Anyone who enjoys cooking typically has one or two go-to dishes for a special meal. Whether it’s a well-seasoned rack of lamb, a revived childhood favorite snack or something that’s finally not taken out of the microwave, it’s probably not too difficult to name your proudest dish. But what if you’re one of the world’s best 10 chefs according to Le Chef’s list of “100 Best Chefs in the World”?
From Alain Ducasse’s childhood memory to Daniel Humm’s quest for simplicity, find out what makes these renowned chefs proud.
Yannick Alléno (Alléno Paris, Carré des Champs-Elysées, France)
Pike Fine Mousse in a Viennese Bread Celery Extract
Well, I must admit that the thing I’m most proud of isn’t the dish, but the sauce. Sauce is the DNA of French cuisine. It offers the possibility of marrying ingredients that would never have gotten along. In thinking deeply about sauces and their history, I discovered a sous-vide cooking method called extraction that offers a wonderful opportunity to focus on the taste of the product and to preserve all their organoleptic qualities (aspects of food as experienced by the senses). As a result, this opens up an entirely new field for me, and I am very proud for creating a new way of cooking.
Alain Ducasse (Le Louis XV - Alain Ducasse , Monaco)
Seasonal Vegetable Cookpot
This dish is an illustration of my culinary story, which began when I was a child picking vegetables out of my grandmother’s garden. For years, I have always wanted to create a signature dish with my favorite vegetables, as they are the thread that connects my life experience with the diverse, sensory experience found at my restaurants. What also makes me proud is the harmony between the local, seasonal vegetables and the white porcelain oven-proof dish that I created with designer Pierre Tachon.
Eric Frechon (Epicure, France)
Duck Foie Gras Cooked in a Wrap, with Oysters from Marennes and Brussel Sprouts, Broth Infused with Black Tea
This dish is a real creation as the three ingredients: foie gras, oysters and black tea, seemed like a bad match. But smoking the oysters made the combination work. The idea came about while I was traveling in Senegal, and I saw women there cooking oysters in Oliver's wood to bring out a smokey taste. What’s more, the dish comes as a surprise as the guest discovers it gift-wrapped, waiting to be opened. It’s quite a spectacle!
Pierre Gagnaire (Restaurant Pierre Gagnaire, France)
My proudest dish and best recipe have yet to be created: I have to create them tomorrow and the days after! To me, cooking is about thinking, inventing, reinventing and taking risks every day. I have no signature dish and I don’t want any.
Daniel Humm (Eleven Madison Park, USA)
Celery Root Braised in Pig’s Bladder with Black Truffle
As I mature as a chef, I no longer aim to pack multiple techniques and ingredients into a single dish. Realizing that restraint is more difficult, I find it often renders incredibly beautiful results. This dish is an example of my focus on simplicity. It’s remarkable what can be achieved with only a handful of ingredients, along with classic and modern techniques. This dish is almost modest at first glance, but it’s delicious, focused, creative, and delivers an element of surprise. After all, not many people are familiar with the versatile qualities of celery root as a chief ingredient.
Seiji Yamamoto (Nihon Ryori Ryugin, Japan)
Fugu Assortment with Grilled Milt
There are several reasons why I’m particularly proud of this dish, and they all begin with its main ingredient: the fugu. The fugu is a special fish that represents Japanese cuisine and it requires lots of skill and creativity to prepare with a unique twist. Since it’s about 1200 times more toxic than potassium cyanide, an order of fugu represents a customer’s life in your hands. There is no margin of error when it comes to cutting the fish. While chefs in Japan need a license to serve the dish, most other countries don’t even allow it, so that’s why many people would visit Japan specifically for the fugu (especially during winter). As it’s particularly challenging to create new and original dishes with the special fish, many restaurants that serve it resort to similar approaches. They use farmed fugu (that are smaller in size) and serve it in a classical way like sashimi or in a stew. But my dish is different. I chose a wild fugu that’s over 5kg, and I was able to incorporate my distinct vision by adding innovative ingredients and special techniques.
