Demonstration class - Richard Blais, Top Chef Season 4

Being interested in all things food I was extremely excited to hear that Bravo and the Culinary Institute of America was organising demonstration cooking classes featuring the Top Chef Season 4 contestants. Throughout the show I had always thought that Dale Talde and Richard Blais were the strongest contestants but was slightly biased towards Richard due to his down to earth personality. Combined with my fascination for molecular gastronomy (having topped Chemistry in high school!!!) and a chef who had worked with names such as Thomas Keller, Ferran Adria and Daniel Boulud Richard was a natural choice.


Anticipation builds....

Having arrived straight from work I was still slightly flustered upon arrival. At my seat was a copy of the Top Chef cookbook presumably for Richard to sign later on. There was muted excitement as we all stared at the 'stage' which Richard was to be working from. The pyramid of products below are the various 'chemicals' used by Richard and most molecular gastronomy chefs.





Cocktail: Manhattan



As we are in NY, Richard kicks off with a Manhattan. So what is unique about this cocktail well firstly for those adverse to bird flu no eggs were used in producing the froth!!! Instead it was produced with lecithin, sodium alginate and calcium chloride. Ok so not exactly exciting for the average Joe but for a nerd like me this is fascinating stuff.

The cherry 'caviar' (shown above) is made by combining a cherry base, sodium alginate (gelling agent) and sodium citrate (an anticoagulant) and dripping these into a calcium chloride solution. The 'caviar' forms at the bottom of the solution. Fruit caviars as it is known was first used in the kitchen of Ferran Adria of El Bulli fame and no doubt Richard must have picked it up there.


Appetisers: Vitello Tramonto - hamachi sashimi with deep fried chicken skin



This dish is an attempt to replicate Richard's episode 12 hamachi and sweetbread dish. The sweetbreads were replaced with chicken skin you'ld think that given the demo was $195 a pop they would not hold back on the sweetbreads. Anyway back to the food. When I looked at the dish I worried that the hamachi would be overpowered but it was perfect the vinaigrette of lime juice, yuzu juice, truffle oil, ginger, honey and soy was light and brought out the natural flavours of the hamachi.

I had the smoked mayonnaise with the chicken skin not wanting to contaminate my hamachi. The mayonnaise was absolutely the best and most complex mayonnaise I have ever had.


Entree: Tofu steak marinated in beef fat with green curry



Episode 7 and this dish in particular epitomised why I loved Top Chef. I would say that this had to be my favourite dish in the whole episode so was extremely pleased to see that it was on the menu. The recipe is available on Bravo's website so I will only comment on the taste http://recipes.mt.bravotv.com/top_chef/season_4/episode_7_1/tofu_steak_marinated.php

This dish was everything I expected it to be the tofu well marinated, the green curry thick and flavoursome. What was also interesting about this dish other than the tofu was the vodka battered onion rings they were light, airy and crispy. The interesting thing about this dish was that it had flavours on every level yet it appeared so simple and straightforward as you bit into it.


Dessert: Bacon ice-cream



For dessert we have Richard's well known bacon ice-cream. Instead of using his signature liquid nitrogen Richard instead uses dry ice. The theory is that as the dry ice / liquid nitrogen evaporates it will release cold air and freeze the ice cream. As the released air is colder than the normal variety the ice cream is meant to be more creamy as it has not had time to form icicles. My ice cream was one of the last to arrive so was slightly melted but was still extremely good. The texture true to form was creamy and rich.


Concluding thoughts

Overall this was an experience which I will always cherish. Richard Blais was everything I thought he would be, I definitely hope to eat one of his more extensive tasting menus at his restaurant one day. After thinking about it I conclude that the reason why Richard is my favourite celebrity chef is not just because he produces good food but because he is down to earth, a pragmatic businessman and a natural leader. To me this is important as a good chef will just be a good chef but to be a successful chef you need to be able to lead your team whereas to survive and showcase your food to the world you must to some extent be a businessman. Furthermore, these are quality which I have always aspired to and held in high regard so in this respect it was inspirational to see a successful individual who still adheres to these values.

Also Richard like me believes that for food to be great you do not need to sprinkle it with foie gras, truffle and sweetbreads it is how it is made and the attention to detail and flavour that counts. I was also impressed when at the end he thanked his sous chefs for their help during the day saying that they are normally the forgotten people who worked the hardest.

One of my complaints was that I thought there should be more food as I really wanted to get the Richard Blais experience for someone who doesn't eat a lot I went home hungry!!! However, this seemed to be more in Bravo's control than Richard's. My other source of complaint which is again directed at Bravo was that they had a representative who monitored all of Richard's responses which at times marred the intimate nature of the Q&A.

Below is a picture of Richard and me after he signs my book.