Chef Claude Bosi – The Chef Who Just Wouldn’t Give Up

Do you like this post?

Another new addition to the list of San Pellegrino’s top 50 restaurants in the planet is Hibiscus. This restaurant is owned and managed by Chef Claude Bosi, who is also the head chef of its kitchens. Chef Bosi and his team in Hibiscus have much to celebrate about this year. From the 56th spot, they climbed up to the 49th position.

Chef Bosi was born in Lyons, France where his parents own a restaurant, so at an early age, he was already exposed to the hubbub of the kitchens. This and the fact that Lyons is considered as the country’s food capital were what pushed him to pursue a culinary career. At the age of 16 years old, he finally decided to leave school after discussing with his school’s principal and his parents his decision to become a chef. His parents though reminded him that owning a restaurant as well as managing and cooking in the kitchen is a very tough thing to do and that it would require determination and hard work from his part. Filled with determination and the need to strike out on his own and create a name for himself in a country already filled with great chefs, he said that his decision is final.

That very same summer, he went to work at a brasserie. The chef there has some good connections in the city, and with his help, the young Bosi found a job as an apprentice to Chef Jean Paul Lacombe at the Leon de Lyon, a two-star Michelin star. He stayed with them for about three years until Chef Lacombe referred him to the eponymous restaurant of Chef Michel Rostang in Paris where he stayed for a year. However, Chef Bosi did not enjoy the big city that much, so he decided to go back home to Lyon where he found a job at the La Pyramide.

His restless nature took him to the Carribbean where he stayed for six months, working at a five-star hotel. After a brief stint here, he went back to Paris and found a job at the Le Chiberta where he stayed for more than a year. After Le Chiberta, he worked for Chef Alain Passard at the L’Aperge where he was to stay from 1994 to 1997. After L’Aperge, he then worked for Chef Alain Ducasse for about a year.

His big break came when he decided to move to England and find work at one of the countryside restaurants. His recruitment agency finally found him a job in Ludlow where he was to work as a sous chef at Overton Grange. Less than a year later, he found himself being offered the position of head chef, but the offer came with one condition – that he give the restaurant its third AA rosette. Before the year ended, Chef Bosi gave Overton Grange its third AA rosette and more. Early the next year, in 1999, the restaurant received its first Michelin star. It was also the same year that he met his wife.

The call to finally have something to his own name came, so Chef Bosi decided to leave Overton Grange, scout for a location in Ludlow, and opened his own restaurant, Hibiscus, in mid 2000. Come the next year, he finally earned his own Michelin star for his restaurant, and the next star came two or three years after.

Because of the growing clientele and the increasing demand for his French-with-a-twist cuisine, he and wise wife decided to move Hibiscus from Ludlow to London. It was a very good move on their part as Hibiscus continues to grow in popularity and earn awards and titles.

Chef Claude Bosi’s Sausage Rolls with Brown Sauce

Ingredients:

For the ‘brown sauce’ dressing:

440 g truffle juice, reduced over high heat to glaze
150g vegetable oil
1 tbsp sherry vinegar

For the sausage rolls:

600g minced pork, shoulder and neck
120g raw foie gras
4 spices, (ground cloves, cinnamon, ginger and white pepper)
50g black perigord truffles, or wild mushroom duxelle (see cook’s note)
500 g ready-to-roll puff pastry
2 egg yolks, to glaze

Directions:

For the ‘brown sauce’ dressing: put all the ingredients for the dressing into food processor and blend on high speed for 3 minutes. Leave to rest at room temperature.
For the sausage rolls: mince the raw pork and foie gras together adding good pinch of salt and either the 4 spice or black pepper.
Finely chop the truffle or wild mushroom and add to the pork. Mix well then divide mince mixture into 12 even balls of about 80g each. Roll each ball into sausage.
Roll out puff pastry into 2 sheets ½ cm thick and cut out 24 oblongs of 12 x 6cm. Leave to rest in a fridge for 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4.
Take 12 of the pastry pieces, glaze with egg yolk around each side and place sausage meat on top. Add second sheet of pastry, ensure that all sides are sealed properly and glaze the whole top of sausage roll.
Cook on the top shelf of the oven for 12 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm, with a good dollop of ‘brown sauce’ and a generous salad.

Servings: Serves 12.

Image Credit: thisislondon.co.uk

uktv.co.uk

Popularity: 1% [?]

Currently 0 comment - But what do you think?