Rigor and creativity: the way to success

WE HAVE ASKED MICHEL ROTH, CUISINE DIRECTOR OF THE RITZ HOTEL IN PARIS, HOW IMPORTANT TIME IS IN A KITCHEN WHERE DAILY ROUTINE IS CHARACTERISED BY LITTLE TIME AND HECTIC RHYTHMS.
Passion does not take time into account. I do not count the hours I spend at work, but I do count the time it takes to do a job: there are time limits that are dictated by the moment the client’s order gets to the kitchen and the time it takes to prepare the order, and these limits must be respected if you want to serve your client with the right timing. It is wrong to keep clients waiting because it means being disrespectful towards them. Respect is fundamental, as is the importance of the client and the relation the latter has with the dish he/she has ordered. I always await this reaction anxiously, especially when I know that there are special clients in the hall, demanding ones. It is a bit like being an actor and having to come on stage: your stomach tightens up in front of the audience, but you know that you can rely on your experience, on your performance. The fact that I am not too confident about myself pushes me to put great care into preparing every dish, to continuously outdo myself. It is constructive anxiety, therefore, and certainly not anxiousness. A chef is a bit like an orchestra conductor: he should not transmit stress to his collaborators if he wants everyone to do well at the same performance. I do not like noisy kitchens, dissonance; instead, I love those kitchen where calm and respect reign.

A LOT OF CREATIVITY AND DISCIPLINE IS INVOLVED IN THE PREPARATION OF A RECIPE. IN WHAT WAY DOES THIS AFFECT THE OUTCOME?
I am not a self-made man: my work is the fruit of the teachings of great chefs. First you learn the technique underlying the preparation of a given recipe. As soon as the technique has been mastered, you start personalising it. I consider myself a professional, a person who has learned and mastered the trade according to tradition. The recipe for a given dish is the fundamental element that needs to be respected. Every time I create a new dish, I take a picture of it. Then the photograph is passed on to my collaborators. Every time I decide to make changes to a recipe, first I try it myself and then I judge it together with my collaborators, if there is time to do so.
I do not yield to fashions but I do watch closely how my clients behave. The Ritz clients are people who have travelled, who live daily in an international set-up. Aware of the fact that I can count on the enriched gastronomic experience of my clients, I decline my creativity, introducing a touch of exoticism in some recipes and playing with flavours.

One of the results of “playing with flavours” for the summer is the following recipe:
SCALLOPS AU GRATIN WITH COFFEE-FLAVOURED CORN FLOUR – SERVES 4

Ingredients:
24 scallops
corn flour
coffee powder
8 small endives, cooked
4 rounds of puff pastry
2 tablespoons honey
chives
olive oil
salt and pepper
“Butter”:
80 g finely sliced shallot -
1,5 dl white wine -
1 dl vinegar -
2 g cardamom -
5 cl creme fraiche -
150 g butter.

Preparation:
mix the coffee powder together with the corn flour, salt and pepper the scallops and coat them in the corn flour and coffee mixture, sauté them quickly in olive oil. Caramelise the
endive in the honey and place on the puff pastry.

Preparing the “Cardamom Butter”:
in a pan, sauté the shallot in white wine until soft, add vinegar and cardamom pods, reduce to ¾, add the creme fraiche, reduce to half, fold in the butter that has been softened (to
spread) and blend with a whisk. Add salt, pepper and strain.

Presentation:
place the scallops and endive tart on each plate, surrounded by the sauce and garnish with chives.