On Hand-Me-Downs

A chef's livelihood, as you might expect, depends as much on the quality of his recipes as it does on his level of skill. Many of these recipes are developed slowly over time, tweaked, tested, modified, perfected. It wouldn't be surprising, then, if chefs were more than a little reluctant to part with these recipes. This is not, however, the case.

That's not to say you can march into the kitchen of your favorite restaurant and start asking for recipes. You will be thrown out, quite violently. Chefs are not going to willingly share their recipes with you, unless you are paying $49.99 for their cookbook.



Nevertheless it is impossible to run a professional kitchen of any size without sharing recipes with a great number of people; namely, the cooks. Each cook or chef in a professional kitchen is expected to have a “book.” Into this notebook a cook is to record every quantity and method he is shown. As a cook you have but one opportunity to do so. Asking for clarification of a cooking method is forgivable, failing to record information is not.

When a cook leaves a job, the book goes with him. It represents the total knowledge he has gained during his tenure. This knowledge, and the right to retain it, is considered “payment” in lieu of a decent wage. In general, the more highly esteemed a chef, the less money he is able to offer his cooks, as they will presumably be gaining proportionally more knowledge.



Not every chef works this way. Some try to keep recipes secret from everyone in the kitchen. Some ask that cooks hand in their book when they leave. Some even try to sue cooks who go on to use their recipes in other restaurants. None of these are really effective, as they require a disproportionate amount of work, create ambient animosity in the kitchen, and are generally looked down upon in the industry.

As a result of this system of sharing, many recipes have a long history. Over time, some are handed down from chef to chef to chef to chef. These are usually basic kitchen staples: pastry, anglaise. They are the types of foods which have been perfected over generations of cooking, chefs are simply passing the torch.

Here is one that has been passed to me from one of my former head chefs. He inherited it from his old chef in London, who in turn inherited it from the chef who trained him. I doubt the geneology stops there. Legend has it each chef adds an additional 50g of butter to the recipe, just to make it his own. I suggest you do the same.



Brioche

This brioche is best described as butter laced together with traces of flour. Toast it and serve it with a terrene, or spread it with the blood orange and rosemary marmalade from last week's post. What the hell, it's good on its own.

You'll need an electric mixer for this, as the dough is quite sticky and difficult to mix by hand. You'll also need to allow a bit of time – the dough proves overnight in the fridge do develop flavor. This recipe makes two small loaves.

350g butter, room temperature
30g sugar
7g dried yeast (usually 1 packet of yeast)
70ml warm milk
15g salt
6 eggs
500g flour

In your mixer cream together the butter and sugar. Cool slightly in the refrigerator wile you prepare the dough.

Mix together the yeast and the milk in a small bowl and let sit for about 10 minutes, until the yeast begins to foam - a sign that is is activated.

In the mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the yeast and milk, the flour, salt, eggs, and sugar and knead on medium speed for 8 minutes. The dough should be sticky, smooth, and very elastic. With the mixer still running, begin adding the butter a bit at a time. Toss in a tablespoon or so, allow it to me incorporated, and then toss in another, continuing until all of the butter is incorporated.

Cover the dough and prove in a warm place for 1 hour. Transfer the covered dough to the refrigerator and leave overnight.



The next day, knock the dough back. Divide it in half, shape it into loaves, and place it into baking tins either lightly greased, or preferably, lined with baking paper. It is only possible to do this step while the dough is still cold - the warmer it gets the stickier it becomes - so you'll need to work quickly. Brush the tops with a egg wash (see below) and prove, covered, in a warm place until doubled, anywhere from 1-3 hours.

Heat your oven to 220ºC. Bake the brioche for 5 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 160ºC. Bake an additional 15 minutes. Turn the brioche onto cooling racks. Allow to cool completely before cutting.

This bread freezes surprisingly well, I slice it, wrap it in plastic, and then peel off a slice whenever the urge strikes.

Egg Wash

1 egg yolk
1 Tbsp milk
pinch salt

Mix all ingredients. Brushing the loaves with an egg wash yields a lovely shiny crust. Make sure you brush them before they rise so that you don't collapse the loaf