Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Michelin boss Caspar: Trend to local cuisine

Paris - Julie Caspar goes up to nine times per week to the restaurant.
The German since 2009, chief editor of the famous gourmet guide Guide Michelin, the French edition next Monday (February 28) will appear. She sees a trend in both countries to local cuisine.


How do you manage to stay so slim?

Caspar: "When I started nine years ago at Michelin, I actually had increased first five kilos. Since then I've mastered it quite well. I pay attention to my weight and do sports. "


How did you get your job?

Caspar: I'm from the hotel industry. My training I've done in the Freiburg Colombi Hotel, then I have ten years working abroad to make some goose foie gras pate, in England and Italy. I also worked in South Africa in a hotel near Cape Town. "


Later, they worked as a Testesserin for Michelin. What is the working day?

Caspar: "Actually, it means an inspector, because we test not only the food but also the hotels. We have each assigned a specific area for a year. Within a week there then nine restaurant visits, we organize ourselves independently. In most cases, we are three weeks and one week in office. "


Why is there no official photos of you?

Caspar: "It is important that the anonymity is maintained during the test meal. And of course we always pay our bill. Only after the meal, I formally introduce myself and see me then to the kitchen. This is also important to round out the impression. I never make notes on the table, but only later in the car. "


What you order?

Caspar: "I make sure to mix the products, so as fish meat as a starter and main course or vice versa. I am fascinated by the variety in the kitchen. There is nothing I do not like. As a child I did not like beets, but foie gras for sale that has changed. There are no inspectors, who are vegetarians -. Which does not mean that I do not even time to order a vegetarian meal "


What is important to you at dinner?

Caspar: "Of course, the products must be fresh. In fish it is easy to tell if they are fresh. Example, if a monkfish was frozen, he is after straw-like. Then it comes down to quality, whether the meat which comes from a factory farms. Also important, how long something has been cooked, and whether the flavor is preserved - that tastes like a carrot or carrot. And show, of course, the chef prepare a certain sophistication. "


Top chefs share sometimes unusual combinations. Do you remember the dishes that they have first surprised and then convinced?

Caspar: "The combination of seafood and meat is rather unusual. Herein lies the skill of the great chefs to marry such a thing together. I once ate a scallop tartare with fried goose liver, which had succeeded well. Or even a sweet dessert with caraway. "


How important is the decoration?

Caspar: "The flavor is one more than the presentation. A well-prepared dishes, of course, pleased me. But if it took fifteen minutes to allow the court looks like an art piece, then presumably the food is already cold. About a grid sauces, are distributed in the tiny piece of foie gras, this is for me "chichi" (nonsense), the product is not appropriate. "


What are the trends in the kitchen?

Caspar: "There is certainly a trend to a more traditional cuisine with good value for money. This has something to do with the crisis, the restaurateurs have adapted. Some restaurants are trying today to tie their guests with actions in themselves, such as cooking classes, wine tastings and visits to market with the chef. "


2009 you are - the first German - was appointed chief editor of the French Michelin Guide. French, German, keeping not necessarily for the most discerning palates, right?

Caspar: "I've been very warmly received and did not have the impression that there had been national reservations. But it is true that the German food in France has a bad reputation. The main reason is that many French people know the little German food or goose foie gras pate for sale . There is a prejudice that German food is not fine and not telling. "


How do you see the German cuisine?

Caspar: "I was previously responsible for the German edition of the Guide Michelin and I know the German cuisine so well. There is in fact less national pride than in France, most likely still in southern Germany. In Germany, the trend towards regional products later than in France enforced. But that is not a fad that will disappear in a few years back, but rather a real change. In Germany today there are many young, well-trained chefs. The food there is always better. "


Dare your friends to still cook for you?

Caspar: I'm an unsophisticated private guest. My friends know that I do not expect haute cuisine, if I am invited to dinner. I then society more important than the food. "

No comments: