From Many We Are One
THE REBIRTH OF AMERICAN CUISINE AND THE RISE OF THE CIA
INTRODUCTION
The emergence of an internationally recognized and innovative American Cuisine is told from the vantage point of Ferdinand Metz, a Certified Master Chef who directly experienced and passionately participated in this evolution, most notably, as CIA president, directing the fortunes of the foremost institution of its kind in America, if not beyond.
The inspiration for writing this book is based on my experiences as a cook and pastry apprentice and my upbringings in my family’s small hotel, restaurant and butcher shop near Munich. Later, as a young immigrant I cooked at Le Pavillon, widely heralded as the best restaurant in America at that time and the venerable Plaza Hotel, two of New York City’s most celebrated establishments of their time. The glaring omission of previously published accounts of the far-reaching impact of culinary education, the globalization of American cuisine and the professionalization of the culinary industry needed to be told. I write about unique events and experiences that shaped my early career and developed my food philosophies, none more important than my never-dreamed-of 21- year tenure as president of the Culinary Institute of America. The meandering road that leads to this remarkable evolution of chefs and cuisine in America, although in its infancy, signals to many the genesis of a prodigious change that influences the future of cooking and dining in America, reflecting on several issues facing American culinary culture and the direction of our shared future.
CHAPTER 1
INTERNALIZING A FOOD PHILOSOPHY
Like many of us, I did not wake up one morning to proclaim my food philosophies absolute, which, like most evolutionary processes were internalized, shaped, modified, discarded or enhanced by father time, seldom declared complete. Over time I embraced developed my food philosophies, influenced by experiences, impressionable events, revealing tastings, challenging competitions, personal preferences and yes, late evening debates with mentors, colleagues, customers and students. Seldom collectively driven, but more individually formed became a compendium of principles and guidelines, never too ridged, but with enough flexibility, always receptive to new thinking and validated culinary concepts. Conflicted by the prospect of aligning my personal food philosophies with that of the CIA’s community that would produce synergistic benefits without declaring winners or losers, I began to contemplate a method that best communicates my goals, not by edict, but one of consensus-building. At the core of my food philosophy emerges the mantra “less is more”, the overarching pillar that subordinates all others.
CHAPTER 2
TURNING THE TABLES
The ’70’s arguably ushers in one of the most important decades for food in America, as it deliberately transforms the often-maligned Continental Cuisine into a new American identity. First are several seminal events that shaped our food culture and elevate America on the global stage as an emerging frontrunner in food and beverage. It all starts in the pivotal year of 1976 with the infamous “Judgment of Paris” which witnesses California upstarts outperforming, in a blind tasting, the best vintages of Burgundy and Bordeaux. That watershed moment is followed by the 1976 Culinary Olympics, when the American team, captained by Chef Metz, ties the renowned French team of chefs for third place, led by none other than Joel Robuchon, later named “Chef of the Century.” That event marks a new global consciousness of American Cuisine, followed by the dominance of American culinary achievements. Metz provides his first-hand account of the twelve-year journey of the American culinary team, winning three consecutive World Championships and one Culinary World Cup. Together with chef Mathew Peters of Per Se winning the Bocuse D’Or competition, American cuisine is
now showcased to the world. It relegates to distant memory the stereotypical image of American cooking limited to hot dogs and hamburgers. Celebrating America’s bicentennial, the 1976 Culinaryteam, coming off its Olympic success, is asked to prepare a luncheon in honor of her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Boston’s City Hall and her entourage, treated to an all-American repast featuring a locally sourced menu, highlighted by a tri-colored berry parfait. Other important events covered by a media—eager to document the evolution of American cooking—include an historic luncheon, prepared by the CIA on the occasion of the Hyde Park Summit, hosted by President Clinton, welcoming the Russian president Boris Yeltsin. Also included is the remarkable journey taken by Chef Folse who introduces Cajun/American Cuisine to the Kremlin.
CHAPTER 3
COMING TO AMERICA
In post-WWII Munich, German tradition dictates that Metz’s brother, two years his senior, takes over the family business, freeing Ferdinand to explore other opportunities elsewhere. With tools, chef’s uniform and reasonable English proficiency in hand he arrives in New York to start his first job in America at a country club. Two apprenticeships in Germany give Metz a solid culinary foundation but do little to prepare him for the American food culture of the 1960’s. At first, the typical cook’s lack of professional demeanor and qualifications are disturbing revelations, which improves significantly after Metz leaves the country club to cook at New York’s celebrated Le Pavillon and the venerable Plaza Hotel. Graduating with an MBA and his fifteen-year experience as senior manager of R&D at the H.J. Heinz co. makes him uniquely qualified for his next assignment.
CHAPTER 4
THE ASCENT OF THE CIA
The challenges faced by the CIA founders Francis Roth and Katherine Angell provide a narrative that recalls the consequential stewardship of Jacob Rosenthal, the CIA’s first president, and the historic move from New Haven to Hyde Park. Metz’s journey to the Culinary Institute follows lackluster leadership of four presidents in the five-year period following Rosenthal’s retirement. The highs and lows of directing the fortunes of the most prominent culinary institutions in America offer some insights to the challenges and dynamics that marked its influence on the evolution of American Cuisine.
CHAPTER 5
ANTECEDENTS: ROOTS AND PEDIGREES
An historic perspective on the extent of how food influences the culture and traditions of America and how the trade routes facilitate the transfer of culture, traditions and ingredients across countries, continents and oceans as a precursor of fusion cooking, today erroneously acclaimed as a new concept. America’s regional cooking is the basis for the evolving American cuisine. A review of the different geographical regions, their cultures and food traditions, demonstrates the incredible diversity of ingredients and cooking methods that have shaped food and dining in America.
CHAPTER 6
A JOURNEY THROUGH THE DORMANT PERIOD
The post WWI period, followed by the devastating social-economic impacts of prohibition, the crash of the stock market, the great depression and the continued temperance movement, all take a heavy toll on the restaurant industry. Only the most established and iconic restaurants, such as Delmonico’s, Antoine’s and a few others, are able to survive. This period also sees the arrival of several ethnic cuisines and the influence on American cooking by various immigrant populations and their famous restaurants. They become a lasting part of the American food scene.1946 is also the year when the Culinary Institute of America opens its doors to soldiers returning from the war and culinary aspirants, who would in time become major influencers in the evolutions of American Cuisine.
CHAPTER 7
THE DARK AGES OF FOOD IN AMERICA
First shaped by the industrial revolution, the post war period of the ’50 and 60 sees food and dining usher in a new era that values speed over quality. The earlier versions of family dining still offer a sense of culture, social interaction and healthy eating, but over time give way to the fast and faster ways of feeding America. The little attention still paid to quality food is drowned out by the attraction to the new, the convenient and fast food. This historic review provides a perspective of how fast food begins to dominate, a reality that still today governs the eating and spending habits of many Americans. The Unholy Trinity of the media, corporate-engineered food and beverage manufacturers infiltrate the American conscience and are, along with the publics’ penchant for junk food, complicit inthe massive health problems America face today. The menu and customer experience of the ’60s, along with the evolving American classic dishes, helped shape the development of American cuisine.
CHAPTER 8
THE AWAKENING - IN SEARCH OF OUR CULINARY ROOTS
America’s awakening from the deep slumber of the Dormant Period, followed by the Dark Ages of Food finally emerges as One “food” Nation under Julia and James and other culinary icons, who almost single-handedly transform the American food culture. These icons’ immeasurable impact, along with the period’s food writers/critics and media’s support, awaken and enlighten both consumers and food professionals. A first-hand look into the major influences of this movement, chronicled by food writers and the media, and documented by the then prevailing, if not conflicting, views regarding the possible existence of an American Cuisine. After its debut at the World’s Fair, Le Pavillon becomes the undisputed temple of gastronomy under its eccentric owner Henri Soulé. Restaurant Associates and its dream team of Joe Baum, James Beard and others create the first upscale theme-based restaurants, culminating with the iconic Four Seasons and Windows on the World, along with a host of bi-coastal restaurants, providing a platform for leading innovative chef proponents of American Cuisine, many of them, CIA graduates. The California food revolution led by Waters, Tower, McCarty and Puck, along with other movers and shakers and their restaurants spread across the country, is inspired in part by the liberating phenomenon of Nouvelle Cuisine. Transforming the American table, as practiced by the disciples of Alice Waters and Jeremiah Tower with their commitment to fresh, seasonal and local ingredients, captivate the curiosity of professionals and consumers alike. This also ushers in a period of well-intended, but sometimes ill-fated experiments, which did more to confuse rather than clarify the concept of an American cuisine. The process of searching for our culinary roots lead the impatient astray, while the more seasoned chefs reach back and rely on proven principles, long ignored in favor of convenience and ill-advised novelty. Ultimately, like a good consommé, the concept of an American cuisine gains clarity and substance.
CHAPTER 9
MAKING THE AMERICAN CHEF
Largely omitted in previous accountings, the educational influences that contribute to the emergence of the American chef also speak to the prerequisites and opportunities, while shedding light on the many initiatives that gave credence and recognition to a profession, once not deemed or respected as a career choice. The CIA’s culinary leadership and the opening of its American Bounty restaurant plays an important role in defining and teaching American cooking, and how, through the extension of its legions of successful graduates, has an enormous influence on the evolution of American Cuisine throughout America. The key skills that equip a young chef to successfully function as a participant in this evolution address the depth and breadth of required culinary knowledge and detail the educational philosophy, as embodied in the CIA’s curriculum, that may appear to be progressive, yet are still grounded in the basics. The missing elements as summarized in the three important pillars of educating skilled and passionate cooks, exploring the bounty of America’s ingredients and the country’s food culture and traditions, all lead toward the making of an American chef. Often called the cradle of American cuisine, the CIA educates and mentors future leaders of the culinary profession.
CHAPTER 10
THE SECRET LIES IN THE DETAILS
This segment provides a detailed analysis of specialty courses, seldom part of most culinary curricula, that will expose students to important aspects of the broader hospitality field, with the prospect of future upward mobility and professional development. Stimulating debates include the evaluation of trends and emerging culinary concepts and their application in an everyday commercial setting.
CHAPTER 11
EAST MEETS WEST AT GREYSTONE
The Culinary Institute’s outreach to the West coast becomes a game-changer to countless cooks and chefs throughout America, many of whom had never been given the opportunity to learn new culinary concepts, their applications and benefits. The establishment of bi-coastal continuing-education centers like those at the CIA in Hyde Park and Greystone in the Napa Valley, give working cooks and chefs an opportunity to improve their skills and education, leading towards professionalism, seen as one of the cornerstones in the development of American cuisine. Greystone, housed in the historic former Christian Brother’s winery in Napa, America’s premier wine region, evolves in a dynamic setting thatuniquely embraces the teachings of food and wine, drawing many thousands of chefs and restaurateurs as part of their professional development.
CHAPTER 12
PROFESSIONALIZING AMERICA’S HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
The transformation of the American chefs from “domestics” to professionals reshapes the public’s stereotypical perceptions and helps to improve the popular image of all chefs and culinarians. The food and hospitality industry in America at that time is in dire need to change from within through education and certification.
Professionalizing the industry becomes the purview and a priority of the American Culinary Federation (ACF). As then its President, Metz accepts the challenge to develop and implement nation-wide apprenticeship and chefs’ certification programs, including the very demanding Master Chefs’ test, which made innumerable contributions to the status of chefs in America. The American service sector, devoid of dynamic leadership and career opportunities, remains a temporary calling, never reaching professional status.
CHAPTER 13
INFLUENTIAL FOOD WRITERS AND THE AMERICAN MEDIA
America’s food writers and the general media play an important role in the development and, finally, in the appreciation of American Cuisine. The process of defining this new style of cooking is in some cases marred by overly creative and substance-lacking interpretations, but ultimately giving way to culinary sensibility. It is the media, sometimes impatient, who question, debate and helped clarify a concept of American cuisine that need time to mature and ripen its primary tenets.
CHAPTER 14
THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT
A journey through the late eighties and into the new millennium offers a look into the challenges faced by chefs and restaurateurs to remain relevant. Led by a a critical analysis of emerging trends, the reader gains insight into the pros and cons of Fusion Cuisine, Molecular Cooking, Sous Vide applications and Nouvelle Cuisine, including their current and future impact on food in America. While these concepts more or less inspire and motivate generations of chefs they actually represent a resurrection of established and time- tested principles, destined to make a splash, only to quickly fade away. Included are also how chefs, as activists for sustainable food sources, entrepreneurs and celebrities influence what America eats today and will eat in the near future. While today it is great to be a chef in America, it was not always so. Our own checkered past reveals widespread gender and ethnic discrimination, while ignoring the merits and contributions of minorities, including women and African American chefs. Equally influential was the early dominance by foreign chefs, mostly of European origin, which over time is replaced by home grown talents, making their own mark on our culinary history. The aura of the celebrity chef as a sensational, personality-driven entertainer, despite his/her positive impact on the culinary profession also becomes problematic. Young students envisioning a fast track to TV stardom, fame and fortune leave the industry disillusioned, gaining little from their culinary education save for a huge tuition debt. Past and current debates offer insights about cooking as an art and science and some needed clarity of codification and its impact on American cuisine.
CHAPTER 15
RANDOM CONTEMPLATIONS OF FOOD AND DINING IN AMERICA
Illustrating a return to sensibility and understanding of culinary fundamentals, devoid of the sensationalism are part of the narrative. America’s restaurateurs learn from the New Breed, an innovative group of mostly businessmen and women turned chefs and restaurateurs who first had to learn the prevailing rules of the trade before breaking them. A critical look at the difference between genuine hospitality and the impact of technology on the restaurant business are discussed, while chefs and restaurateurs settle in and devote their efforts more on guest satisfaction than continued experimentation. The question of the status and continued development of American cuisine and the ongoing impact of technological innovations and the often-ignored power of hospitality are debated in this chapter.
CHAPTER 16
THE LEGACY OF AMERICAN CUISINE
Aside from having created a new and exciting identity of American cooking, does its legacy fall short in addressing our alarming and deteriorating health crisis, and do we collectively fail to balance our penchant for fast and unhealthy foods with a commonsense commitment to physical activities and healthy eating? Did America’s eating culture fall prey to the lure of fast food, thus effectively displacing real person-to-person interaction while feeding our fascination for electronic gadgets? The Great Balancing addresses the difficult choices between the public’s inclination for healthy foods, and the therapeutic effect of dining as a family, over capitulation to fast food and its ensuing major health implications.
EPILOGUE
Along with some personal food philosophies, the book looks into the future of food in America, the dynamics of changing lifestyles and their influence on America’s restaurants. While no longerquestioning the existence of an American Cuisine, we do need to evaluate its continued viability. The future of American Cuisine has never been more important or exciting, filled with a promise of a lasting legacy, as chefs and restaurateurs continue to create and innovate and, in the process positively impact the American food culture. Today, America faces important decisions, reconciling lifestyle choices with credible health concerns and a parting from our deteriorating food and dining culture as defined by Brillat Savarin: