A CulinAry Journey through europe
A CulinAry Journey through europe
DeAr reADer,
Six world-famous Michelin-starred chefs have taken us on a personal culinary journey through Europe.
We kick off in Italy – where three-star chef and avant garde gastronome Massimo Bottura calls home. His restaurant in Modena is nothing short of an experimental laboratory where the future of Italian cuisine is bubbling merrily on top of the stove.
After this emotional rollercoaster we arrive in Budapest where Tamás Széll spirits us away to sample the culinary secrets of Hungary and explains why Hungary’s national dish is definitely not called ‘goulash’.
The next chef on our journey is the Swiss mushroom expert and rabbit meat ambassador, Thuri Maag, who is currently celebrating the comeback of ‘Chüngel’ in Swiss cuisine.
In Germany, we are welcomed by TV-chef Ralf Zacherl who is a big fan of regional cuisine.
At the Dutch border our journey really takes flight – literally. In the spectacular hot air balloon restaurant operated by the Dutch Michelin-starred chef Angélique Schmeinck.
Our next stop is France, where haute cuisine is undergoing a period of huge change. The initiator of this upheaval is the great three-star chef and revolutionary, Alain Ducasse, who is merging haute cuisine with the concept of ‘naturalness’.
All of the chefs we interviewed have also given us some valuable insider tips about the culinary secrets just waiting to be discovered throughout the European continent: Recipes, the best markets, national dishes and regional specialities. Join us on our culinary journey in the following pages and experience the colourful panoply that is European cuisine. Enjoy!
Your editorial team pAge 9 pAge 74 pAge 25 the trip pAge 39 pAge 49 pAge 60 Abꢃꢁꢊ Jꢀffꢂꢀꢋ Bꢆaꢌꢂ Caꢊꢂꢀꢊꢊ
Jeffrey Blair Catrett has been the Academic Director of the renowned
Institut Paul Bocuse in Ecully,
France, since 2012. The majestic
French chef Paul Bocuse founded the Institut Paul Bocuse personally in 1990. It claims to be the ‘guarantor of French know-how internationally’ as regards culinary practices and hotel and restaurant management. With Mr. Catrett spearheading the academic research area, the institute has an outstanding personality who possesses 25 years’ experience and administration at some of the world’s most prestigious institutions. Before joining the Paul Bocuse Institute, Mr. Catrett was Dean of Kendall College in
Chicago and the Ecole Hoteliere de
Lausanne. He has also successfully negotiated partnerships with elite academic and industry partners. guest eDitoriAl By
Jeꢇꢇrey BlAir CArtrett,
ACADeꢈiC DireCtor oꢇ the institut pAul BoCuse, ꢇrAnCe the ꢇuture oꢇ gAstronoꢈy:
Boring or
BlAsé no longer ꢉorks
A subtle yet critically important evolution is affecting today’s gastronomy and foodservice. During the last few decades, great culinary talents worldwide have attracted guests to their tables to discover the excellence of first-class cuisine. Such kitchen greats as Paul Bocuse have generously shared their knowledge and transmitted their expertise to every corner of the globe. The creative talent of the best gastronomic minds has led customers to see chefs not as competent craftsmen as they might have 50 years ago, but rather as fine artists very much front and center in their restaurants. The chef led; the people followed and appreciated.
Television food channels, Internet food blogs, expert-based and crowd-sourced criticism, advanced distribution supply chains, democratized global travel: All have led to a much greater understanding of and also demand for good food. Whole generations of customers worldwide are now savvy to quality food, to a variety of cuisines, to restaurant concepts and lifestyle designs, to exciting locations from gastronomic citadels to the street.
Today’s educated customers are now reversing the order of things and are driving the demand for the types of food they want at the prices they want to pay, at the times they want it and in the places they want to eat it. The quirky nature of Generation Y is matched by the increasing, finicky necessity of the aging Baby
Boomers, and customer tastes are fragmenting and multiplying.
The great variety of today’s lifestyles means that chefs must now respond to demands for healthy food sensitive to specific diets, to food that respects environmental constraints, to food that is fun to eat in casual or novel surroundings, to authentic cuisines restructured, to technological supports for service, to food as part of a broader cultural panoply. ucts and organic farming, while experience and boredom demand the exotic and the global.
Awareness of waste encourages the use of ugly and forgotten vegetables, while love of the beautiful suggests ever-more refined plating and science-based adventuring. Health issues and allergies require healthier meals; uber-luxury (one-upping mass luxury) seeks ever greater This new fragmentation of tastes seems to lead often to a clash in wants and desires difficult to resolve into a single offer. Food scandals and environmental concerns push for local prod- extremes.
Deeper knowledge demands the authentic, yet over-exposure yearns for the revolutionary.
Technology enables efficiency in service and production (food can be 3-D printed) and is embraced by a new generation; the digital world has given rise to a yearning for social contact and a return to old institutions like the table d’hôte.
There are, nevertheless, some discernable directions for restaurateurs, hoteliers and caterers. One size will no longer fit all. In a world of fragmented tastes, differentiation is a necessity. Quality is necessary at all levels. The old trade-off between price and quality no longer applies. Real crises have alerted the world to
real awareness of environment and health.
Whereas the public previously proclaimed their interest in these issues while secretly wanting excess when dining out, they are now part of the mainstream.
Design and style (even the stylized search for the revolutionary) are sine qua non. Boring or blasé no longer works. People are less gullible and less forgiving. Price gouging and inflation for brands in place of real value for money will no longer fly in most markets.
And most importantly, the chef and the establishment will find themselves less and less able to dictate behaviours. Mealtimes, restaurant types, dress codes, menus, pricing, ingredients, even the physical boundaries of the eating space will more and more be defined by the consumer.
In a world of increasingly savvy consumers with largely fragmented tastes who are quickly bored and ready to move on to the next offer, the importance of creativity and innovation are at an all-time premium, but service providers must be ready to react to and even bow to the whims of this new public.
guest ArtiCle
Agnꢏs giBoreAu, reseArCh DireCtor At the institute pAul BoCuse
Abꢃꢁꢊ Aꢍꢅèꢎ gꢌbꢃꢂꢀaꢁ
Agnès Giboreau is head manager of research at the Institut
Paul Bocuse. She has a PhD in Food Science and an MSc in
Cognitive Psychology. She instructs research supervision in
Neurosciences and Cognition at the University of Lyon.
Her research activity aims at better understanding the pleasure of eating and its relation to health from both perceptual and behavioural perspectives. Projects focus on the meal experience in a multidisciplinary approach and rely on studies conducted in real situations. This is done through the unique facilities of the experimental restaurant, a Living Lab (labelled
Enoll) where professional experts work together with scientists, contributing to food design and production as well as table design and service. The results are published in peerreviewed journals and conferences, and are communicated to the food service and hospitality sectors by training future professionals as well as specific cooperative programs. the experiꢈentAl restAurAnt
The center for food and hospitality research, Institut Paul Bocuse, studies consumer eating behaviour mainly in relation to out-of-home consumption.
Three main components are important in understanding consumer behaviour: habits (what food they usually consume, where, when, how), choice (what food they choose in a restaurant, based on which criteria: price, quantity, label) and perception (how much they like a food, for which sensory reasons: appearance, texture, taste, aroma).
The research center conducts human-centered investigations aimed at increasing our understanding of restaurant customers. Projects are conducted in the Living Lab, an experimental restaurant where diners book their meals, lunch or dinner as in a commercial restaurant, paying for their meal but agreeing to be part of experiments while being filmed or asked questions.
These studies allow us to analyze various factors affecting consumer habits, choice and perception in real contexts, which is a new trend for consumer research. For instance, children’s vegetable preferences have been studied in this context with the conclusion that 7- to 11-yearold, pre-adolescents prefer crunchy textures
(Morizet et al., 2011) – see the example on the level of consumption for carrots.
Five colour schemes (reference, red, blue, white and green) were set up for one week each at the experimental restaurant. The results of this investigation show the effect of colour on the emotional state of customers in the first minutes after arriving at the restaurant, with the red colour scheme leading to a more tense emotional state. However, under all conditions, guests experienced more positive feelings after the meal: feelings of admiration, being pleasantly surprised and reassurance all increased for all of the colour schemes tested.
In summary, taking context into account in consumer research is important when evaluating the effect both the food and the environment have in terms of consumer satisfaction. Thus, the Living
Lab at the Institut Paul Bocuse is a powerful tool that we can use to re-create a real-life situation and help professionals to drive innovation in This approach also allows us to study the emotional state of diners in the restaurant as it is influenced by the surrounding visual ambiance. a consumer-centered approach.
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“Don’t ꢈess ꢉith the pope, soCCer or grAnDꢈother’s reCipes”
Abꢃꢁꢊ ꢈaꢎꢎꢌmꢃ Bꢃꢊꢊꢁꢂa
Massimo Bottura is an Italian chef from Modena with three
Michelin stars to his name. He describes his close affinity with Italian cuisine by saying, “My bones are made of Parmigiano Reggiano, and balsamic vinegar rushes through my veins.” His hometown of Modena is also home to his restaurants: Trattoria del Campazzo opened its doors to customers in 1986 and was joined by Osteria la Francescana in 1995.
Bottura has even expanded beyond his Italian home. He now has an eponymous restaurant in Istanbul called Ristorante
Italia di Massimo Bottura. The avant garde/traditional-style cuisine espoused by the Italian chef is known throughout the world and has been recognized with a long list of awards.
Bottura won three Michelin stars in 2011. Just how much his international fans adore his work is shown in an award from
Restaurant Magazine: Osteria La Francescana is placed third on a list of the 50 best restaurants in the world in 2014.
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1962 1995 2011 2013 2014
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Italians love food and pleasure. Italian chef Massimo Bottura, who currently holds three Michelin stars, is hugely respectful of traditional food culture in his home country. His grandmother’s recipes are revered like sacred texts. However, they can only survive if they continue to evolve, says the grand master of avant-garde cuisine in an interview with European Food Journal. Just as a lemon tart can be broken into pieces to make something new, art lover and music aficionado Massimo Bottura believes he can transform – and save – traditional Italian cuisine. eꢇJ: Mr. Bottura, let us accompany you on a personal culinary journey of discovery around
Europe. Which European countries or cities do you think serve the best food and drink? always try to experience new cuisines and eat at simple places to understand how people are eating locally. Street food is a good indicator of how healthy or rich the food economy is in a city. Usually good street food leads to interesting restaurants. It’s hard for me to say the cities where you can eat the best because I have chef friends everywhere. When I am in Paris,
London, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Amsterdam or San Sebastian, I visit them – and therefore have a very biased view. We talk, we eat, and ꢈaꢎꢎꢌmꢃ Bꢃꢊꢊꢁꢂa: I love travelling… but I do it often for business and not enough for pleasure. Rarely do I have the chance to wander a city on my own and discover it little by little.
I am usually visiting chef friends or an art gallery or museum. Nonetheless, when I travel, I
we share stories. I always ask them to choose the dishes for me. Today you really can eat well in so many places that have never been famous for their food, such as Sweden or Holland. This is due to a general awareness about the value of good food and the importance of reviving traditions and improving upon them. Some people are nostalgic about the past. In my opinion, we have never eaten as well in Europe as we do today. specializes in herring and seafood. We had a fabulous herring-based lunch there last March.
Amsterdam’s Bloemenmarkt flower market on the barges is just a feast for the eyes. The one
I know and am most fond of is the beautiful covered food market in Modena. On a Saturday morning, I love to wander around the Albinelli markets be found? Mercato, a covered market from 1919, in the center of the city beside the main square next to our 11th century Romanesque church. Not only do I have a chance to catch up with our fruit and vegetable vendors, our fishmonger, and other stalls in the market, but I always grab a warm baccalà fritter from my friend Massimo
Manzini for an early aperativo or stop by Schiaoni Bar, where the Fantoni sisters eꢇJ: Where can the most beautiful traditional ꢈaꢎꢎꢌmꢃ Bꢃꢊꢊꢁꢂa: Markets are everywhere if you look. Paris has several market areas – each with its own flavour. I love the shopping street
Rue Montorgueil as well as the new curated
Marché Saint-Martin. It all depends what you are looking for. London’s Brick Lane near
Spitalfields is always fantastically colourful with very delicious street food. Stockholm’s covered market is small but charming and verde sandwich. make a great cotechino and salsa Shopping in a market is about buying the food but also about the buzz. We run into friends and socialize and nibble while we shop, which is so much more fun than pushing around a cart in a supermarket. and their strict dining codes to make room for more accessible dining establishments, which is leading to a welcome twist on French traditions. Spain has led the way with innovation, not only technique but new dining concepts, for the past 15 years and now is reaching into its rich past to bring forth Spanish traditions that have been neglected over the years. England, especially London, is playing host to so many interesting restaurants and chefs. It has become the food capital of Europe. Just think, only 20 years ago, it was a food desert! And Italy, well, there is always a good meal to be found here, but today more than ever, there is a group of young chefs who are pushing the boundaries of Italian cuisine and finding new ways to express the known and beloved flavours of Italy from Piedmont in the north to the deep south in Sicily. eꢇJ: In the European Union, we tend to speak of Europe as uniting the regions. Do you see Europe in terms of culinary regions?
ꢈaꢎꢎꢌmꢃ Bꢃꢊꢊꢁꢂa: Each area of Europe has been defined by its food culture, the landscape and climate, as well as by the immigrants who have settled there. The kitchen is a place for exchange and cultural collisions – even clashes.
Sometimes these clashes form the most interesting flavours. Our kitchen is filled with young chefs from all over the world and all over Italy.
Each individual is unique and brings with them a food culture that adds to the diversity.
Are there distinct food regions? There are clear food trends that I am seeing such as Nordic cuisine, which is re-inventing itself with ideas and ingredients once thought to be of little or no value. Northern Europe, countries like Holland, Brussels and Germany, are searching for a deeper and more personal connection to their kitchen after years of copying the French.
This is very exciting and groundbreaking. The French are beginning to let down their hair eꢇJ: Which European country has the best food specialties, and what are they?
ꢈaꢎꢎꢌmꢃ Bꢃꢊꢊꢁꢂa: That is a very tricky question to ask to an Italian. I feel fortunate to live and work in Italy, where we have some of the most incredible producers and products in the world.
There is no substitute for Parmigiano Reggiano.
We use several ages of Parmigiano Reggiano in the restaurant from different local producers. It
is the most amazing cheese I have ever worked with in the kitchen – and an integral part of our terroir. Another irreplaceable product is traditional balsamic vinegar from Modena. Then there is extra virgin olive oil from Tuscany or
Lake Garda, Liguria or Umbria, Calabria or Sicily. Each has its own microclimate and personality. All contribute to a healthy and flavourful kitchen. Capers from southern Italy – Puglia,
Sicily and Pantelleria – are the base of many sauces and the secret ingredient to many recipes. Tomatoes from Naples, grown in the tortellini. soil enriched with volcanic ash from Vesuvius.
Citrus fruits: Sorrento lemons, Sicilian oranges,
Calabrian Bergamot lemons. Not to mention the wines made all over Italy – from Friuli in the far northeast to Pantelleria in the far southwest.
At the end of the day, any successful kitchen begins with understanding the value of relationships with artisans, cheese makers, butchers, fishmongers, farmers, olive oil producers. They are our heroes. chefs. This is the trend for the next decade, not fast food, and maybe forever. Someday instead of chef superstars, there will be farmer superstars. That will be a great day indeed. eꢇJ: As a celebrity chef from Italy, you have a special relationship with Italian cuisine. Can you tell us about one of your favourite recipes from
Italy for our culinary journey?
ꢈaꢎꢎꢌmꢃ Bꢃꢊꢊꢁꢂa: My favourite Emilian dish is I grew up under my grandmother’s table hiding from my three older brothers. Nonna Ancella was always making egg pasta and folding tortellini for our large family. I not only have an emotional attachment to tortellini but a gastronomic one, as well. eꢇJ: Slow food or fast food – which trend will dominate in Europe in the future?
ꢈaꢎꢎꢌmꢃ Bꢃꢊꢊꢁꢂa: Modena is the land of slow food and fast cars, but really not only Modena, all of Europe. Think of all the cured meats being made artisanally, the handcrafted cheeses and naturally leaven breads. All slow food. Then think of Formula 1 race cars – built in Germany, the UK and Italy. Modena alone produces Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini cars. Engineering and dreams of speed meet artisans, chefs and farmers, who are redesigning our menus and our palates to bring us back to our terroir.
A Culinary Journey through Europe
