Student Contributor: Jill Wasilewski
Culinary Arts Degree Program:
B.P.S. Culinary Arts
For culinary students, it is important to know and understand the origins of certain food items in order to be knowledgeable about their quality and uniqueness. These include items such as wine, cheese, olive oil, and coffee, all to which terroir is of utmost importance. Just as wine, cheese, and olive oil are major components in a culinary student’s world, chocolate is a major part of a baking and pastry student’s world. However, it is important for all students to embrace and understand the complexities and unique qualities of single-origin chocolate.
When chocolate was first mass-produced, the only choices a consumer had to make were between white, milk, or dark. Later came bittersweet, semisweet, and unsweetened. Then, in the mid-1980s, chocolate bars began carrying percentages displaying their cocoa content, and it suddenly became trendy in the chocolate world to enjoy the bars with the higher percentages. Now, chocolate is being marketed by the regions in which the cacao beans grew, as single-origin or varietal chocolate.
First, a few key terms one must know to better understand chocolate labeling are as follows. Single origin refers to chocolate made with beans from one specific area—this can be as broad as a “region” or as specific as naming the exact farm from which the beans were harvested (also known as single estate). Single variety means that only one species of cacao bean was used in the chocolate. “Grand cru” is a borrowed wine term, used by Valrhona chocolate company, that is simply another way of saying single origin.
Personally, I find it intriguing to taste and note the diverse nuances in different single-origin chocolates from around the world. However, traditionalists argue that the art of chocolate making is the ability to combine different varieties of chocolate to achieve the most balanced blend. Chocolatiers are challenged to create quality chocolate despite the changes in weather, terrain conditions, local economics, and other components that may affect the beans. For instance, Maurice Bernachon, a famous chocolatier in Lyon, is known for his chocolate blends that use up to 13 different cacao varieties. Also, the well-known John Scharffenberger and his business partner John Steinberg own a small factory in San Francisco in which they independently roast and blend small batches of cacao beans to attain high-quality blends. Single-origin chocolates, therefore, directly counter the talent and artistry required to make superior chocolate blends.
So, chocolate marketed as single origin, while it promotes an awareness of terroir, does not necessarily mean that it was made with the highest-quality varieties of cacao. In fact, the term indicates nothing of cacao quality, only of location. The other side of the argument holds that a single-origin chocolate, especially the ones so specific to name the exact farm on which the beans were harvested, must make the manufacturers proud in the sense that they want to place the specific place the cacao beans came from on the label of their chocolate.
Another dimension of single-origin chocolate is the pairing that usually occurs with organic growing and fair trade practices. According to Transfair USA, a non-profit organization that certifies and standardizes labor laws, approximately 1% of chocolate sold in the United States is made following generally accepted fair labor standards. Single-origin chocolate allows consumers to choose their chocolate based on regions that practice fair labor laws. A few single-origin chocolates are also grown organically. Unfortunately, the cacao pods have a high susceptibility to pests, so organically grown single-origin chocolate is not only difficult, but many times of low quality.
Recently, chocolate has proved that is has just as many dimensions as wine, but its terminology and labeling in the United States is still progressing. Both single-origin and blended chocolates have their pros and cons and should be enjoyed for different reasons. I challenge you to pick up a few single-origin chocolates the next time you visit a specialty foods store and learn to appreciate the differences among them—whether you prefer carefully crafted chocolate blends or not.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Chef Crispo Shares His “Coach” Approach to Teaching
Student Contributor: Will Nardi
Culinary Arts Degree Program:
B.P.S. Culinary Arts
Walking into the Escoffier Restaurant—E-Room as it’s affectionately known on campus—the observer would undoubtedly be taken by surprise to be greeted with décor dating to the Victorian era. However, sitting down for a meal and understanding the philosophy of the restaurant’s kitchen is an experience of wonder. For 16 months Professor Phillip Crispo has been polishing senior culinarians in the Escoffier Restaurant teaching the Advanced Restaurant Cooking class. The cuisine of the restaurant is far from the public’s stiff perception of French cuisine, and it is kept so by an educational philosophy that throws aside the traditions of kitchen management.
The restaurant’s fare is founded upon the fundamentals. Chef Crispo states that “braising is braising, and the action of sautéing is unchanged. The students are taught to make these basic techniques their own, to reinvent the flavor.” They are taught to compound the cuisine, each senior given ownership of their development. The object is to refine technique and develop the soul of cooking, the taste of the dish. Chef Crispo does not allow his students to be satisfied with only knowing “how”. He feels that a leader and a true culinarian must always reinvent “how” they cook by asking “why” they cook—why they add the ingredients they do, and why they structure the plate and the recipe a certain way.
The inquisitive spirit fostered by Chef Crispo in the Escoffier kitchen is founded upon the beliefs and values of its namesake, Auguste Escoffier. He feels that if Escoffier were alive today “he would have been beyond molecular gastronomy.” This philosophy was reinforced to his students just weeks ago in a lecture presented by Ferran Adrià. It is the spirit presented in the Escoffier quote:
“The life of a chef is no idle one; apart from the labor of actual preparation and serving of diverse dishes, his brain must ever be on the alert and his inventive powers always acute. But there is actual and lasting satisfaction…in accomplishing the very best that can be accomplished.”
Utilizing the innovation, the skill, and the dedication of Escoffier, Chef Crispo continues to pursue his culinary styles. Apart from being ProChef-certified at level III, he is also training for his Certified Master Chef exam.
In order to instill these ideals in his students, however, he has begun to innovate beyond the culinary realm. To foster innovation, respect, and professionalism in the classroom, he has changed his title from “Chef” to “Coach” and has begun utilizing a revolutionary kitchen management philosophy by encouraging an environment of shared ownership rather than autocracy—a socialistic, somewhat “utopian” kitchen.
Students in Escoffier are taught to work as a team. They are encouraged to question, but more important, they must find the answer and justify it. The diner at the Escoffier Restaurant must understand that there is no “chef” in the kitchen. It is a team of culinarians who work in unison to present their craft, showcase their skill, and bring to life the art of their flavor development. The students must speak with each other to coordinate plating for a table at the same time, and understand each other’s station to facilitate the presentation of food simultaneously. They are encouraged to find better ways to develop their dishes and earn extra credit for specials they contribute. Each time a change is presented to their “Coach,” he questions them on their thoughts, encouraging the two most important skills of any leader: introspection and critical analysis.
These ideals challenge the traditional kitchen management system and grow out of the application of contemporary management and educational technique. By applying them to the culinary culture, “Coach” Crispo has begun to reinvent kitchen organization for the 21st Century. His legacy at the Escoffier Restaurant and to his students is the demolition of autocratic innovation and the application of kitchen “socialism” within a culture of shared ownership. He has instilled an insatiable appetite for new answers built from the foundations of cuisine and the values of leaders everywhere.
Culinary Arts Degree Program:
B.P.S. Culinary Arts
Walking into the Escoffier Restaurant—E-Room as it’s affectionately known on campus—the observer would undoubtedly be taken by surprise to be greeted with décor dating to the Victorian era. However, sitting down for a meal and understanding the philosophy of the restaurant’s kitchen is an experience of wonder. For 16 months Professor Phillip Crispo has been polishing senior culinarians in the Escoffier Restaurant teaching the Advanced Restaurant Cooking class. The cuisine of the restaurant is far from the public’s stiff perception of French cuisine, and it is kept so by an educational philosophy that throws aside the traditions of kitchen management.
The restaurant’s fare is founded upon the fundamentals. Chef Crispo states that “braising is braising, and the action of sautéing is unchanged. The students are taught to make these basic techniques their own, to reinvent the flavor.” They are taught to compound the cuisine, each senior given ownership of their development. The object is to refine technique and develop the soul of cooking, the taste of the dish. Chef Crispo does not allow his students to be satisfied with only knowing “how”. He feels that a leader and a true culinarian must always reinvent “how” they cook by asking “why” they cook—why they add the ingredients they do, and why they structure the plate and the recipe a certain way.
The inquisitive spirit fostered by Chef Crispo in the Escoffier kitchen is founded upon the beliefs and values of its namesake, Auguste Escoffier. He feels that if Escoffier were alive today “he would have been beyond molecular gastronomy.” This philosophy was reinforced to his students just weeks ago in a lecture presented by Ferran Adrià. It is the spirit presented in the Escoffier quote:
“The life of a chef is no idle one; apart from the labor of actual preparation and serving of diverse dishes, his brain must ever be on the alert and his inventive powers always acute. But there is actual and lasting satisfaction…in accomplishing the very best that can be accomplished.”
Utilizing the innovation, the skill, and the dedication of Escoffier, Chef Crispo continues to pursue his culinary styles. Apart from being ProChef-certified at level III, he is also training for his Certified Master Chef exam.
In order to instill these ideals in his students, however, he has begun to innovate beyond the culinary realm. To foster innovation, respect, and professionalism in the classroom, he has changed his title from “Chef” to “Coach” and has begun utilizing a revolutionary kitchen management philosophy by encouraging an environment of shared ownership rather than autocracy—a socialistic, somewhat “utopian” kitchen.
Students in Escoffier are taught to work as a team. They are encouraged to question, but more important, they must find the answer and justify it. The diner at the Escoffier Restaurant must understand that there is no “chef” in the kitchen. It is a team of culinarians who work in unison to present their craft, showcase their skill, and bring to life the art of their flavor development. The students must speak with each other to coordinate plating for a table at the same time, and understand each other’s station to facilitate the presentation of food simultaneously. They are encouraged to find better ways to develop their dishes and earn extra credit for specials they contribute. Each time a change is presented to their “Coach,” he questions them on their thoughts, encouraging the two most important skills of any leader: introspection and critical analysis.
These ideals challenge the traditional kitchen management system and grow out of the application of contemporary management and educational technique. By applying them to the culinary culture, “Coach” Crispo has begun to reinvent kitchen organization for the 21st Century. His legacy at the Escoffier Restaurant and to his students is the demolition of autocratic innovation and the application of kitchen “socialism” within a culture of shared ownership. He has instilled an insatiable appetite for new answers built from the foundations of cuisine and the values of leaders everywhere.
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