Aidan Brooks: Trainee Chef: It Was Tough - But Someone Had To Do It

Thursday, 3 July 2008

It Was Tough - But Someone Had To Do It

I arrived back in London late last night, after three gruelling days in the Basque Country. While my colleagues were enjoying themselves back in the kitchen at Comerç 24, it was my arduous duty to expand my knowledge of Spanish regional culture by examining the environment here:

La Concha beach at Donostia-San Sebastián

checking the quality of local brewing and farming produce in one or two of these:

and broadening my understanding of the global restaurant business by sampling the menus degustación in these two fine dining establishments:

Not surprisingly, I've got quite a lot to say about my experiences at both Mugaritz and the Restaurante Guggenheim Bilbao and it's going to take a few days for me to get my thoughts and photos together. So watch this space!

1 comment:

Helen said...: Oh how awful for you Aidan, well done for dragging yourself through the experience though. It was good of you to suffer so we don't have to ;); 7/03/2008 06:16:00 pm

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Welcome

I'm Aidan "Trig" Brooks, a 22-yr-old from Hackney in London's East End. I left Westminster Kingsway College with a Professional Chef Diploma in summer

2007 and moved to Spain, where I trained in Barcelona at Carles Abellan's Comerç 24 (which won its first Michelin star) and Martín Beresategui's Lasarte (which won its second Michelin star) and was chef de partie and later Pastry Chef to Paco Morales at the amazing hotel restaurant Ferrero in the Valèncian mountains. This Spring I returned to London as part of the team of celebrated Portuguese chef Nuno Mendes, opening East End restaurant Viajante. I'm still working with food, but taking a break from fine dining. Passionately pursuing my life-long ambition to become a top-class chef and, one day, a world-famous restaurateur.

Independence and code of ethics

What's in season in the UK?

Here is this week's UK seasonal food item, courtesy of eat the seasons. This week's seasonal food item is monkfish. This resident of the deep is often described as the ugliest fish in the oceans, though from looking at the beautiful picture below it's hard to see why. Actually, monkfish isn't a fish, but a generic name given to fish from several different genus. The most common is the anglerfish, but the generic term can also refer to angel sharks and sea monks. Whichever variety we are talking about, they should be considered a special treat as all are listed as being unsustainably fished at present. Monkfish has a firm but succulent texture and a slightly sweet flavour and is often compared with seafoods such as lobster and scallops, with which it pairs well to make some luxurious dishes. Monkfish has long featured in Iberian regional dishes, but was almost unknown in the UK until recent years. It now appears on many restaurant menus and is highly sought after by fishing vessels in the waters around SW. England, W. Ireland and W. Scotland. Monkfish is low in calories and a good source of protein. It contains useful amounts of vitamin B3 (aids proper functioning of the metabolic system), potassium (controls the balance of fluids) and selenium (an antioxidant that also helps the immune system). The flesh is sufficiently strong to stand its own against otherwise dominant flavours such as the chorizo, saffron and pimentón typically used with it in Spanish dishes.