Chef Michael Dekker – Loves Planning and Creating Unique Dishes

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It was only last year that Chef Michael Dekker became the head chef of this popular fine-dining restaurant in Canada, Rouge. It was a very good move for its owners to make him as the restaurant’s head chef as this year, 2010, they got into the top 100 list of San Pellegrino’s 100 best restaurants in the world.

Chef Dekker was born in Ontorio, Canada in the town of St. Catharines, but it was in Smithville though where he grew up. When he was a teenager, they moved to Calgary, and it was also where he made his first steps towards pursuing a culinary career. He was only 14 years old when he landed a kitchen job at the Earl’s Restaurant, and his main duty was washing the dishes. He then went on to work at the La Dolce Vita, and he stayed with them for about eighteen months.

Knowing that the right career for him was to be a chef, he completed his college course and training at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology where he earned honours. After graduation, he then found a job at the catering service of SAIT’s chef instructors Georg Windisch as well as Simon Dunn. It was there that he finished his apprenticeship, after which he joined the team of Chef Vincent Parkinson, who was the head chef of Calgary Golf & Country Club. At the Calgary Golf & Country Club, considered as one of the country’s most exclusive and elitist private country clubs, Chef Dekker worked as a saucier.

Chef Dekker was the sous chef of the county club for more than half a decade when a new opportunity to shine and explore his culinary personality presented itself. He was asked to become the head chef of Rouge.

His culinary career though is a very interesting one. Not only is he very active in the competitions, but he has also proven to the culinary world that he is a very skilled chef. In fact, in 2008, he bagged the second place at one of the most prestigious international culinary competitions held in Paris, France, the Jeunes Commis Rotisseurs. He has also participated at the Bocuse d’Or International culinary competition last year as the equipment manager of the country’s culinary team.

Aside from being the head chef of Rouge and participating at culinary competitions, Chef Dekker is also a member of the Elizabeth Blau and Associates, which is considered as one of the United States’ major culinary consulting firms. This is also a job that the chef fully enjoys as he loves planning and creating unique dishes that will appeal to the different tastes of individuals.

When asked about their recent addition into the top 100 restaurants of the world, the answer is a very modest one, that the success of Rouge is credited to the team behind the restaurant, not just one individual, and that this great recognition was through the labor, love, and creativity of the Rouge team.

Chef Michael Dekker’s Perfect Christmas Turkey

Ingredients:

For the Brine:

1 (18 pound) -whole turkey, neck and giblets removed
2 cups-kosher salt
2 whole- bay leaves
1 tbl -whole black peppercorns
1 tbl-dried thyme

Cooking the Bird:

1/2 cup-butter, melted
2-large onions, peeled and chopped
4-carrots, peeled and chopped
4-stalks celery, chopped
2-sprigs fresh thyme
1-bay leaf
1-cup dry white wine

Directions:

Night Before: Rub the turkey inside and out with the kosher salt. Place the bird in a large stock pot, and cover with cold water, add in bay leaves, black peppercorns and thyme. Place in the refrigerator, and allow the turkey to soak in the salt and water mixture 12 hours, or overnight.
Day Of: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Thoroughly rinse the turkey, and discard the brine mixture. Brush the turkey with 1/2 the melted butter. Place breast side down on a roasting rack in a shallow roasting pan. Stuff the turkey cavity with 1 onion, 1/2 the carrots, 1/2 the celery, 1 sprig of thyme, and the bay leaf, or with mom’s stuffing recipe. Scatter the remaining vegetables and thyme around the bottom of the roasting pan, and cover with the white wine.
Roast uncovered 3 1/2 to 4 hours in the preheated oven, until the internal temperature of the thigh reaches 180 degrees F (85 degrees C). Carefully turn the turkey breast side up about 2/3 through the roasting time, and brush with the remaining butter. Allow the bird to stand about 30 minutes before carving.

Image Credit: chainecanada.org

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