If you saw a 12oz Kobe Beef Sirloin on the menu and it was only $20 you should be concerned. But this post is not about Kobe Beef, it's not even about how much it was. It's about being true to the ingredients and having some respect for yourself as a chef.
The other night my girlfriend and I went out to dinner to a place that was known for their game proteins. Kangaroo, alligator, venison, etc. Now, one thing I did expect was the proteins were going to be dry. Most gamey proteins are very lean in general so moisture was not the name of the game. For appetizers she ordered Foire Gras over Heirloom Tomatoes and some type of dressing and I ordered the Grilled Octopus with melon wrapped in some type of cured meat. The only thing I liked about the two dishes was the melon, cantaloupe to be exact. The Foie Gras was seared nicely but the texture was very mushy, almost like an undercooked custard. Foie Gras is given 3 grades - A, B or C. A is the best, it's the fullest, most firm and has no blemishes. And I'm sure you can guess they get worse. I'm guessing they served us a C grade foie because it was so soft. It was served over half a less than 1/4" sliced heirloom tomato. Did I mention it was the bottom of the tomato? Now, you may be thinking "What's wrong with the bottom of the tomato?" Nothing, but if you're trying to offer a fine dining experience w white table cloth and servers with crumbers, you do not serve the bottom or top of tomatoes. Those are for stock. The dressing tasted like balsamic and oil.
Now, for the Octopus. I learned through my years of cooking when you cook invertebrates, you either cook it for 90 seconds or 90 minutes. Squid and octopus can become rubber very quickly as I'm sure you've all experienced here and there when ordering calamari. Well, this octopus was definitely grilled and wasn't tough, but wasn't tender. It was grainy, as if it was frozen, defrosted, frozen, defrosted, frozen and defrosted again. Everytime you defrost something it loses moisture and I've had octopus hat was frozen before. What I ate the other night was something else. I attached a picture below to show what I'm talking about.
This post is not even about me being a pompous fuck who has to have perfect food all the time. It's actually for the people who want to venture into "nicer" foods. If someone wanted to try foie gras for the first time, I would want them to eat the best foie gras there is so they can make their own assessment about the product. It's kind of like someone who wants to try venison for the first time and gets served a well done piece of venison tenderloin from a deer who eats grass from the highway. They're going to think all venison is dry as shit and tastes like shit.
Cooks, take some pride in your work. We work long hours, we endure constant pain and we get paid shitty. Show everybody why you became a cook and why all this pain is worth it. For me, it's when someone closes their eyes and sighs after taking the first bite of my food. That's better than a paycheck.
-bien manger
