Taste Makers

I've always considered myself a fairly knowledgeable foodie, but I was served a hefty slice of humble pie the night I sat among a group of accomplished, hardcore chefs over artisanal beer and wood-fired mini pizzas on the terrace at the newly renovated, 380-room Silverado Resort & Spa in Napa, Calif. These culinary experts' intense conversation about arcane ingredients and ultra-sophisticated cooking techniques left me feeling like a rank amateur sitting slack-jawed in the back of a food truck.

Perhaps I should explain. This past fall, Dolce Hotels & Resorts selected 16 of its executive chefs and two general managers to attend the company's second annual back-to-school boot camp at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in Napa Valley, Calif., and they invited me to tag along. An admitted Food Network addict, I jumped at the chance to rub elbows (and maybe cadge some recipes) from such masters of cuisine, while getting an inside glimpse of their working world. Hence my tête-à-tête with the star chefs on this night before the program officially kicks off.

"Be on the porch at 6.15 a.m. in your chef whites and with your tool bags," commands Michael Moros, general manager of the 209-room The Alexander in downtown Indianapolis, whom Dolce has designated one of the ringleaders of the proceedings, and a classically trained chef and veteran duck hunter who makes his own duck jerky. Like I said, hardcore.

Here's a brief diary from what ensued over the four-day event, which will forever resonate in my mind -- and on my palate.

DAY ONE: Going hog wild
One by one, the chefs assemble at the crack of dawn in their official white jackets. We pile into two minivans, one driven by Moros and the other by Mark O'Brien, general manager of The H, a 131-room property in Midland, Mich. It's still dark as we make our way to the CIA campus, housed in a former winery in nearby St. Helena.

After a quick continental breakfast prepared by CIA culinary students, we head downstairs to our first educational session and to meet our instructor for the week, chef Lars Kronmark, a Danish transplant with a no-nonsense approach, who exhorts the group at every turn to "touch and taste everything!" Today's agenda focuses on whole-pig butchery. Turns out that over the next several hours we will be making charcuterie -- lots of it.

We are broken up into four teams, but before we can begin a hands-on butchering of the locally raised, 90-pound specimen lying in the middle of our demonstration kitchen, we are treated to a lecture on the history of curing and brining. It's the equivalent of a 45-minute crash course in chemistry, agriculture and farming techniques. Then out comes an arsenal of saws and knives, and the chefs set to work carving up the pig. (While I am an active participant in many tasks during the program, I elect to sit this one out.)

In under an hour, our porcine playmate is thoroughly dismantled. The teams are each given a different part of the animal, along with an eight-dish menu. Over the next few days, we will churn out a dizzying array of pork dishes -- everything from crispy pig's ears, dry-cured sausage and roasted stuffed trotters to traditional mortadella, pork brisket and pancetta rolled in salami casing, incorporating myriad sauces and side elements like Italian mustard, sauerkraut and pickled vegetables.

And, yes, we touch and taste everything. At one point I sidle up to chef Murray Hall of the 150-room BMO Institute for Learning in Toronto as he pulls a tray of Roman soldier-style pork ribs from the oven. These are large slabs rubbed with a mixture of fennel seeds, rosemary sprigs and hot pepper flakes, roasted for 45 minutes and then doused in fresh lemon juice. "Don't these look amazing?" he asks, offering me one. It's the size of a small dinosaur bone and delicious. (Hall, who joined Dolce in 2008, is the Canadian champion for the International Association of Conference Centres' 2010, 2011 and 2012 Copper Skillet Cooking Competition.)

After a quick lunch with the CIA students, we're off to the 69-acre Azalea Springs Farm, owned by Douglas Hayes, a former architect turned preservationist, who raises heritage chickens, rare herbs and New Caledonian hogs (aka Red Waddles) the size of small cows. As we tour the farm, Hayes offers a lesson in poultry genetics. We learn that 80 percent of the chickens consumed worldwide come from one species, bred strictly for how fast producers can get them to market, rather than taste. It's sobering information.

Then we pile back into our vans and head to a local organic farm that supplies produce to the CIA. Chef Kronmark instructs us to stroll around and select ingredients in bloom from the garden. "You will be creating and making dishes from what you choose on our final day," he says, "so choose carefully, and find what's at its peak now."

After dinner at Trinchro Winery that evening, the chefs challenge each other in a contest designed to test their olfactory sense by trying to identify the flavors of a dozen wines solely by smell. I manage to name four; chef Corey Siegel of the 120-room Dolce Norwalk in Connecticut nails all 12. We raise a glass (or two) in his honor.
 

DAY TWO: Smelling the sauce
At day's start the chefs continue where they left off, smoking various cuts of pork, experimenting with brining equipment and checking on the mortadella's progress. Then we head for a lecture hall in the institute for a series of presentations on the importance of dried vs. fresh herbs, exotic spices, pickling, fermenting and how to achieve a zero-waste kitchen. Tips include avoiding leftovers by not adding any item to the menu unless you can use the trimmings to create another dish. "Put food waste on your 2015 agenda," encourages Kronmark.

Back in the kitchen, each team is given a different cooked protein leftover from the CIA's restaurant the day before and challenged to create a sumptuous new dish, hot or cold, to serve as this day's lunch buffet. "Your job is to make it happen before 12:30 p.m.," Kronmark tells us. "Are your wheels spinning yet?"  

The results are creative and yummy: braised pork stew with dried cherries and white beans; a salmon salad made with fresh dill, fresh peas and blanched baby potatoes; and my personal favorite, chef Beverlie Terra's shredded beef tacos with a cilantro-garlic aioli, avocado and freshly made corn taco shells. The only female chef in the group, Terra is chef de cuisine at the stately 120-room Hayes Mansion in San Jose, Calif.

Next comes a blind taste-test challenge involving eight different tomato sauces, designed to gauge the chefs' ability to discern between fresh, dried and cooked spices. I fail miserably. Once again chef Siegel knocks it out of the park with eight correct answers.  

From there, we head to a lecture on nutrition, exploring the art of healthful menu-crafting as a mind-boggling dance of precise pairings between various foods, herbs and temperature.

The day ends with dinner and another wine tasting.

DAY THREE: Vegetables 101
Today it's all about vegetables, legumes and whole grains. Kronmark encourages the chefs to visit their local farmers' markets and bring their sous chefs along. "Buy produce that's in season, and then preserve it," he advises. "That way, you'll already have it when it's out of season and far more expensive."

A lecture follows on best cooking techniques. What vegetables can be stewed or braised? (Tomatoes, cabbage and hearty greens.) Which ones are better pureed? (Root vegetables and legumes.) Which veggies with high moisture content are best grilled? (Onions, peppers and summer squash.) And which ones are ideal for roasting or baking? (Cauliflower and eggplant.)

Then we take a quick trot upstairs to our kitchen, where each team is challenged to prepare vegetable-themed menus. Over the next two hours, we churn out mouth-watering dishes such as white beans and grilled asparagus crostini; Persian-style spinach; smoked carrot and farro salad with poached raisins, herbs and toasted walnuts. "In America, carrots are often relegated to playing a side role," notes Kronmark. "But, in Europe, they are often the star of the dish."

I spy Mark O'Brien's kale chips fresh out of the oven and beg for a sample. "You should definitely make them at home," he says, watching as I quickly polish off a bowl.

By nightfall I opt to flop into bed while everyone else goes out to partake of a dinner sponsored by a kitchen supply company. I certainly don't need to eat; I have not had a chance to get hungry since the program began.DAY FOUR: Bringing it all home
It's our final day at the CIA, and I am thoroughly exhausted. My knees hurt and my back throbs. The chefs, however, look as irritatingly fresh as the first morning of boot camp in their spotless, starched whites, toolkits in hand.

In the morning we are treated to yet another hands-on tutorial as chef Kronmark demonstrates his delicate fritter-making technique (see side box From the Chef's Kitchen to Yours). The chefs have their cell phones out, taking photos and video. Several beg to know where they can buy the cast iron skillet he is using. "They sell it in the shop downstairs, but you can probably get it on eBay for cheaper," quips Kronmark.

Next on the agenda is a lecture on recent American food trends and the art of crafting the perfect menu. Chefs write menus the way they talk, but customers interpret them based on their own experience and emotional connection to the food, our class is told. How to bridge the gap? "Write your menu and then give it to the front of the house to read and see how they interpret it," suggests our expert.

The session wraps with predictions for 2015 culinary trends -- bite-size deserts, specialty sandwiches, ethnic foods, tapas, and locally sourced organic products and artisanal foods, such as breads, yogurts and cheeses. "Think global mashup," we are told.

Once back in the kitchen, the teams move into high gear. First we have to create dishes using the seasonal vegetables we picked on day one from the organic farm, then we plate the various charcuterie specialties we have been smoking, brining, salting and curing throughout the program. There is a lot riding on the results, as they will be judged by chef Larry Forgione, known as "the Godfather of American Cuisine" for his role in spearheading the farm-to-table movement.

Our program reaches a crescendo with all gathered around a laden buffet table, on either side of Forgione and Kronmark, with the CIA students craning their necks around the dishwashing machines for a glimpse.

The bounty includes molasses-cured bacon with spicy pickled vegetable slaw; pork brisket and beef marrow sandwiches with pickled onion and radish-watercress salad; and Scandinavian crisp pigskin fritters with vinegar and aioli.

I am perhaps most impressed with chef Terra's deep-fried Delicata squash fritters, rolled in brown sugar and cinnamon, and not only for their taste. This is a traditional side dish in my native Barbados, inspired by my family's own recipe, and I helped Terra in preparing them.

Forgione and Kronmark are well pleased with our work. Before we leave to pack up, Kronmark tells us to "take back what you have learned and use it. Your company spent a lot of money to bring you here and invest in your training, so keep pushing and creating."

The experience left me with a new-found respect for a career in which working days routinely run 16 to 18 hours spent mostly on one's feet in front of hot ovens and rows of boiling pots, against a backdrop of constant shouts of "behind, behind, behind!"

These chefs' passion and excitement for cooking and extensive knowledge of food proved contagious, and I'll forever have a deeper appreciation for what goes into those two deceptively simple letters -- F&B.

CHEF'S REFLECTIONS

Here's what some of the participating chefs had to say about Dolce's back-to-school culinary training program.

 < Rodolfo Correa, executive chef, 270-room Stockton Seaview Hotel & Golf Club, Galloway, N.J.

The experience. Working with other chefs was very inspiring. Each chef brought something new and exciting to the table, and we were able to learn and teach at the same time.

Takeaway. The lesson I found to be the most useful to my kitchen was utilization of product waste. I was able to show my cooks how to turn leftover items into next-day daily specials.

Must-have equipment. A circulator

 < Len Elias, executive chef, 233-room Dolce Atlanta-Peachtree, Peachtree City, Ga.

The experience. The camaraderie helps to reaffirm that we are all part of a bigger team, with a common cause and similar challenges.

Takeaway. How to safely prepare charcuterie. I have always known the theory but was hesitant to prepare them due to food-safety concerns. I have already shown my team how to make duck prosciutto, and we started making sausage in January.

Must-have equipment. I have already purchased a dehydrator and sausage-making equipment.

 < Corey Siegel, executive chef, 120-room Dolce Norwalk, Norwalk, Conn.

The experience. Spending this kind of time with other chefs holds a treasure trove of value. It was incredibly inspiring and jump-started my creativity.

Takeaway. Cooking on the fly to stay sharp

Must-have equipment. A meat grinder

 < Murray Hall, executive chef, 150-room BMO Institute for Learning, Toronto

The experience. We functioned very well as a group. We are friends more than colleagues, and that is an asset when we need to be honest about ideas, plates and flavors.

Takeaway. How to utilize different cuts of meats, and how to process them into terrines and patés. My new menu will feature in-house smoking and curing, and preserved items.

Must-have equipment. Definitely a bigger meat smoker.