Chef Joel Robuchon

Bring a world-class chef into your kitchen
The Current May 2014. Page 10
Foods
by Rodney Schroeter
Current Editor
I first heard of Joël Robuchon through the Japanese TV show,
Iron Chef.
Some of you are familiar with Iron Chef America. If not, I
recommend you try a few episodes on the Food Network. If you
are familiar with the American version, but not the original Japanese version, I urge you to do some YouTube research to discover
some of those episodes.
Around 2006, my wife attended a conference in Las Vegas. I
tagged along. My interest in the city was strictly the Cirque du
Soleil shows, but on that trip, I was surprised to find that Joël
Robuchon had two restaurants at the MGM Grand.
For those interested in both fine dining and Cirque du Soleil
shows, the MGM Grand is very convenient. About 20 paces from
the Robuchon restaurants is the Cirque show Ka, which could
justifiably be considered one of the best Cirque shows ever—certainly, it has one of the most spectacular stages.
The main Robuchon restaurant is known for its 16-course
tasting menu. If that sounds like too much food for one person to
handle, it’s not. Portions are very small. A diner can leave after
that meal feeling very comfortable (unless one fills up on the 30
varieties of bread available throughout the meal).
I’ve done the 16-course menu more than once, but I know it’s
not for everybody. Standing near the restaurant entrance, it can
be fun watching people walk up to the posted 16-course menu
(which changes with the seasons and availability of ingredients),
Green chartreuse sabayon, topped with herb sherbet and a
hazelnut praline. A dessert from the 16-course tasting menu
at Restaurant Joel Robuchon, Las Vegas. — Photo by Rodney
Schroeter
Chilled Cream of
Zucchini Soup
study it a moment, then turn
away in shock, mostly over the
price.
Most diners prefer the lessexpensive L’Atelier (“studio” or “workplace”) de Joël
Robuchon, attached to the main
restaurant. An added attraction
here is being able to sit at a
counter and watch the kitchen
staff prepare your dishes.
Biographical background
Joël Robuchon was born in
1945 in France, where he still
lives. At age 13, he entered
a seminary with the intent of
becoming a priest. “But I often
found myself helping the nuns
in the kitchen and thus discovered my passion for cooking.
I began to cultivate my skills
and aspirations at the age of 15,
when I embarked on my first
apprenticeship,” Robuchon told
CNN Travel, which notes that
his famous mashed potatoes
are hand-whipped for 45 minutes by one person.
(The above quote is from
an interesting interview, with
beautiful photos, at tinyurl.
com/joelrob)
In 1989, Robuchon was
named the “Chef of the Century” by Gault Millau, one
of France’s most influential
restaurant guides. He decided
to retire in 1995, after seeing
many of his peer chefs die from
stress. But after a few years,
he opened several restaurants
around the world. The two
at MGM Grand in Las Vegas
opened in 2006.
An episode of the Las Vegas
season of Top Chef was filmed
at Robuchon’s restaurant. Contestants’ dishes were judged
by Robuchon and other chefs.
From The Complete Robuchon, by Joël Robuchon
Serves 4
Preparation 10 minutes
Cooking 15 minutes
Ingredients
1 ½ pounds zucchini
2 medium onions
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, degermed
Salt
1 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
2/3 cup heavy cream
Pepper
Nutmeg
Directions
1. Wash the zucchini and quarter them lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon but do not
peel them. Cut the quarters into 1-inch sections.
2. Peel and quarter the onions.
3. Warm 2 tablespoons olive oil in a soup pot and
cook the onions over low heat for 3 minutes, stirring
and without allowing them to color. Add the garlic
and zucchini pieces. Add salt and then cook over low
heat for 10 minutes, stirring. Add the broth and bring
to a boil. Add the sugar and simmer for 3 minutes,
stirring. Add 1/3 cup cream and simmer for 2 minutes.
4. Blend the soup. Taste for salt and pepper. Add a
pinch of grated nutmeg and 1/3 cup cream and blend
again.
5. Pour the soup into a large bowl and allow it
to cool. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at
least 1 hour. When it is cold, serve sprinkled with a
teaspoon of olive oil.
Your Editor (left) meets Joel Robuchon (right) at Robuchon’s
restaurant in Las Vegas. — Photo by Joel Robuchon staff
A portion of Season 5 of The
Next Iron Chef America was
filmed at L’Atelier.
I once ate at Restaurant Stella in New Orleans. Knowing
that chef Scott Boswell worked
with several Japanese Iron
Chefs, and that he’d studied
in various parts of the world,
I asked him about Joël Robuchon. “I ate at his restaurant in
Las Vegas,” Boswell replied,
“and I had the best meal of my
life there.” He slowly shook his
head. “I don’t know if I’ll ever
live long enough to become as
good as he is.”
Bringing Robuchon
into your kitchen
Several cookbooks are available by Robuchon. Patricia
Wells has also written books
about Robuchon. The Complete
Robuchon, from which the following two recipes were taken,
is a thick, no-frills, no-photo
book featuring over 800 recipes, with comments from the
chef on cooking techniques and
handling ingredients.
Some Robuchon dishes are
incredibly complex. One of
his own personal favorites,
Lobster aspic and caviar with
cauliflower cream, takes 6½
hours to prepare. It starts with
making gelatin from a calf’s
foot, which is truly old-school
technique.
But our purpose here is
not to send you running from
the kitchen in terror. It is to
encourage you to try a recipe
from the Chef of the Century
with something accessible.
You might not think that
mashed potatoes even requires
a recipe. If you’ve ever had
Robuchon mashed potatoes,
however, you’d know they are
very special. Three words you
should not ignore in this recipe:
vigorously, energetically, and
briskly. You might be working
up a sweat by the time you’re
finished with this one. And
please… if you have problems
with cholesterol… skip it (or
maybe enjoy it as a birthday
treat).
The idea of a cold soup
might not appeal to everyone.
But give it a try. By the time
zucchinis are so common that
piles of them appear on lunch
area tables with “TAKE AS
MANY AS YOU WANT”
signs, it can be pretty hot. You
could be pleasantly surprised at
how refreshing a cold, savory
soup can be.
The Complete Robuchon, 2008, ISBN 9780-307-26719-1
More recipes from
Joël Robuchon
on next page
Raspberry dome on mascarpone, with red fruit coulis and
Calpico Jelly. A dessert from the 16-course tasting menu at
Restaurant Joel Robuchon, Las Vegas. — Photo by Rodney
Schroeter
MoreRobuchon
Mashed Potatoes
The Current May 2014. Page 11
Potatoes in a salt crust
From The Complete Robuchon, by Joël Robuchon
From The Complete Robuchon, by Joël Robuchon
Serves 6
Preparation 15 minutes
Cooking 35 minutes
Serves 4
Preparation 15 minutes
Cooking 50 minutes
Ingredients
2 pounds potatoes, preferably Yukon Gold, Yellow Finn, rates, or
BF 15, scrubbed by unpeeled
Coarse salt
2 cups whole milk
2 sticks butter, diced and kept well chilled until used
Salt
Pepper
Ingredients
2 pounds coarse salt
2 tablespoons flour
1 egg white
4 tablespoons minced mixed hers; choose among savory, thyme,
fennel, dill, sage, rosemary, mint, and basil
2 pounds potatoes, preferably charlottes or rates, scrubbed, peeled,
and held in a bowl of cold water
Directions
1. Put the potatoes in a saucepan with 2 quarts cold water and 1 tablespoon coarse salt. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook until a knife
slips in and out of the potatoes easily and cleanly, about 25 minutes.
2. Drain the potatoes and peel them. Put them through a potato
ricer (or a food mill fitted with its finest disk) into a large saucepan.
Turn the heat under the saucepan to medium and dry the potato flesh
out a bit by turning it vigorously with a spatula for about 5 minutes.
3. In the meantime, rinse a small saucepan, pour out the excess
water, but do not wipe it dry. Add the milk and bring to a boil.
4. Turn the heat under the potatoes to low and incorporate the
well-chilled butter bit by bit, stirring it in energetically for a smooth,
creamy finish. Pour in the very hot milk in a thin stream, still over
low heat and still stirring briskly. Keep stirring until all the milk has
been absorbed. Turn off the heat and taste for salt and pepper.
5. For even lighter, finer potatoes, put them through a very fine
sieve before serving.
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Combine the coarse salt, flour, egg
white, and herbs in a bowl. Spread a layer of this mixture in the bottom of a large pot or terrine. Lay the potatoes on top of it and cover
completely with the rest of the salt mixture, packing it down firmly.
Cook over high heat for 3 minutes. Bake in the oven uncovered for
45 minutes.
2. Unmold the block of salt on a dish towel. With a hammer, crack
the crust to liberate the cooked herb-scented potatoes.
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Foods