Classical Cooking: a Matter of Reflex Memory Skills

By John Kinsella, CMC, CCE, WGMC, AAC

Whether we like it or not, all the basics of our modern cooking skills are based on the classical French style of cooking. Yes, we can argue that some of these skills are dated, but I argue that chefs and cooks who are well-trained in these tenets will have a much smother career path. I am sure that if Escoffier were alive today, he would be excited to see the great progress we have made as culinarians, but my biggest fear is that we will lose some of the great knowledge of these skills if we continue to limit our reading of the classical texts.

When I was an apprentice, our chef de partie would walk the floor and ask culinary questions of each cook and apprentice, such as, name the four classical lobster dishes, and in which ones would you use cooked (dead) lobster. Of course, the right answer to the second part of the question was lobster Cardinal and lobster Thermidor, and we would remember that fact because each name had a "d" in it. Then we were asked to name the two dishes that called for live lobsters, and we would reply, lobster Newberg and lobster American. Armed with that knowledge, we could use both the live and cooked lobster products successfully. If we answered incorrectly, we had to look up the recipes and write them out in our off-duty time. Le Guide Culinaire and Le Répetoire de La Cuisine became our bibles.

So, as we grew in knowledge, we learned formulas, such as this one for sweet short pastry that uses an 8/4/1/1 ratio: 8 oz. flour, 4 oz. butter, 1 whole egg and 1 oz. sugar. Simplistic but effective. We can only grow in knowledge and develop these most valuable reflex memory skills if we continually read and digest the information we need to succeed. I firmly believe that when I read and learn a skill, it should be for a lifetime.

Something that will hold you in good standing for the rest of your career is mastering the ratio of bone to meat in a leg of veal, and learning how many 4-oz. portions of scaloppine a 40-lb. leg yields. Other veal questions to enhance your memory skills: what is veal's classical braising dish, and how many osso bucos does a leg yield. Also, name the four classical stews that are made from the leg trimmings. This knowledge will enable you to define the cost-effectiveness of buying legs of veal and butchering them in-house. Again, with that knowledge, it becomes easy for us to concentrate on remembering some of the classical scaloppine dishes that can be put on à la carte and carte du jour menus.

Some of my friends ask me how I remember so much information. I simply reply that I read and re-read all the time to keep my on-board computer in sync. And I answer the questions I posed above not from a book but by using my reflex memory skills. Here are my answers, so check to see if I am right. A 40-lb. leg of veal will yield 55 portions of scaloppine; the classical braising dish is fricandeau de veau à la jardinière; a leg will yield three osso bucos; and the four stews are navarin, goulash, blanquette and fricassee.

And finally, if I get it wrong, and sometimes I do, I go back to the books, sit down and write it out. Because I can still see Chef Le Bec standing over me, insisting that I increase my memory skills if I want to become a chef. And even to this day, I smile, and say, "Thank you, chef, for teaching me how to keep my learning lights on."

Bon appétit.