I can't tell you how happy I was, when I got home and read her first blog post in my inbox. She has captured the feelings and tastes so precisely. I was in the room, tasting the crab dish and feeling as elevated as she must have felt.
Please enjoy this post and let me know what you think - Kiley is eagerly reading along from Shanghai...
It' All About the Ingrediens
- by Kiley Hagerty
Being a student living on the other side of the world has been nothing short of an adventure. A small ski town called Stowe, Vermont is what I call home, and the preppy, private liberal arts school Trinity College is where I’ve spent the majority of the past 2 years…but for the past four months, I have been living in Shanghai and attending East China Normal University; safe to say, an entirely different world. Through this experience I have been exposed to a brand new culture, language and way of life. I wish I could say that I’ve loved every minute of it, but that’s just not the case.
Throughout this experience, my one vice...has been food. Nothing can pick me up out of my homesick blues like a great meal. Now, I’m not talking traditional Chinese food here, although I could definitely point you in the direction of some amazing dumplings and noodles, but that just ain’t my cup of tea.
One of the best parts about living in one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Asia is the access to some of the world’s greatest restaurants and chefs. I have spent the majority of my time away from the books with my face in a bowl of great soup in the French Concession, or devouring a new pasta dish at one of the great Italian restaurants that Shanghai boasts…and let’s be honest here, even when my face was in the books, I was having gourmet sandwiches and salads delivered.
As I said, good food has been my savior! So, when I found out that one of the chef’s that I’ve admired for sometime now (I mean c’mon, he has 3 Michelin stars!) was going to be in Shanghai for one day only leading a cooking class and serving his meal in person, I jumped at the opportunity. There was no way I could miss a day cooking and eating with the one and only Jean-Georges Vongerichten! Apparently not such an absolutely heart-stopping opportunity for the friend I had to beg to come with me, but let me tell you, after that meal was over, she was eating her words (although I can’t even believe she had room).
We arrived at the picturesque Three on the Bund building to be escorted to the demonstration room where Jean-Georges and his Shanghai team were setting up, their cooking station and our room overlooking the Huangpu River—usually a little filthy looking to me, but with a spread of ingredients like the one in front of me, it seemed a little more beautiful today.
Then came his opening line that hasn’t stopped resonating with me, “70% of good food is good ingredients”. As he began to whip up what was to be our appetizer, I couldn’t help but notice that it wasn’t the final product over which he raved so much, or even seemed the most excited about. The addition of each ingredient evoked his emotion and passion, as did the stories about each ingredient, where it came from, and why he chose to use it for this dish. I was captivated.
Now I won’t go on and bore you with the detail and execution of each dish, but I do just have to throw this out there—that Jean-Georges can chop! I’m sure that every Michelin star chef has serious knife skills, but this being the first time I’ve seen one out of the kitchen and doing their thing, I was mesmerized! Before I could even register what the whole vegetable was, it was perfectly brunoise right in front of my eyes.
After seeing step by step how Jean-Georges made is famous meals, it was time for the good stuff—eating!
The first course was a lump crabmeat salad with sriracha mayonnaise served on top of a grilled baguette. Now you put a baguette underneath anything and I will be first in line to devour it, no questions asked. But the taste of this particular dish made me want to slow down and enjoy every bite. The crab was so incredibly fresh, and that’s probably because I saw those very crabs I was eating squirming around in a pot a few short hours before. In the States, it is pretty rare to go to a restaurant and eat such fresh seafood as it is typically always on ice for a few days beforehand. I never really thought it would make that much of a difference, but wow, I have never tasted such tender meat.
Next came the roasted carrot and avocado salad. The carrots were roasted with a blend of Moroccan spices and became just as tender as the avocado, a great combination when eaten in accompaniment with the crunchy pumpkin seeds and crisp micro-greens.
Now, for all of those who get a little squeamish when just thinking about seaweed, no less eating it, you might feel how I did before I actually ate this main course—cod poached in seaweed tea, served over a bed of stewed seaweed and cabbage. To me, seaweed as an ingredient makes the entire dish taste like the ocean, its natural salinity is just too overpowering. Now don’t ask me how he did it, but after eating this dish, I am rethinking my seaweed stance. It was light enough and blended together with so many other incredible herbs such as mint and rosemary that it created a perfect harmony. The dish that I was the most skeptical about easily became my favorite course.
Now for all of you dessert lovers (myself usually included) I will mention the final course, which was a pear clafouti tart—tasty of course, but it just paled in comparison to the previous dishes. It had some pretty big shoes to fill after that cod filet that so perfectly flaked away and melted in your mouth.
This meal was truly an experience; I mean how often will I be served the meal that I watched such a renowned chef cook for me, and get to tell him in person my thoughts. However, it was not just this star struck “wow” factor that made it such a great day for me. I loved how that at this Shanghai restaurant, he was able to take his incredible culinary prowess and use ingredients such as seaweed that are native and common to this area of the world, and incorporate them into a dish that appeals to all palettes, and execute a beautiful, balanced dish. I truly admire these great chef’s abilities to simply look at a wide array of ingredients, and be able to translate those into a delicious and harmonious meal.
Thank you for such a great day Jean-Georges. You certainly didn’t lose a fan today, and I’m thinking you gained a few more on the other side of the globe!
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