should start a liberal ice cream company? I'd better trademark those names, pronto!

From My Hometown to Yours: Parmigiano-Reggiano and Aceto Balsamico di Reggio Emilia

Hardly anyone outside Italy has heard of Reggio Emilia. With the exception of Jacques Pépin—who had not only heard of it, but had visited and knew it as the food destination in Italy—most people stare blankly at me when I tell them Reggio Emilia is my Italian home town. So you can imagine my surprise as I watched a recent episode of Iron Chef America—where the secret ingredient was Balsamic Vinegar—when Alton Brown actually mentioned that Reggio Emilia is one of only two places that produce Aceto Balsamico. Not only did it make me proud, but it was pretty darn convenient as I had already begun drafting this article.

Despite the fact that Parmigiano-Reggiano is the number one imported Italian cheese in America, and that Reggio Emilia is a top producer, people—save for Alton Brown and Jacques Pépin—still don't know about my little town.  Everyone knows Modena for its Aceto Balsamico and Ferrari headquarters, and Parma for its Prosciutto di Parma, but they just haven't heard of Reggio Emilia, its food, or the fact that it's located right in between these two famous towns.



Italians do know Reggio Emilia and its culinary reputation. In fact, there's a saying in Italy: "If you only have one night in Italy and can't eat at my Mamma's house, go to Reggio Emilia."

I'd like everyone to know Reggio Emilia and its culinary history. So I'll point you to the official website of Parmigiano-Reggiano, where you can watch a short film on the making of the cheese and read about its long history. You can also visit the international site for Parmigiano-Reggiano (look, Reggio Emilia is on the map!).

Besides our world-famous queen of cheeses, in Reggio Emilia we also produce award-winning Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale, as Alton Brown rightly mentioned on Iron Chef. Though produced in smaller quantities and much, much harder to find outside of Italy, Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Reggio Emilia has better flavor than its mainstream, mass-produced cousins from Modena.



 

I once visited the esteemed Acetaia Cavalli Ferdinando, where I was given a personal tour of the facilities and allowed to taste some amazing Balsamics. When my cousins and I finished the tour, we entered the warehouse where the wine store is located to see what we could bring home. As we walked past the employee kitchen, one of my cousins recognized an old refrigerator and thought it looked just like the one that used to be in my Nonna's home kitchen before I was born. When we asked the gentleman who had escorted us around the grounds, he told us that they had bought the fridge second hand, nearly four decades ago, from a Varolli. We all laughed and couldn't believe it still worked, and that it was indeed my Nonna's old fridge.

The result of this bizarre coincidence was that I was allowed to purchase a "not for sale" bottle of Cavalli Ferdinando Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale Extra Vecchio, Oro, bottle number 6, which had won the Consorzio award in 2002. With a normal Gold Label costing about $240, I won't even say how much this purchase set me back, but it was worth every penny to buy the un-buyable bottle that had won such high honors.



I still have some left today because I only break it out for super special occasions, or when I want to impress one of my foodie friends with a rare product from Reggio Emilia that they simply can't get for themselves. It's amazingly thick, complex, sweet and delicious, and I only serve it on its own, a couple drops in a spoon, because Balsamic this good needs no accompaniment. Yet, on this week's Iron Chef America, neither Iron Chef Michael Simon nor the challengers did what one should do with a 50 year old Balsamic, simply serve it in a spoon or drizzled over vanilla ice cream—the two best ways to truly appreciate this gastronomic gold.



There is, of course, more to the culinary landscape of Reggio Emilia than Parmigiano-Reggiano and Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale, but these two products are a good place to start if you want to get a feel for the food of this little town I call my home in Italy. You can also check out my recipe for rich Bolognese, based on the traditional version of Reggio Emilia, and look for my upcoming recipes for Tortelli and Tortellini en Brodo, both classic dishes from Reggio Emilia. If you'd like to read up on the culinary traditions of my home town, and home region of Emilia-Romagna, the best book by far is The Splendid Table, by Lynne Rosetto Kasper.

Brooklyn Fare Kitchen Extends Service, Finds New Location

Heard it on good authority that the success of Brooklyn Fare Kitchen has led to the addition of Tuesday and Wednesday night menus, as their Thursday-Saturday seatings were booking nearly 3 months in advance.

Also rumored, Brooklyn Fare Kitchen has found a new home! Location TBA, but they're interviewing new staff, and though they will maintain the same concept, it's likely Chef César Ramirez and Sous Chef Juan Leon won't be serving and bussing any longer.

This isn't much of a surprise. They had been trying to find a new space nearby in Brooklyn when I was there for my birthday, but had no leads at that time. They've had amazing press, and I even saw Ramirez and Brooklyn Fare Kitchen featured on my NYC Taxi TV a few times lately. Kudos, they deserve every bit of press they get!

I'll post the new location, and expected date of opening, as soon as I hear it!

WISE TIP: Coping with Kitchen Burns

When you've got 4 burners going, a roast and a gratin in the oven, and guests in your living room, what do you do when you've just reached for one of your pans and ended up burning yourself? It's not a riddle, it's a real home kitchen dilemma.

For me, after so many years of burning myself at times when I can hardly stop to nurse my wound, I've learned to just ignore burns. That's right, I ignore the pain and keep working as if nothing's happened. This may sound nuts, but it's what I do—and I dare say I wouldn't get shouted at by Gordon Ramsay thanks to this ability. In a professional kitchen, unless your skin is melting, you just can't stop working for every little burn. Mind over matter is the name of the game.

Burns are a fact of kitchen life—at home or in a restaurant—and learning to master them is key. When I first tried just ignoring my burns years ago, they would hurt despite my attempts to focus on my cooking and my guests. Slowly though, over time, they just stopped hurting. It's really a mind trick that anyone with a brain can master.

Today, when I burn myself and simply can't stop, I forget so completely about my little injury that I'm only reminded a day or two later when I knock my finger or arm up against something. My reaction of "Ouch!" is quickly followed by "Oh yeah, I burned myself yesterday."

Sometimes though, burns are too serious to ignore. In this case, if the ER isn't necessary, the only thing you can do is stop and immerse your burn in ice water. So long as your burn is submerged in water, it won't get worse and it won't hurt. This trick works, big time. I once stumbled towards a wood-burning stove registering 675 degrees. As I fell forward in seeming slow motion my choice was to hit the stove with my head or my hand. I chose my hand, which came down flat and hard on the metal part of the stove, and which I used to shove myself back up on my feet. Then I ran, shouting profanities, all the way to the sink.

The burn was so bad that the second I took my hand from the water it throbbed in a cartoon-like manner. Not wanting to spend the evening hovering over the tap, I filled a bowl with ice and water and spent the entire night with my hand in the bowl. When bed-time came, it still hurt too much to take it out, so I put the bowl on my bedside table and fell asleep with my hand in the water.

When I awoke the next day, much to my surprise, my hand was still in the water. So I lifted it out to see how it felt and you can imagine my shock when my hand didn't hurt one bit and there wasn't a single mark left from the burn. That's how well the ice-water method works.

Thing is, even when you get to the point where you can ignore your minor burns (not the major ones), if you don't want to be covered in scars then you should always treat them with Vitamin E. Just poke a pin in a Vitamin E soft-gel and squirt the oil onto your burn. The more often you treat your burn with Vitamin E, the less scarring you'll have.

If you're a cooking nut like me, having a few burn scars isn't anything to be ashamed of, quite the opposite in fact—these scars are like badges of honor, they attest to the fact that there's no need for me to get out of the kitchen, I can stand the heat.