That chef from Hawaii

So I was supposed to be on vacation, but when I see chefs there is nothing that can stop me from working. SO I met this one, who worked at Sensei. And turns out he is a disciple of a disciple of Alice Waters. Blah blah blah..

Me: question question question.

Him: It is incredibly important because in order to be a great chef you have to understand the classics very well. From there then you can create different versions of that if you wish, if you choose to. A classic Mallei Cablano is a delicious sauce. One of the most complex, rich, aromatic, ___(Part 1-3:03) spicy; it is a party in your mouth. It has so many flavors going on in Mallei and I have done different versions of Mallei. So like a fig Mallei or a cherry almond Mallei. You know, for the summer time, when you have beautiful figs, you can lighten this Mallei sauce up. I enjoy playing around, taking your classic dish and reinventing it. It is happening on a regular basis in Mexico City and other large cities where the chefs have been cooking Mexican food so long, they grew up and they are taking things from their mothers, their grandmothers, their aunts, and their friends, like anything that they have learned and experienced and then they are recreating in a way. I think it is a wonderful experience to have with this cuisine. ¬¬¬It is to be that intimate where you are constantly learning and constantly challenged and you know.

The one that got away

Sue is a chef, blah blah blah. I sat down with her at her Meat-PAcking District resto, and asked her some questions while she fed me.

Jacqui: Blah.
Sue: When I started at the Rocking Horse the main stuff that people got was the fajitas, the burritos and the enchiladas and I was, like yeah, this is good but it is not really what I know. I did not really know what Mexican food was. After traveling in Mexico and spending a lot of time there, I started to recreate the dishes that were Mexican, authentic, that maybe Americans, unless they travelled there, did not know about or were not so hot to try. As a chef who is trying to lead and to guide and creating food that stands for something, it is important to take chances and put things on the menu like Passola, which is a very traditional dish in Mexico. It is a corn harmony and they eat it all year round even though it is hot; it is served hot, because that is how they are use to it. For me to put Passola…you know, the only time that I have been like really, really successful at just selling out of my Passola special is the Lobster Passola, because people hear lobster, and they go, oh lobster, I want it. You have to take chances and risks as chef because it is your responsibility to kind of educate the people who are eating there and say, hey look, try something new. And granted if you want to stick to the enchiladas, stick to them, if that is what you want. But it does not hurt for the curious person to try something different and I think they will all be quite surprised at how wonderful it is.