“It’s like working in a small home kitchen. There are only four burners and the heat isn’t intense. And there isn’t much counter space!”
Not that Chicago chef Steven Chiappetti wanted to be anywhere else. Thanks to his victories in cooking competitions in the United States last year, he had earned a place in this small, jury-rigged kitchen in the capital of French gastronomy as the only American representative to the prestigious Bocuse d’Or.
The Bocuse d’Or is similar to an international Pillsbury Bake-off for gifted chefs. And the chefs are like surgeons asked to operate in a three-ring circus. The famous French chef Paul Bocuse, who conceived the event in 1987, is the ringmaster.
Chiappetti, 29 and chef/owner of Mango restaurant in Chicago, was angling to be the first from the United States to win the event; the U.S. has never placed higher than seventh.
Over two days, representatives of 22 nations, 11 each day, cooked their hearts out while cameras and microphones invaded their space and spectators chanted, cheered and sang–loudly–in support of their favorites.
Chiappetti, along with each of the other participants, was required to prepare two food presentations for 12 people, one using pork and the other cod. (A designated meat and fish or shellfish is determined ahead of time by organizers.) Chiappetti developed and polished his presentations in Chicago, coached by a coterie of chefs including Jean Joho of Everest, Gabino Sotelino of Ambria and Jean Banchet, former owner of Le Francais in Wheeling.
At the contest, working only with a single assistant, Kristine Subido, the chef had 5 1/2 and a half hours to create the dishes. The fish platter had to be sent to the judges at a specific time and the meat had to follow exactly 30 minutes later.
Tight-lipped and pale, his appearance and the fact he was to be the last to cook worried some supporters. But Chiappetti said, “I’ve been through the competition before (he assisted Ritz-Carlton executive chef George Bumbaris during the 1991 Bocuse d’Or), so I’m pretty calm, and my placement is lucky.” He explained he also had been the last finalist to cook before winning the U.S. title.
So well-rehearsed were he and Subido that they performed their tasks without speaking.
“Very professional,” observed a passing French chef.
Michel Bouit, the energetic U.S. coach and organizer of the American Bocuse d’Or competitions, sporadically brought Chiappetti news while he worked.
“Once we were set up and started cooking,” the chef said later, “the worst problem was the press people asking questions and all the noise. I knew it was coming and I just had to shut it out and not get distracted.”
He quickly stuffed cod fillets with lobster and spinach, then rolled them and wrapped them in a potato crust, wrapped them in plastic wrap and fried them. After removing the wrap and slicing the rolls, he placed them on a huge platter with potato pyramids filled with a fresh corn mousse, brandade of salt cod encased in asparagus, a ratatouille terrine of layered vegetables and two sauces: lobster and herb.
The most dramatic moment came when the potato nest fell off one of the cod bundles and the chef was forced to make an emergency readjustment in his presentation.
“It looked a hundred times better than it did in the practice sessions,” declared Sarah Stegner, chef of the Ritz-Carlton Dining Room restaurant, Chiappetti’s fiancee and a quietly anxious onlooker.
The final test was whether the cod would hold together when it was sliced. It did. The texture and taste were fine.
Chiappetti’s meat presentation, a study in shades of brown, had even more visual appeal. The first test in conceptualizing it was to deal with the leg of pork.
“Ham?” said chef Banchet, who introduced many Chicagoans to the joys of foie gras and truffles during his ownership of Le Francais in Wheeling. “What do you do with a (uncured) ham?”
During early practice sessions in Chicago, Chiappetti braised the meat to make sure it would not be tough. It emerged tender, but the cooking took too long. None of his chef advisers had a solution–but his mother did.
“Use a pressure cooker,” she said.
He did and saved two hours cooking time and his presentation.
After the initial stage, he anointed the pork with Madeira wine, roasted it, then coated it with a mixture of mushrooms, sweetbreads and Swiss chard, covered with a net of caul fat and cooked just until perfectly brown.
The pork garnishes were classic: pate en croute (pork pie), chartreuse of cabbage and a crisp potato cage containing a creamy mixture of foie gras, chestnuts and porcini mushrooms. The sauce featured Madeira and truffles.
Watching Chiappetti work, Sotelino, a veteran of culinary competitions, said, “Mentally and physically you are beyond tired at this point. You seek nothing more than the energy to finish.” The young chef found it. As the platter presentation went off to the judges, he shook hands with Subido and announced, “It’s done. I feel good about it. Let’s go home.”
He didn’t, of course. He waited.
Each of his platters was photographed, shown to the judges and portioned into servings by a team of waiters. The 22 judges, one each from the competing countries, represented culinary nobility. Seated in a single line at tables, imposing in their snow-white jackets, they relentlessly dissected the food: a sniff, a nibble, a quickly jotted note and make ready for the next incoming portion. The dishes arrive in a predetermined order, delivered at 10-minute intervals.
“Everybody says if the taste is there, it’s a winner,” Banchet said, watching them.
When the scores were tallied, Mathias Dahlgren of Sweden won the gold and the $15,000 prize that goes with it. Belgium’s Roland Debuyst was second and Norway’s Odd Ivar Solvold placed third. Chiappetti’s scores, slightly higher for meat than fish, earned him a very respectable eighth place.
“The competition was better than ever before,” said Ferdinand Metz, president of the Culinary Institute of America and a member of the jury. “But I thought he had placed higher.”
“Be proud of what you did,” Joho told Chiappetti.
“I am,” he replied. And he meant it.
CHEFS SCORE A WORLD CUP COUP
The Bocuse d’Or is part of a popular trade show, the International Hotel, Catering and Food Trade exhibition. This year the show drew more than 100,000 visitors over four days despite the sputtering economy in Europe. The show also provides the venue for a parallel competition, the Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie (World Cup of Pastry).
Held in the same space on the two days prior to the Bocuse d’Or, it differs from the cooking competition in subject and structure.
This is a team event. Three pastry chefs from each of 18 nations participate in a nine-hour marathon during which they produce cakes of chocolate, fruit and ice cream as well as sculptures from sugar, chocolate and pastry and an ice carving.
When the judging was completed, the U.S. team, led by Jacquy Pfeiffer, executive pastry chef at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers, and Sebastien Canonne, executive pastry chef of the Ritz-Carlton Chicago, improved on a third-place finish in 1995 by finishing a very close second to Italy.
They did it with towering constructions that looked more like engineering feats than baking. Using the theme of time and drawing inspiration from Salvador Dali, they launched themselves from reality, in Canonne’s phrase, and created an abstract sculpture of a warped clock face, gears and perfect balls of blown sugar and clouds of chocolate.
RATATOUILLE TERRINE
Preparation time: 40 minutes
Cooking time: 50-60 minutes
Yield: 12 servings
This colorful mix of sliced vegetables baked in a loaf pan is adapted from a recipe Steven Chiappetti cooked for the Bocuse d’Or judges. It makes a fine appetizer when paired with a tomato sauce, either homemade or purchased.
4 red bell peppers
1 large eggplant
5 small zucchini
Salt
2 tablespoons corn oil or as needed
3 large eggs
1 cup whipping cream
3 sprigs fresh basil, coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
Spicy tomato sauce, optional
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Roast red peppers in oven until charred on all sides, turning occasionally, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove peppers from oven; place in paper or plastic bag. Let stand 5 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Remove skin from peppers; cut into 2- by 4-inch rectangles.
2. Slice eggplant and zucchini into 2- by 4- by 1/4-inch slices. Salt lightly; set aside 10 minutes. Pat dry with paper towels. Heat oil in large skillet. Cook peppers, eggplant and zucchini in batches until cooked through, about 5 minutes per batch.
3. Whisk together eggs and cream in a medium bowl until thickened. Stir in basil, salt and pepper. Layer one-fourth of the vegetables in a greased 9- by 5-inch terrine or loaf pan. Top with one-third of the egg mixture. Continue layering, ending with vegetables.
4. Bake until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before unmolding. Heat tomato sauce, if using. Spoon sauce onto warmed plates; top with terrine slices. Serve warm.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories ……. 130 Sodium …… 115 mg Fat ……… 11 g
Carbohydrates .. 7 g Cholestero … 80 mg Protein …… 3 g
CORN CUSTARD CUPS
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 20-25 minutes
Yield: 12 servings
Chiappetti made these in pyramid molds, but we have adapted them for muffin pans.
2 teaspoons olive oil
3/4 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 shallot, minced
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup whipping cream
3 large eggs
1 jar (5.3 ounces) pickled baby corn, drained
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Heat olive oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Add corn and shallot; cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in thyme, salt and pepper. Set mixture aside.
2. Place cream and eggs in blender. Blend at high speed until well-combined. Add corn mixture; blend slightly until corn is coarsely chopped.
3. Cut 12 baby corn pieces in half lengthwise. Cut each half into thirds horizontally. Line each of 12 greased muffin cups with 6 pieces of baby corn. Pour equal amounts of liquid mixture into each cup. Bake until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Serve warm.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories ……. 105 Sodium …… 140 mg Fat …… 9 g
Carbohydrates .. 4 g Cholesterol .. 80 mg Protein .. 3 g
