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All about taste

Taste authors (from left) Casassus, Arnaud and Fraisse believe that using fresh ingredients is the key to good food

Three French chefs recently produced a cookbook called Taste. They tell VIMALA SENEVIRATNE why we must always use the best ingredients available.

FRENCH chefs Jean Michael Fraisse, Bruno Casassus and Jean Francois Arnaud share a mission – to bring back the natural taste of food.

In view of the concern in the food and beverage industry today over the lack of taste and cooking skills and disregard for good produce, the trio has come up with a book called Taste.

The trio is dubbed the talkative (Fraisse), the silent (Arnaud) and the in-between (Casassus).

Leaning over the kitchen counter at Cuisine Studio, a one-stop delicatessen, cooking school and restaurant in Petaling Jaya, Fraisse explains that good taste starts with good ingredients.

“The reason we cook is to give the best to the people we cook for and that means using ingredients that give the right taste,” he says, keeping a close eye on a pot of beef bourgignon simmering on the stove.

He lifts the lid off the pot, inhales deeply and invites us to take of whiff of the beef stew with red wine. “That’s how it should smell and it tastes just as good.”

Listening to Fraisse speak English with a French accent simply heightens our anticipation of the stew and as he describes what he plans to do with the foie gras, I am tempted to ask him for a cooking lesson.

“You like it? Aaah, that satisfied smile. As one of our fellow French chefs, Paul Bocuse, says, the reason we cook is to make others happy. Giving your best to the people you cook for – that should be the attitude of anyone who prepares a meal,” says Fraisse, a great believer that food must be made with products of integrity.

He talks with relish about the inimitable taste of French butter, chicken and cream. France is still part of his palate. After many years spent in Asia, he and his colleagues have found a balance by discovering the products they can work with to achieve a satisfactory level of results.

Fraisse realised from a very young age that cooking gave him great pleasure. His tastebuds, he says, were first awakened by his mother Paulette’s cooking and the flavoursome produce and delicacies that the south of France is famous for.

He spent most of his time outdoors – hunting game, gardening, collecting mushrooms and exploring the countryside.

After earning a Masters of Science in hotel, tourism and spa management, he came to Malaysia 12 years ago and later set up Hospitality And Tourism Consultancy (HTC) in Kuala Lumpur to provide management and restaurant start-up expertise as well as training for the hotel, food and beverage industries.

One of the main problems he faced initially was finding the right ingredients to get the same taste as that he got back in Europe.

“You tend to substitute and when you do that, you don’t get the same results, only an approximation of the real thing. The scenario today is brighter because you can buy good cheese and creams at the better supermarkets.”

He does not mince his words and uses some unprintable words as he criticises chefs who substitute ingredients with cheaper products to reduce food costs and increase profitability. “The casualty is always the food,” he says with a deep sigh.

Casassus and Arnaud agree wholeheartedly. Casassus, whose family has been in the restaurant business in France since the 1850s, says: “We grew up in a society that respected the produce. And the cook, be it at home or in a restaurant, will ensure that what goes into the pot is not only fresh but the best he can afford.”

He is the research and development director of HTC. A master pastry chef, Arnaud was conferred the Meilleur Ouvrier de France for patisserie eight years ago, the highest award a chef can receive in France. He was also head of the world’s only sugar museum in France where many of his sugar sculptures are still on display.

He says technical knowledge and the knowledge of ingredients are the keys to success.

“But without love, without the feeling to give and to give all, whatever you cook will never be quite the same.”

Arnaud says: “I want to pass on my knowledge to the younger generation.”

Taste, published by HTC, is in most bookshops.

CORRECTION

IN the Aug 31, 2008 issue of Sunday People, Matthew Thomas, author of Tales From The Court And Other Stories, was incorrectly described as a retired lawyer. He is still in practice in Kuala Lumpur. The error is regretted.

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