When I was small I always heard people saying that a fulfilling dinner can make people feel blessed. When I was a child I couldn’t fully grasp the meaning of this, but today, as a chef, I do everything I can to make people feel blessed when eating something I made.
To achieve this a couple of things are important to focus on. Aroma, Taste and texture, ingredients and how they compliment each other, temperature, balancing of the tastebuds (those receptors need tantalising!), exciting our senses, how to experience taste slowly (something we don’t actively think about). How to use dessert to round up the dining experience, and end it on a high note.
As a chef you need to think very carefully and in great detail in a number of different areas, as well as study food and ingredients. You also need to put in a number of hours when it comes to research. Long days with early starts are the only way to fit in all that’s demanded from a Chef who is willing to do everything to perfect their craft.
To make people feel good is to let their tastebuds embark on a wonderful journey. This is easy to say, but takes a lot of work to turn into reality.
I’m lucky that I have had a lot of life experience that allows me to understand this process. Balancing heavy flavours and intense tastes and textures with lighter ones, the heavy and strong make room for the light- for differences. In turn, a difference in temperature allows for stimulation.
The gift of making people feel blessed through the food I have prepared for them is an honour, and one that fills me with great joy.
幸福的味道
常聽說,一頓美味的晚餐能讓人感覺幸福,小時候,未能了解當中含義,長大後,當上廚師,就得發揮極致的讓人們感覺幸福。
要讓人從一頓飯的過程中感到幸福,首先要明白味道濃淡,口感輕重,食材對味,溫度冷暖,味蕾平衡。要明白怎樣輕輕的,淡淡的引導味覺,怎樣不經意的刺激神經,怎樣慢慢的舒緩舌根,怎樣甜蜜的為晚餐寫上滿足的句號。
要思想細微,要細心研究,要認真測試,要不分妟夜,要勤奮耐勞。要讓人感到幸福,就是要引領味蕾進入一個美妙的旅程,說的不易,幸好我的人生閲歷有讓我明白固中道理,有淡才有濃,有輕才有重,有對味才有配角,有溫差才有刺激,有複雜的味道才有平衡。
再慢慢研究,相信我的烹調技巧會跟人生哲理同步成長。原來努力讓人感到幸福的同時,自己也享受著不斷進步的幸福。