One of the dilemmas in writing a menu for a Supper Club is matching the culinary standards of the dinners with the cooking skills of the of the cooks. In today’s worlds of fine dining and the food network the average Supper Clubber has pretty high standards. Quite often, the skills of the cooks don’t match up.
My Culinary guru is Lucien Vendome. He went to Culinary school in Paris. Lucien worked in some of the finest restaurants in the US. He has led Culinary innovation teams for both Nestle and Kraft. Simple put, he is a culinary great, and my good friend. I love the guy, but he is always trying to outdo himself.
Lucien’s assistant for many years was Amanda Hassner who is a phenomenal chef in her own right. She once told me that Lucien’s biography (which she would have to write) would be titled “One Course Too Many”. He never does anything simple. He always does fantastic.
When I write a menu I usually exhibit my inner Lucien. I once wrote a “Piatinni” (small plates) or Tasting Menu that involved 17 pages of instruction. In my mind it was simple. For the other Supper Clubbers it was more challenge than they signed up for. One poor lady was simply overwhelmed. I helped her out by breaking it down, doing some prep work myself and delegating many of the items to other Supper Clubbers.
There are things that are simple to me like chopping onions that were a challenge to my friend. She told me she spent close to an hour chopping onion and garlic. I asked if she owned a food processor? What she did in an hour I would do in five minutes.
Since my 17 page “War and Peace” menu I always try to balance my culinary challenge with the cooking skills. Simple menus can be written that meet the culinary standards of most Supper Clubbers. Some Supper Club cooks are very good and you can get more adventurous. In the long run…simple is better.
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