Chef Michel Troisgros – Redefining the Meaning of French Cuisine

Do you like this post?

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

theworldwidegourmet.com

Popularity: 1% [?]

Currently 0 comment - But what do you think?