In Search of the Classics

By John Kinsella, CMC, CCE, WGMC, AAC

I am always amazed by the number of e-mails and calls complaining about classical cooking. It seems to mystify many of my callers.

Now that we have instituted a student competition with the requirement to produce classical dishes, I see many different interpretations of what is required. There also seems to be an aversion to practicing our most basic skills.

Let's start from the beginning. First of all, classical cooking is basic cooking. It's referred to in every cookbook. Basic cooking skills are demonstrated and discussed in all the fundamentals of cooking, such as braising, roasting, stewing, sautéing and baking.

As an apprentice, I first had to master these skills to comprehend advanced recipes. Knowledge of formulas and basic recipes was also required. The secret of all this was reading, which gave me great memory skills and continual growth in a second language, French.

For example, the formula for sauce demiglace is half plus a half divided by a half: half sauce espagnole and half brown stock reduced by a half. It is then strained and used in 500-plus sauces. Isn't that basic? Advanced applications include fish stock and all the other stocks required to make a certain sauce. Lenten demi-glace, a fish demiglace, is rarely used anymore because of the lack of time spent in classes on the craft of sauce making as a required basic skill.

In butchery, the breaking down of a simple tenderloin, and its classical uses, seems to be ignored, and I do not understand why. Cleaning the tenderloin and removing the silver and side muscle presents us with the four classical cuts: the tail--filet mignon, sauce Bolognese, stroganoff; thin fillet--tournedos with garni such as Rossini and Verdi, always served on a crouton; fillet--served with sauces such as bordelaise and chasseur, on a crouton; Châteaubriand--served tableside with a selection of vegetables and sauce, for two people. The appropriate methods of cooking are, of course, sautéing, grilling and roasting. Why do we use a crouton when cooking fillets and tournedos? Because they are cooked medium-rare, and the crouton serves to absorb the blood and keep the sauce's consistency intact.

What I am basically saying is that classical cooking is used every day in our kitchens. It's what we do. And some of the comments I hear, such as that classical cooking is dated or old-fashioned, come from what I believe is a lack of understanding of one's craft. You cannot become a creative chef if you ignore the basics.

Escoffier said that the world's famous chefs are all great basic cooks. Restaurants from The French Laundry to Charlie Trotter's, Tru and a new restaurant in New York, The Modern, are all practicing the classical skills. That's what fine cooking is, not more, not less. It's the basis of every culture of cooking, as well as every country's style of cooking.

Twenty years ago, I wrote an article on classical menu composition, and I will place it on the American Culinary Federation's Web site for those who would like to use it. Please share it as you see fit. Finally, let's take the fear out of classical cooking and its language. If you don't, it will inhibit your culinary advancement. And if you ever consider taking a master-chef test, you will need it to succeed.

To our students: Classical cooking will teach you structure, discipline and a wealth of knowledge during your career.

Let's start cooking and learning what our great chefs gave us to grow on.