It may have been a big slide for Head Chef Harald Wohlfahrt as his restaurant Die Schwarzwaldstube came down from the 23rd spot to the 47th, but this is still one of the best restaurants in Germany where you can get the finest French cuisine.  In fact, Chef Wohlfahrt is considered as the greatest German chef in the country and one of the finest in the whole of Europe.

Chef Wohlfahrt was born on the 7th of November 1953 in Loffenau, Germany.  He grew up on a farm, and one of his primary duties was to help his grandparents tend to their garden.  At a very young age, he already knows what hard work really means as he worked at their farm, and he has also learned the value of fresh produce and local ingredients as he helped in their kitchen.  The value of fresh ingredients, the passion for food and cooking, the dream of owning his own restaurant someday were what prompted him to follow a culinary career.

He went to the Northern Black Forrest to learn the basics of cooking and to have his culinary training at the Monk Waldhotel in Dobel, and after three years here, he then went on to work at a two-star restaurant in Baden-Baden where he stayed for two years.  In 1976, he became the saucier in Traube Tonbach.  To further his culinary skill, he went to Munich and became an apprentice of Chef Eckart Witzigmann and trained under the country’s first celebrity chef.  After his stint with Chef Witzigmann, he also trained under Chef Alain Chapel in Mionnay.

Armed with an exemplary culinary skill that he learned from some of the best chefs in Berlin and Munich, Chef Wohlfahrt then went back home in 1978 and found work at the Schwarzwaldstube as its sous chef.  Two years after being a sous chef, he was finally appointed as the head chef of Schwarzwaldstube.

In 1991, Gault Millau named Chef Wohlfahrt as the Chef of the Year, and in 1992, he finally completed his Michelin stars when he received his third one.  His restaurant has also been included in the S. Pellegrino list of top 100 world’s best restaurants, and this accomplishment was not an easy task.  These are just some of the awards and recognitions that Chef Wohlfahrt has received throughout his culinary career, along with praises for his published books as well as cookbooks.

He gets his inspiration for his cuisine from the land, and he credits his culinary style to the two great chefs that have made a big impact in his culinary career – Chefs Witzigmann and Chapel – but he has created a name for himself that is truly his alone.  Right now, Chef Wohlfahrt is regarded as the best chef in Germany who offers the most scrumptious French cuisine.

Chef Harald Wohlfahrt’s Roe Deer Medallions with Green Pepper Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1.76 lbs. roe deer back
• 0.44 lbs. celeriac
• 1.76 oz. butter
• 3.5 oz. cream
• 3.5 oz. chanterelle mushrooms
• 3.5 oz. cepe mushrooms
• 1 shallot
• 3.17 cups red wine
• 0.85 cups apple juice
• 2.7 tbsp. port-wine
• 0.44 lbs. red cabbage
• 1 laurel leaf
• 1 branch thyme
• 1 branch rosemary

For the sauce:

• 1 spoon green pepper
• 1.1 cups cream
• 0.44 lbs. vegetables (broccoli, carrots)
• 3.2 pints roe deer stock (roe deer fond)
• 1 laurel leaf
• 1 branch thyme
• 1 branch rosemary

Directions:

1.      Take the roe deer back fillets. Remove the back tendons. They will be used for the sauce later on. Cut the meat into medallions.

2.      Tie the medallions with a kitchen string so that they keep a nice form. Count about 3 roe deer medallions per person. Salt and pepper the two sides.

3.      Sear each side for about 2 minutes. Then, take them out off the pan, where you put the already prepared tendons.

4.      Add the vegetables as well as the herbs. The whole has to be very well seared for about 10 minutes until you obtain a nice colour. Then, sprinkle the red wine over it.

5.      Reduce the red wine and add the roe deer fond, which has been refined with the roe deer bone. Thus, you can prepare it 2-3 days in advance.

6.      Add the crème fraiche (heavy cream) and let it simmer in the pan for about 10 minutes. While the sauce cooks calmly, take a frying pan and put the green pepper inside. Then, pour the roe deer sauce over the green pepper, using a sieve. Let it encore reduce until it seems good for you.

7.      Cut the red cabbage into very thin slices. Next, lay it in a marinade of red wine and apple juice. Add thyme, laurel, spices, port-wine, and sugar – a very popular mixture.

8.      After all this has been marinated well, cook for 2-3 hours. The cabbage will caramelize with the sugar and turn tender afterwards.

9.      For the garnishing, you need celery puree. Peel the root and cut it into dice. Finally, cook it a mix of milk and creme fraiche (same proportions each), until it is very, very tender. Put the whole in a mixer and add some butter to this puree. Salt and pepper.

10.  Put butter in a pan and add the hacked mushrooms, the chanterelles as well as the cepe mushroom heads. At the end of the cooking, add salt and chervil.

11.  Place a cepe mushroom head on top of each medallion. Sprinkle with bread crumps and put it in the oven at 302 degrees F for 6-7 minutes.

12.  Place the red cabbage, then the chanterelles and the celery puree on a serving dish. Withdraw the medallions from the oven and put them on the serving dish. Add the broccoli pieces, the sauted carrots, and, to finish, pour the sauce over it.

Servings: Serves 4.

Image Credit: schwarzwald-tourismus.info

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It is a very great award indeed to be included in the prestigious list of San Pellegrino’s top 50 World’s Best Restaurants.  Biko is the brainchild of Chefs Bruno Oteiza and Mikel Alonso, and although the restaurant is relatively young compared to other restaurants listed in the top 50, the chefs have created a big name for their restaurant as they jumped from the 81st position last year to the 46th spot.

Chef Bruno Oteiza was born on 1970 in San Sebastian.  He began his journey towards becoming a chef at the age of 14 years old.  He learned to love the art of cooking in his own home, and he has always had the passion for food and cooking at a very young age.  Chef Oteiza, in his path to his culinary career, has worked at some of the best restaurants in Europe like Kokotxa, Asador Esparru, Akelarre, among others.  Chef Oteiza also worked at the Imperial Hotel restaurant in Mexico.

Chef Otieza credits his culinary skill to some of the best chefs that he has become an apprentice to and has trained under.  He learned the basics of cooking with Chef Antxon Araneta.  It was Chef Pedro Subijana who taught him how to be imaginative in his cooking style.  Chef Juan Mari Arzak, on the other hand, taught him to live and love the kitchen, and he also learned discipline through Chef Arzak and how to look at the kitchen through the eyes of a child.  He believes that cooking is best learned and mastered through experience, not through education, and that practice is what will make you better in your chosen craft.

Chef Mikel Alonso was born in 1971 and grew up in Biarritz, which is Spain’s Basque Region.  Before becoming a chef, he studied chemical engineering for two years, a career that he liked, but he has always been passionate about food.  In fact, he found his real calling in the kitchens.  The sounds that the cooking pans make, the smell of cooking ingredients, and the incessant hustle and bustle of a typical kitchen scene has always fascinated him.  In the usual kitchen scene, Chef Alonso found harmony and the passport to his true calling.

Chef Alonso then went to San Sebastian where he enrolled himself in Chef Luiz Irizar’s catering school.  Chef Irizar is considered as one of the chefs who have revolutionized traditional Basque cuisine and started the more modern and more innovative approach to cooking traditional dishes – the New Basque Cuisine.  He learned the basics in Basque cooking here; however, it was with the great Chef Arzak that he really began to appreciate the art of cooking.  When he trained under Chef Arzak, he was given the freedom to explore his own culinary personality and create a distinctive one for himself.

These two Arzak students and very skilled chefs have met in Tezka and Zona Rosa where they have worked together for a number of years.  In 2007, they thought of starting out on their own and creating their own restaurant, and in 2008, they launched Biko.  It was an instant success.  Their excellent reputation have preceded them well, and the fact that they are both students of Chef Arzak and have worked with the great chef himself had also given them the boost they need for their new restaurant.

Eight months after they have first opened their doors to the public, Biko was included in the top 100 list of San Pellegrino.  They got into the 86th position in 2009, and 2010 saw them at the 46th spot.

Chef Oteiza and Chef Alonso are offering two types of menus.  You can either go for the traditional Basque cuisine or be adventurous and go for the innovative and new Basque cuisine.  You will not be disappointed with your choice as you can always expect the best dishes from these superb chefs.

Chef Bruno Oteiza’s Pearl Melon Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 slice of melon
• Lettuce and endive
• A handful of lettuce
• 50 g walnuts
• 2 slices of Iberian ham
• 6 black olives
• 6 large capers
• 4 green chillies in vinegar
• 1 cup port wine
• Sherry vinegar
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Chopped chives

Directions:

1. Place the ham between two baking sheets covered with greaseproof paper and bake at 200 º C for 7 minutes until they are crisp.
2. Put the wine in a saucepan and let it reduce to 1/4.  Make melon balls with the help of a sacabolas. Season with salt and pepper and mix with the port reduction.
3. For the vinaigrette, place in a bowl a splash of vinegar, a pinch of salt, pepper and olive oil. Beat until thoroughly mixed and add some chopped chives.
4. Chop the lettuce and endive leaves and place in a bowl. Add lettuce, chopped chillies, chopped nuts and olives. Dress the salad with the vinaigrette.
5. Serve the salad with capers, melon balls and chopped chives. Season with a little more vinaigrette and serve.

Servings: Serves 2.

Original Source:  hogarutil.com

Mikel Alonso’s Quail Empalomada

Ingredients:

• Quail Breasts: 12 Units
• Salt: To taste

The esquites:

• 1 clove
• Olive oil: 100 cc
• Corn: 2 Units
• Onion: 100 g
• Chopped fresh epazote: 20 g

Mojo macadamia:

• Salt: To taste
• Olive oil: 50 cc
• Cream cheese: 200 g
• Water: Quantity required
• Fried bread: 70 g
• Toasted macadamia nuts: 200 g
• Vinegar: 30 cc
• Cream: 100 g

Powder dove:

• Popcorn: 1 / 2 Package

Mashed pipicha:

• Fried Garlic: 2 cloves
• Salt: To taste
• Pipicha: 3 g
• Olive oil: 70 cc
• Toasted sunflower seeds: 90 g
• Cider Vinegar: 20 cc
• Fried bread: 40 g
• Toasted macadamia nuts: 30 g
• Nopales: 120 g

Additional:

• Grated macadamia nut: A taste
• Fried corn Hairs: A taste

Directions:

Mojo macadamia:  In the blender, put the peeled and toasted macadamia nuts, cream cheese (must be at room temperature), olive oil, cream, vinegar and fried bread.  Finally add two tablespoons of water and blend, season with salt and blend again.

Powder dove:  Process the popcorn to a fine powder.

Mashed pipicha:  Cut the nopales into strips.  In a hot pan, pour some olive oil and broil nopales for a few minutes. Toast in oven the sunflower seeds. In the bowl of the blender, place the sunflower seeds, fried bread, fried garlic cloves, vinegar, olive oil, macadamia nuts, the pipicha and nopal.  Add two tablespoons of water and blend. Season with salt and blend again until a smooth, homogeneous preparation, reserve.

The esquites:  Place the corn on cold water and cook.  Once boiling, cook for a couple of minutes, remove, then shell. Reserve the water where you cooked the corn. Peel and cut onions into dice. Peel and chop the garlic. Cut the leaves into chiffonade epazote. In a hot pan with olive oil, sauté the corn kernels, then incorporate the onion and garlic.  When they begin to brown, add the epazote and a cup of the reserved water from cooking the corn, let reduce to low heat.

Armed:  Season the quail breasts with salt, then brush lightly on both sides with the mojo of macadamia. In a hot pan with olive oil, seal the chicken on both sides, first side seal, the skin. After this process, roll the chicken in the dust of popcorn and set aside.

Presentation: Serve on a plate a portion of pipicha puree and a tablespoon of macadamia mojo, mojo fits over two quail breasts and finally a portion of esquites. Decorate with fried hair corn and grated macadamia nut.

Servings: Serves 4.

Original Source:  elgourmet.com

Image Credit: eladerezo.com

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wd-50 is this ultra-chic restaurant in New York that has earned great praises not only from its loyal diners but also from some of the best known food critics as well.  They are a new addition to the top 50 list of San Pellegrino, having bagged the 45th spot.  This great recognition is all thanks to its owner and head chef, Chef Wylie Dufresne.

Chef Dufresne was born in Providence, Rhode Island in the year 1970.  He spent seven years of his childhood in Providence, but in 1997, his family relocated to New York.  He went to Colby College in Main and took up philosophy; however, soon after he graduated from college, he went to the French Culinary Institute to receive some formal culinary training.  It was not surprising though that he would want to become a chef because his father, Dewey, is in the restaurateur business, so he got a bit of his interest in the culinary world from him.  But what really pushed his interest was his job during college.  He was working then at a pizza station, and suffice it to say that he fell in love with cooking.

During his training at the FCI, he was also working at Jo Jo’s, and he stayed with them for about three years.  However, he decided to leave Jo Jo’s to further his culinary training and found a job at the eponymous Jean Georges, which is owned by the famous French chef Jean Georges Vongerichten.  Here, he became the restaurant’s sous chef.  A year later, he moved to Las Vegas where he worked at the Prime, Vongerichten’s restaurant in The Bellagio, as its chef de cuisine.  The next year, in 1999, he went back to New York to work at the 71 Clinton Fresh Food as its first chef, the same restaurant that his father co-owned with a partner.  His stint here has earned him a Rising Star Chef title.

It was in 2003 that Chef Dufresne finally decided to start out on his own and open his own restaurant.  He became partners with Chef Vongerichten as well as Phil Suarez, and they launched wd-50.

wd-50 came from Chef Dufresne’s initials as well as from the street address of the restaurant.  His new restaurant boasts of an ultra-modern state-of-the-art kitchen that has been designed by both father and son, and the dining area can seat about 70 people.  His kitchen became his kingdom where he experimented with different ingredients, combining and mixing a variety of elements to create innovative dishes.

He does not believe, however, in simply combining different elements just to show that his cuisine is unique, but he is a firm believer in creating a harmonious dish that makes sense.  He emphasizes that there should be a balance in all the different flavors in each dish and that temperature as well as the textures of the different elements should also fully complement the flavors.

All his efforts in creating a cuisine that is uniquely his have finally paid off.  In 2004, his restaurant was named as the Best New Restaurant, and for three consecutive years starting 2008, Chef Dufresne has been named as the Best Chef of New York City.

His restaurant has also earned a good number of awards.  In fact, it got listed into the top 50 S. Pellegrino list, received three stars from New York Times in 2008, and received one Michelin star in 2006.  These, however, are just some of the awards and titles that Chef Dufresne and his restaurant have received ever since they opened their doors to the public.

Chef Wylie Dufresne’s Slow Poached Egg, Parmesan Broth, Tomato Powder

Ingredients:

For the Parmesan Broth:

• 2 pounds of parmesan rinds
• 2 carrots
• 1 onion
• 4 stalks celery
• 4 garlic cloves
• pinch of salt
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 quarts water

Directions: Roughly chop the vegetables and place in bottom of a medium sized stock pot. Wrap scraps of parmesan in cheesecloth and secure with string. Place on top of vegetables and cover with water. Add bay leaf and pinch of salt, bring to a boil and simmer for two hours. Strain and allow to cool. Remove fat cap that rises to surface and store in fridge or freezer.

For the Dish:

• 4 organic eggs
• ½ cup sev (chick pea noodles)
• 1 tablespoon tomato powder
• Small handful baby chives
• 1 teaspoon parmesan oil
• 6 ounces parmesan broth

Directions: Bring a small saucepan up to 145°F and place eggs inside. Leave to cook for one hour. Crack the eggs into four separate bowls, season with salt, sev, tomato powder, and baby chives. Ladle the warm parmesan broth around egg and drizzle parmesan oil in bowl.

Servings: Serves 4.

Image Credit: phorecast.com

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The head chef of La Maison Troisgros, Chef Michel Troisgros, has once again proven to the rest of the culinary world that his restaurant deserves to be at the top, and this year, he managed to boost the restaurant back into the top 50 list of S. Pellegrino after dropping out of the list last 2009.  La Maison Troisgros is indeed the best dining hotspot in the world if you are craving for some authentic and very rich French cuisine, and Chef Troisgros is the best French chef that can satisfy your craving.

The family of Chef Troisgros has always been in the restaurant industry, and it was his grandparents who first opened the restaurant in Roanne.  They began serving traditional French cuisine, and instead of relying on heavy sauces to highlight the flavors of a dish, they did the opposite and adopted a minimalist approach to their cuisine to create simple, authentic, and yet very delectable French meals.  They instilled the same principle on their sons, Pierre and Jean, and, in fact, it was the brothers who earned the first Michelin star for their restaurant in 1955 and the second in 1965.  These were just some of the awards that the brothers earned for their restaurant.  When Jean died in 1983, the restaurant was left to Pierre and his son, Michel, who is going to inherit this dynasty.

Chef Troisgros was born in Roanne on the 2nd of April 1958, and having grown up with this kind of culinary background, the love for their family restaurant and the passion for food and excellence have been instilled in him ever since he was a young child.

He went to Grenoble and enrolled at the Lycée Technique Hotelier, and he stayed there for about eight years.  During his stay in Grenoble, he met and married Marie-Pierre.  His wife was with him when he traveled all over the world to work with various great chefs and learn from them.  He trained under some of the most famous chefs in the world like Fredy Girardet and Michel Guerard and went to work at some of the best dining hotspots in the globe.

However, when his uncle Jean died in the early 1980s, he went back home to Roanne with his wife to help his father run the family business.  While he was managing the restaurant, his wife was making great improvements in the restaurant’s layout.  She was both the maîtresse d’hôtel of La Maison Troisgros and the art decorator as well.

Together, the clientele of their restaurant grew as they continuously made changes not only in the way the restaurant looked but also in the menu as well.  Chef Troisgros made use of all that he learned from the great chefs and created a cuisine that is uniquely his.  He recreated and refined many of the restaurant’s cuisine and infused them with his own culinary personality.

In time, the restaurant became known as the best French restaurant not only in France but in the whole world as well, and this big praise was given to them by the very prestigious Gault Millau.  Pretty soon, Chef Troisgros began earning titles as well as awards for his exemplary culinary talent, and in 1968, La Maison Troisgros finally earned its third Michelin star.  Other awards soon followed.  They have been named as the Best Restaurant in the world in 1972; he became Chef of 2003; the restaurant got included into the most-coveted S. Pellegrino list – to name a few.  Chef Troisgros also became a restaurateur and opened several other restaurants, all of which became highly popular.

Chef Michel Troisgros’ Beef Tenderloin with Fleurie Wine and Marrow

Ingredients:

• 4 slices of Beef tenderloin (180 g/6 oz.) each
• 60 g (2 oz.) beef marrow
• 250 ml (1 cup) Fleurie (Beaujolias premier cru red wine)
• 2 French shallots
• 160 g (6 oz.) butter
• 2 tbsp. meat glaze (very reduced veal stock)
• Salt and pepper
• Fleur de sel and cracked pepper

Directions:

1.      Soak the marrow in a bowl of cold water overnight.

2.      Peel and chop the shallots. Reduce the red wine by half. Season the slices of meat with salt and pepper. Heat 30 g (1 oz.) butter in a sauté pan. When it is browned, add the beef and cook to the desired doneness.

3.      Remove the beef and set aside on an overturned plate (so the meat doesn’t soak in its own juices).

4.      Cut the marrow into 4 rounds; poach them in a small saucepan of hot (not boiling) salted water; remove from the heat and set aside.

5.      Pour the butter from the sauté pan into a skillet and set aside. To the sauté pan, add the chopped shallot and sweat lightly; add the reduced red wine and meat glace and reduce until syrupy.

6.      Remove the sauté pan from the heat and add the remaining butter in small pieces, whisking slowly. Do not boil, but keep the sauce hot.

7.      Reheat the meat in the skillet with the butter. Recuperate the juice it has given off and add it to the sauce.

8.      Place the meat on plates or a serving platter. Spoon the red wine sauce over top, then drain the marrow and place on top of the meat. Sprinkle with coarse salt and cracked pepper and serve immediately.

Servings: Serves 4.

Sommelier: Serve the same wine with the dish: Fleurie, one of the ten Beaujolais crus, light and fruity, to be drunk young and slightly cool

Image Credit: commons.wikimedia.org

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