The CEO of renowned culinary school Le Cordon Bleu shares his sentiments on modern day fusion food.
Not many culinary schools can boast that they had had the pleasure of serving Her Majesty the Queen of England, or that someone like Julia Child, American chef, author and television personality extraordinaire, learned what she knew from inside its very own walls. Then again, Le Cordon Bleu isn’t just any culinary school. It is the world’s largest hospitality education institute with over 50 schools in five continents serving 20,000 students annually.
Tell that to its CEO, Andre Cointreau, however and he would be quick to correct you. “Le Cordon’s Bleu’s success does not belong to Le Cordon Bleu,” he hasted to chime in during the interview he graciously made time for with Malaysia Tatler. “It’s not the brand that makes the school so revered. It’s really the success of the students that makes us known across the world.”
He is right of course. Most recently, Le Cordon Bleu made headlines again when a student from its Chinese branch won the Masterchef China 2012 title, joining a string of other renowned Le Cordon Bleu graduates who have all garnered equal amounts of attention in the media every time they surface. This is only a small fraction of the distinction of Le Cordon Bleu.
Humble and soft-spoken, Cointreau continues to insist that it is the passion that runs in these respective successful chefs that brought the brand up to be what it is today. Don’t let his slight frame and gentle smile fool you; when it comes to food and cookery, a giant awakens within who takes the subject so close to heart, you wouldn’t want to offend him by taking it lightly.
“Good food is as much a science as it is an art,” he says. “Good food must not only be great in taste and provide the customer with an experience, but it must also leave them in better shape than before.”
According to him, gone are the days when it is alright to load up on the butter to amp up the rich and creamy flavours of a dish, or deep-fry something just to add the crunch to a mouthful. Good food today cannot have too much calories, cannot have too much non-beneficial frills, yet must still maintain all the elements that make eating such a pleasure. It is the job of a good chef to figure all of that out and come up with a solution.
What would be an example of such foods?
“Simple foods made of simple ingredients,” he states matter-of-factly. “A good chef should also know how to blossom and bring out the original flavours of an ingredient without the need for complicated combinations.”
“Contrary to what many people think, you don’t need to have costly ingredients to make something good. The simplest ingredients, if it’s cooked well and put together well, by the right skills and methods, it has the potential to become a dish that is fully rewarding on all senses. “
In today’s world where borders are only as good as the lines on the map and cultures are merging faster due to technology, simple foods as mentioned by Cointreau isn’t as simple to find. Chefs are quick to experiment and even more eager to introduce new recipes that they can call their own, sometimes sacrificing its originality in the process. Cointreau doesn’t try to hide his disdain for modern day fusion foods.
“I call them confusion food,” he says outright. “They are not respecting the simplicity of an ingredient’s original flavour. Food with flavours that don’t mix are put together and it spoils the whole thing. “
Following that, it is one of Le Cordon Bleu’s mission to educate the chefs of tomorrow on how to prepare the best of their local cuisines, enhanced with Le Cordon Bleu’s methodology and approach.
“French techniques can be put at the service of any kind of cuisine,” Cointreau accorded.
After all, France, being right smack in the centre of Europe, has mastered and adopted some of the best ingredients and cooking skills from across the continent. It’s no surprise that they have the best cream which comes from the North of France and the best olive oil due to their proximity with the South Mediterranean. France gets some of the best meat and animal produce as well from the South West near where Greece is located. As Cointreau puts it, “We are so diverse and we have so much access to so many different things. It’s the main reason why our methods is applicable almost anywhere.”
But how compatible would the refined methods of French cooking -- developed specially to make delicate fine dining gourmet dishes -- be to our Asian way of cooking? Here, streetfood galore reigns and more than half of our population is intimidated by the mere mention of fine dining. We are a nation used to getting our food fast, cheap and good.
“That’s a big misconception on the your part,” Cointreau pointed out. “If you go to Paris, we are a café society. We are all about the bistro-type conspicuous street food as well. We love sitting by the streets with our coffee and having conversation with friends for hours on end. That practice is very close to the day-to-day living of the people.”
Turns out, European eating culture is not all that different from ours after all. In fact, it is more similar than we think. Like us, the whole idea of a meal to them is also to bring people closer.
This Christmas, he encourages us to not only eat, but also to prepare our respective Christmas dinners together. “When everyone participates and have something to contribute to making the meal, it makes the occasion even more special.”
“A meal where you can have fun together is really a life experience. If you have a meal, even if it’s the best, but you’re having it alone, it does not feel the same.”
On that note, we got up and began bidding our thank you’s and goodbyes. Ever the gentleman, Cointreau expresses his regret for having to end our session, but quips at the same time that he was rather looking forward to the dinner he has to head off to. Here was, without a doubt, a man who truly knew and appreciated his food.
Sunway Le Cordon Bleu is located in the Sunway University campus. For more information on the school, or any enrollment enquiries, visit their official website at www.lecordonbleu.com.my.
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