Knives at Dawn (30 page)

Now that you know what the platter size is and how much has to go on, draw different sketches or if someone can help you with a computer to put everything to scale and make different scenarios of presentation. Don't leave it to your spontaneous feeling because the stress will build so fast and so strong in Lyon that you want to almost robotize your last hour to avoid getting lost.

The use of Roland becomes imperative now to guide you the best way possible without altering your goals, but refine your game plan to a T.

For the dishes 4 most important things to remember is creative technique, taste, presentation, and timing.

As for the cod, there is still a little bit of adjusting to do. I think that the contrast between the scallop and the cod is good, but the cod can be a little firmer. As we talked about, the cod was slightly undercooked. If you need to push the
cuisson
of the cod a little, make sure the mousse stays airy and not gummy.

I think that the contrast between the scallop and the cod is good but you need more flavor. If you want to stay on the citrus theme, it could be interesting to add into the pistachio dust a sharp clean fragrance like fresh grated lime or yuzu zest and maybe a little pinch of powdered sancho pepper—so it will be a little fragrant but with not too much heat. I guess it will blend okay with the pistachio?

To keep the pistachio green, chop it finely with a knife rather than a Robot Coupe to avoid getting the oil to come out too much and then pass it in a fine to medium tamis (so it is fine but not too powdery).

With the pistachio dust, be careful to use a glue that doesn't give any grayish color. I am talking with one of my chefs about something our pastry
department uses and Jennifer will try to bring it with her this weekend for you to try. Do you need her to bring super green pistachios??

To make the presentation of the roulade on the platter a little powerful, maybe you want to consider make 2? Or a little longer or fatter one.…

I think you should create just a little bit of contrast with a simple design on the roulade. Maybe this décor can be done in advance and brought if it is dry and it takes a long time to make. Another option is to put something between the cod and the scallop mousse to add extra contrast in color and texture. Perhaps this could be a sprinkle of shrimp roe or lobster roe powder?? something with the cod to boost the contrast a little bit.

The hollandaise is very good but is a little rich in egg yolks (maybe it should be a little lighter, more like a mousseline). It also needs a little element of surprise in the flavor, something light and refreshing or maybe a touch more lemon. You need to create a little more sharp layout and artistic presentation.

Let's be sure to know what plate size you will have in Lyon (Jennifer??)

The potato and caviar are very delicious, tasty, perfectly crispy, and delicate on top and it must taste delicious with the real caviar you will be using in Lyon (Jennifer: is Petrossian giving the caviar??). The crème fraîche needs to be a little more than crème fraîche (it is still all in very good harmony, but you need to push it (Touch of chive or dill puree??).

The presentation between the crème fraîche and caviar—you mentioned the possibility of two quenelles next to each other, which I think would be nice and bold. You could do one larger quenelle of caviar in the center and 2 small one each side (a plain and a green?).

For the shrimp roll, the taste and texture are very good and the beets underneath are very tasty. The roll itself needs to be a bit more interesting with the vegetables (carrot brunoise)?? Not sure if I remember the farce composition inside, can you make the shrimp farce a little pinker?

It might be a challenge to find Swiss chard that will be tender and green like yours in France at that time of the year, so in case think of a Plan B if necessary. Also be careful that the beets don't drip any liquid into the platter.

The taste of the custard/consommé is fantastic and the general idea is
very good. I worry only that the melba brioche toast might get soggy very fast (maybe you can try it with some very good buttered and press
pain de mie
[a presliced Pullman-like bread] you also want to make sure that the brioche is not sweet). You could also brush or spray a thin film of butter and chill it so it remains crunchy underneath and sealed away from moisture. To make the tartar or spread of scallops, you can maybe try to press it between two pieces of acetate until they are very even, and size them like the toast melba with your cutter. Keep ready until needed then season them on one side add the herbs and fresh zest, then flip it over the toast and peel off the acetate?? This way the carpaccio can be thinner, made faster and at the last minute—instead of having to spread the scallops over—and you won't have to worry about the toast getting soggy. For the grapefruit, you could make a gelée with the juices at 10 or so sheet per liter, a lot of pieces inside. Then roll a boudin in the plastic film and when cold preslice them not too thick so you save time and it's clean.

• • •

Now for the beef, do you think it will require a tiny vessel (plexy or glass for the presentation)?? Like a small shallow half pipe like, closed at each end, and the length of the roast loin or 2 of them smaller for 2 loins?? Let me know and I can have someone in Brooklyn make it with plexy.

The
cuisson
on the beef was beautiful, but we need to do something to add a little more impact. Something that is decorative and tasty, added on top or under the pancetta?? You need to show that you are a great cook and technician. In terms of amplifying flavor, you could consider putting truffle between the beef and the pancetta. Also when you are trimming your beef tenderloin, maximize the size, and when clean trim the shape so you can gradually size it or you could risk to make it too small then is too late.

Once the beef is on the plate, it looks a little lonely and plain. (I see you are using celery do you want to toast a celery root disc between 2 Silpat and make it very crisp and transparent pinch of sugar could help a bit, too). You then make a tiny incision on top of the roast where you will slice it anyway and place those small disks of crisp celery and each slice of tenderloin will get one on top in the plate.

The prune in the oxtail jus is a little too sweet and risky (maybe move the prune with the bresaola—it could go well with the apple and cabbage, and I think the Bresaola needs a little richness on the bottom). The jus could be finished with a black truffle purée with a touch of black trumpets and shallots??

The carpaccio was very good and a beautiful idea. There is great importance to have everything of the same size, and you should really carefully calculate the size and number of slices needs for a 40g truffle and have some back-up options if we can't find the exact truffle you need. Remember you can use the scraps in other preparations, gratin, etc., but those slices with the beef and celery are a lot of work and required careful planning.

The marmalade with the honey was a little too sweet and could dominate the truffle a little too much and could be a little more spicy (could you consider a
frutta di mustarda
) compatible with truffle and celery of course then you will get the sweet and the heat) or keep the way you have it and add couple of drop of homemade English mustard oil??? You don't want the pastry to become too papery and dry—it needs to be flaky pretty flat. May be a
pissaladière
dough with a touch of buckwheat flour and butter instead of olive oil.

For the pommes surprise or pommes maxim, all the garnish has to be very secure so it doesn't move around when you are plating it. Be careful that the chestnuts are braised enough so that they are tender and moist and don't dry up in the jus. The chestnuts may be frozen now unless you have some in CA you want to take with you.

For the braised beef check, the flavor was fantastic. After you are done cooking it, maybe wrap it in plastic film to make it more compact, so when you are trimming it you can cut it into bigger squares or maybe even use a cutter the size and shape of the turnips. You have to be careful it doesn't topple over on the plate, and this will help give it a more secure base for the disc of carrots. They were delicious, but again, they need to be secure as the platter has to travel and the food has to be platted … I don't know how much great broccoli rape you will be able to find, so think of an alternative just in case.

The glass with the bresaola is very, very nice, but you have to be careful not to have either too much smoke or not enough. You also have to be sure not
to be rushed and overwhelmed at that finishing moment of the platter so my suggestion but I have not try it is for Adina to take the smoke gun just before pick-up and fill two large 1-quart squeeze bottles with a small tip and a cap over with the smoke, keep it enclosed and Adina take the bottles and go with you to dress the beef. Basically you present the platters without the smoke (judge can see the inside which is good), and then right before the plates go out, Adina fills each glass ball with smoke from the bottle. Inject it carefully and keep your cool. You need to do a lot of practices of this to make sure this is working with the timing and the flavor. The flavor of the garnishes is very good. If you take the prune out of the oxtail jus, you could put it on the bottom here for richness. The pieces of apple could be a little bigger so when we crunch on them we know what we are tasting.

That's all for now and so sorry to get to you a little late for your practice tomorrow and last but not least, you have both all our congratulations again and you are on the right track for Lyon.

Good luck with all of the training! We will see you in France soon!

Best regards,

Daniel

T
HE NEXT FULL RUN-THROUGH
took place on Thursday, January 8. In attendance was another journalist, Lisa Abend of
Time
magazine. Hollings-worth had received Boulud's e-mail before the practice, but did not have time to read it closely; he was so far along in his thinking and refinement process that, at the end of the day, he didn't take any specific changes from the chef's lengthy think piece. It was yet another testament to how quickly things were moving; under normal circumstances, this level of feedback from one of the nation's top chefs would be something to mull over at great length, but there just wasn't time.

That day's practice began and, once again, for five hours, Hollings-worth and Guest went through their routine. Though he still opted not to reference his timing sheet, Hollingsworth evidenced more efficiencies in
his prep. He butchered and cleaned all the beef at the same time (per his note from the initial practice), and got the pieces to their respective destinations: the beef cheeks and oxtail were in the pot with veal stock and vegetables, the pressure-cooker lid suctioned into place. The tenderloin and côte de boeuf, meanwhile, remained on his station.

He turned his attention to butchering the cod, his hands gliding quickly but delicately as he took the beast apart. The Dance came quickly for him that day, evidenced in almost all of his movements, as when he steadied a section of cod with one hand, using his other to run a knife between skin and flesh with the finesse of a pool hustler. After skinning the other fillet, he put the cod in a stainless-steel bowl, seasoned it with salt and pepper, and set it aside.

He then made the scallop mousse, processing scallops in the Robot Coupe with crème fraîche, salt, and polyphosphate, which would aid the texture of the mousse, allowing the mixture to take on a large quantity of fat without breaking or separating, and to hold water in rather than leaching it. (Hollingsworth likens the effect to that of a hot dog.) He transferred this to a bowl, then used a rubber spatula to fold in diced preserved Meyer lemon.

In perhaps the most complicated maneuver of their routine, Hollings-worth would need to wrap the delicate scallop mousse around the cod. This required a multitude of steps, and each of them demanded extraordinary touch: He transferred the mousse to a Cryovac bag (in which items that will be cooked sous vide are vacuum packed), flattened it out with the back of his knife, snipped a few inches off the top, and sealed it in the Cryovac machine. He transferred the bag to his cutting board and used a rolling pin, then the back of his knife to gently level the mousse as evenly as possible. He set the bag in a sheet pan and poured boiling water over it to cook it, a fog of steam blanketing his work surface.

Next, Hollingsworth sifted Activa through a small strainer to “glue” two pieces of fillet into a rectangle (a reprise of the Orlando presentation),
then sifted Activa over the rectangle, lay the overlapping bacon strips on top, Cryovaced it inside a bag, and set it aside.

Preparing for the cod mousse graft, he lay a large swath of plastic wrap on his station. He cut the mousse, which had solidified by the gentle cooking, free of its bag and set it on the plastic. He put the cod on this, sifted Activa over it, cut the mousse again (he had enough mousse for two pieces) and rolled it up using the sheet of plastic as a tool rather than grasping it with his own fingers. Then he wrapped the sausage-like piece in another sheet of plastic, twisting the ends to hold it firmly together. He cut the ends off the cylinder, which would allow the olive oil to permeate the cod and mousse when confited with the plastic, maintaining the cylindrical shape.

He repeated this with the remaining mousse and cod, but the second one was a little off—when Hollingsworth tried to roll up the mousse around the cod, it came up short, not unlike a man trying to button a jacket only to discover that he's gained a few pounds. Hollingsworth calmly unwrapped the bundle, transferred the cod to a clear area of his station, trimmed it, and rolled it again, successfully, then put both cod-mousse setups onto a small steel tray and into a lowboy refrigerator.

The order of steps might seem, to the untrained eye, random, but they were orchestrated to save time in a number of ways: the “beef stew” required an hour, so that was set in motion first, and, of course, consolidating the use of Activa saved Hollingsworth several steps including reaching for it, returning to the refrigerator more than once to store the prepared meat and fish, and needing to clean up the strainer an extra time. Exactly these kinds of efficiencies banked time for a team and could reduce the expenditure of crucial minutes on Game Day.