Culinary Adventures with Chef Luiz

RCA Texas-style

Olà

This was the fourth time I attended a Research Chefs Association (RCA) conference, and like the ones before it, this meeting was very interesting, well organized and provided many opportunities for networking. In addition to seeing old colleagues and making new friends, the conferences are great for job hunting, and they always provide something new to learn or a new way to sharpen my skills. And while this was only my fourth time at one of these conferences, I have a long history as a research chef.

My background in culinology

Since I started in this industry in 1980, I can certainly be referred to as an “old timer” in the field. Back then, we were called formulation chefs in order to differentiate us from “traditional” (i.e. culinary) chefs. Very few companies had this position, and they were only European companies. So in order to get training, I was sent to Switzerland and Germany. There I spent six months in total immersion hands-on job training taught by chefs and food technologists, training that was not available anywhere else in the world. Interestingly, this type of work was called “chefmanship” in Europe at the time.

After training, I used what I learned to train other chefs in Latin America, and ended up working in product development for 30 years, never looking back at “chefing” in hotels or restaurants again.

In those days, I had a hard time explaining to people what kind of work I did. It was almost impossible to explain because most people had never heard of CHEFS working in labs and/or the kitchen at the same time, much less in R&D developing new products, not new recipes. We were really innovators in our profession.

When asked by friends what her father did, my daughter came up with her own solution to this problem: “My daddy is a Chef Inventor,” she told them.

Notes from the conference

During my travels, I’m very often asked about new culinary trends. It seems that every year there is something new that’s grabbing everyone, whether it’s a “new” ethnic cuisine or a concept, such as nouvelle cuisine. In the past, I would see everyone trying to incorporate the current trend into his or her cooking, but I’ve noticed that today more than ever, chefs and restaurateurs seem to be much more interested in being themselves and finding something that makes them unique. Here are the major trends I noticed at this conference:

• "Uniqueness," with chefs putting their own spins on their cuisine to differentiate it from the others in the same category. Southwest cuisine is not about using blue corn or regional ingredients anymore—there’s no standard. Today it’s how an individual chef interprets Southwestern cuisine. There’s more personal customization.

• Using state-of-the-art kitchen equipment and culinary skills. Sous vide is reemerging as a technique, but now it’s being used as a means of cost-saving.

• The ethnic trend looks to be Korean cuisine, kimchee et al, which I think is positioned to be the “flavor of year” if the economic situation allows it. The Korean government is encouraging this trend because they think it can help their exports.

In the past, the buzz at conferences was all about innovation, an area that chefs enjoy and excel at. At this conference however, everyone was focusing on survival, back to basics, cost cutting and doing what you do best in order to face the tough times we are in. This is a new challenge for chefs, and we can deal with it by being creative in different ways. We can show our colleagues that what we have been learning during the good times can be applied with good results to this challenge, and we can tailor new products specifically for the current economic climate.

The conference learning sessions were great as usual, covering many topics and different parts of the business. I found the keynote speaker, Carlos Barroso, Senior Vice President Global R&D Foods, PepsiCo, very interesting as he shared his experiences with us. His presentation was about what PepsiCo Frito-Lay is doing around the world, looking for local tastes for its snacks, offering unique flavors developed to local tastes. He mentioned lemon-flavored snacks for Mexico and Picanha Brazilian charcoal-broiled beef for Brazil.  

These conferences are a testament to how we as Chefs have grown in importance to food companies. We work alongside food science professionals and share a culinary insight while using the same terminology. I feel very proud and happy when I attend these conferences and get to see so many people of different backgrounds and ages all involved in what is now called “Culinology.”

It was a pleasure to be there, well worth the trip from Sao Paolo. And I recommend to all my colleagues: Find a way to come to these conferences and be part of the Research Chef’s Association!

Until next time,

Chef Luiz