The Glog: Chef Gui's weblog

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2009-06-02T19:46:00.001-04:00

THIS BLOG HAS CHANGED ITS ADDRESS.

FIND US AT WWW.CHEFGUI.COM.

Underground Raw Milk

2009-04-20T12:02:00.002-04:00

You don’t see, hear or notice them. But they are here and there nonetheless, all around you, discreet; incognito, even. They brush with illegality, potentially endangering their health and braving authorities for a good glass of milk, old-fashioned style, straight from the cow. They are raw milk drinkers.

The sale of un-pasteurized milk is illegal in most states, including ours. But with techniques reminiscent of the Prohibition era, aficionados use a Florida loop hole to get their ways. Raw milk sale for human consumption is against the law; But buying raw milk for your pet (wink, wink!) is, however, perfectly legal.

Call farmers and tell them Sparky, your Bichon Frise, would enjoy a gallon of raw milk, and they will Fed Ex it in no time. What happens at home, behind closed doors, well, happens at home behind closed doors.
Under the so-called “pet law”, approximately 1500 gallons of raw milk are delivered to the Tampa Bay area weekly. An underground, parallel micro-economy!

I talked to many farmers and raw-milk-drinking Bichon Frise owners. One chiropractic doctor, speaking on condition of anonymity, and whose passion is “in how traditional cultures have used foods to maintain excellent health” says he himself orders about a gallon a week, delivered in a co-op fashion to certain distribution points. Raw milk speakeasies?

These mysterious “blind pig” joints, although perfectly legal since all dairy products are carefully labeled for pet consumption, are hard to locate. Many farmers refuse to talk. There seems to be about 10 distribution points in the bay area. The transactions happen at volunteers’ homes, superstore parking lots or just on the side of the road. Some health food stores carry raw milk for pet consumption although, I hear from Sparky, it does not have the same gustative quality as the milk from local producers.

While advocates for the benefits of un-pasteurized milk, which they’d rather call “fresh farm milk”, push for laxer regulations, the government couldn’t be clearer. On the Center for Disease Control and Prevention website, the risks are clearly explained. Pasteurization kills disease-causing germs. “Each year”, CDC explains, “people become ill from drinking raw milk and eating foods made from raw dairy products”. Raw milk may harbor disease-causing organisms and cause common symptoms of food borne illness including diarrhea, stomach cramps, fever, headache, vomiting, and exhaustion.
Drinking raw milk products is "like playing Russian roulette with your health," says John Sheehan, director of the Food and Drug Administration's Division of Dairy and Egg Safety.

On the other hand, advocates of raw milk maintain, correctly, that some components survive in milk that has not been pasteurized, which can aid digestion and boost immunity. “In 25 years of watching families consume raw milk I find… that their health generally increases”, the anonymous chiropractic doctor told me.

”Drinking raw milk is no more dangerous than eating fast food”, says a farmer who describes herself as a health-conscious mother. She also claims that the government is overprotective of the big dairy companies and ignores the validity of small farmers handling their herd with conscious sanitation. The farms I visited for this story all use clean, sterile equipment; keep the milk in sealed, sanitized stainless bucket; cool it immediately; keep it chilled until consumption, and use other precautions to limit risks.

The metaphoric image of the Russian roulette sure seems daunting, but I went ahead, tried my luck, and ordered milk for my Bichon Frise. Raw milk seems thicker, richer, creamier. Milk takes the taste of what the animals eat, and usually changes from herd to herd, depending on feed, soil, and location. Grazing goats may dine on wild onions, garlic or any number of different tasting weeds. Some raw milk cheese from certain areas of Spain, for instance, naturally tastes like rosemary, thyme, and other herbs that the goats graze while roaming freely in the hills.

My sample is delicious. Mildly sweet and very rich from high butterfat content. “Back before pasteurization, people could tell the quality of raw milk by the size of the cream line on the milk” says Sarah Pope, local representative of the Weston A. Price foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes health through intergenerational consumption of nutrient-dense whole foods.
Meanwhile, I can’t help but getting flash backs from the late 70’s, when in rural areas of France, it was cool to run to the farm and grab a quart of milk, use the cream to make cakes and give the raw milk to children.

In California and some other states, raw milk is tested and legal. And that might actually be the common ground between government and raw-milk advocates. If only raw-milk production and sale could be monitored, tested and approved, the dairy farms not operating under strict standards would be restricted from selling for human consumption, while the other would be authorized to do what civilization has been doing for centuries and centuries.
The issues just don’t seem to be as black or white (dangerous vs. safe) as the government wants them to be. Who’s to say that raw milk in the traditional sense, from cows eating natural feed on pasture wouldn’t be safer than pasteurized milk coming from confined cows in a large dairy company?
The case of artisan cheese.
The problem with regulations, I find, is that they are often created by a bunch of people who never tasted great cheese. You see, raw milk harbors bacteria that constitute the soul of great cheese. Raw-milk cheese, if you can find it, is the crème de la crème, no pun intended. The character of this kind of cheese, its depth, softness or pungency, its richness, its “terroir” (the effect that the local environment has on a particular product), otherwise “killed” by pasteurization, is what makes cheese tasting interesting and memorable.
In America, in some specialized gourmet stores, you can find cheese made from never-pasteurized milk. Archaic FDA regulations allow the use of raw milk in cheese making, provided that the cheese ages longer than 60 days before distribution. The aging process changes the chemical environment within the cheese, making it harder for potential pathogens to survive.
Sparky and I have tried to use raw milk in all recipes that call for milk like mashed potatoes, cakes, sauces, crepe batter, scrambled eggs. Crème brulee’ is superior, and so is ice cream. I have also tasted a pecorino-like raw milk cheese, made locally, on the outskirt of Tampa, that was outstanding. The texture and taste of culinary preparation is not affected, whether the milk is raw or not. However, it adds a little full bodied, wholesome richness that pleases the palate as well as the soul.

2009-04-07T01:53:00.000-04:00

2009-04-07T01:48:00.000-04:00

My plaice or yours? | The Guardian |

2008-12-26T10:56:00.000-05:00

Hilarious British article on fish and fish.

My plaice or yours? The Guardian guardian.co.uk

Under Pressure - New York Times

2008-10-30T12:55:00.001-04:00

Outstanding article on the "new" technique of "sous-vide" (cooking food in vacuum-packed plastic bags)

Under Pressure - New York Times

Chef Gui and Caitlin on CEO Lounge Radio Show

2008-09-16T12:03:00.003-04:00

Chef Gui and Caitlin were invited to speak about their business on Tampa Bay's Ceo Lounge, a radio show hosted by Michelle Bauer and Brent Britton. 860 AM WGUL.

Click here and play the show.

If you don't want to hear the whole show, their interview starts at 17:29. You can move the cursor to the right starting of the interview.

Chef Gui Alinat and his wife, Caitlin, cater the tastes of Provence - St. Petersburg Times

2008-09-14T09:31:00.002-04:00

Love to eat, enjoy cooking and experimenting with new dishes? Maybe even consider yourself a gastronome? Then chef Gui Alinat and his wife, Caitlin, may have just the thing for you: dining in a private French chateau, visiting rustic outdoor markets and preparing foods of the locale under the guidance of professional chefs. The Alinats, who have just moved their catering business from Tampa to Largo, offer two annual culinary tours to his native Provence, France, and one to Mexico as part of their newest business. "We were going back to Provence every summer and worked as translators and guides for another company," Alinat said. "Last year, we started our own culinary travel business, Chef Scape.
"We go to markets, cook, visit wineries, sightsee, picnic, drink and eat well. The pace is relaxing and easy, as it always is in Provence."
Ditto for the culinary trip to Mexico, an "anti-Cancun vacation."
Tami Sheehan-Broadrick and her husband, Ron, who live in Lutz, took the Provence tour in July with the Alinats.
"It was fantastic," Sheehan-Broadrick said. "We saw things we would not have found on our own. My husband is an amateur chef — he does all the cooking. He picked up tips on cooking with spices and herbs hard to find in the States.
"We spent four more days in Provence after the tour and Gui and Caitlin created an itinerary for us."
Sheehan-Broadrick said she and her husband plan to take the Mexico trip next summer and return to France with the Alinats the following year.
The heart of the Alinats' business is their catering service that serves haute cuisine for every occasion, from small, private dinners and bar mitzvahs to weddings, corporate affairs and galas for as many as 300.
"Our most prestigious event is the Dali Museum's annual VIP donor party, a seated dinner for 250," Alinat said. "It will be our third year catering it."
Why are culinary trips to Provence a focus of your new travel business?
"Provence is where I was born, raised and trained as a chef," Alinat said. "I know it like the back of my hand and all my family is still there. When you come from Provence, the sense of identity is strong. Its people speak with a strong accent. They act more like Italians. They eat good, Mediterranean food and wine and take life really easy.
"The concept is sedentary travel, luxurious property, food and wine and flexibility for each client.
"In 2010, we hope to add trips to Tuscany or Spain or other areas in France."
What is your training as a chef?
"I started chef school at 16," Alinat said. "The first year was a big reality check for me. Chef training in France is culinary boot camp! It was only during the second year that I started to really enjoy it.
"After six years of chef school, I was off to work in France, England and Spain before getting to the U.S. Along the way, my culinary style developed, shaped by some of the chefs I was under and all that travel."
How many employees do you have?
"We have a full-time staff of four and a pool of 15 to 20 chefs, bartenders, servers and dishwashers that we work with regularly.
Why did you move your business from Tampa to Largo?
"My wife, Caitlin, and I now have two toddlers and we just couldn't manage such a long commute from our home in Dunedin. So here we are on Clearwater-Largo Road, where Cappy's was, closer to home and the kids' schools. Business hasn't slowed down, but we save on gas and have 10 extra hours a week.

Largo works: Chef Gui Alinat and his wife, Caitlin, cater the tastes of Provence - St. Petersburg Times

globeandmail.com: Hervé This: Salt doesn't dissolve in oil, silly

2008-09-10T07:38:00.001-04:00

An interview of the fascinating Herve This.

globeandmail.com: Hervé This: Salt doesn't dissolve in oil, silly

Chef Julia Child, others part of WWII spy network - CNN.com

2008-08-14T07:53:00.001-04:00

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Famed chef Julia Child shared a secret with Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg and Chicago White Sox catcher Moe Berg at a time when the Nazis threatened the world.

While Julia Child was cooking pheasants, she was also part of an international spy ring during World War II.

They served in an international spy ring managed by the Office of Strategic Services, an early version of the CIA created in World War II by President Franklin Roosevelt.
The full secret comes out Thursday, all of the names and previously classified files identifying nearly 24,000 spies who formed the first centralized intelligence effort by the United States. The National Archives, which this week released a list of the names found in the records, will make available for the first time all 750,000 pages identifying the vast spy network of military and civilian operatives.
They were soldiers, actors, historians, lawyers, athletes, professors, reporters. But for several years during World War II, they were known simply as the OSS. They studied military plans, created propaganda, infiltrated enemy ranks and stirred resistance among foreign troops.
Some of those on the list have been identified previously as having worked for the OSS, but their personnel records never have been available before. Those records would show why they were hired, jobs they were assigned to and perhaps even missions they pursued while working for the agency.
Among the more than 35,000 OSS personnel files are applications, commendations and handwritten notes identifying young recruits who, like Child, Goldberg and Berg, earned greater acclaim in other fields -- Arthur Schlesinger Jr., a historian and special assistant to President Kennedy; Sterling Hayden, a film and television actor whose work included a role in "The Godfather"; and Thomas Braden, an author whose "Eight Is Enough" book inspired the 1970s television series.
Other notables identified in the files include John Hemingway, son of author Ernest Hemingway; Quentin and Kermit Roosevelt, sons of President Theodore Roosevelt, and Miles Copeland, father of Stewart Copeland, drummer for the band The Police.
The release of the OSS personnel files uncloaks one of the last secrets from the short-lived wartime intelligence agency, which for the most part later was folded into the CIA after President Truman disbanded it in 1945.
"I think it's terrific," said Elizabeth McIntosh, 93, a former OSS agent now living in Woodbridge, Va. "They've finally, after all these years, they've gotten the names out. All of these people had been told never to mention they were with the OSS."
The CIA had resisted releasing OSS records for decades. But former CIA Director William Casey, himself an OSS veteran, cleared the way for transfer of millions of OSS documents to the National Archives when he took over the agency in 1981. The personnel files are the latest to be made public.
Information about OSS involvement was so guarded that relatives often couldn't confirm a family member's work with the group.
Walter Mess, who handled covert OSS operations in Poland and North Africa, said he kept quiet for more than 50 years, only recently telling his wife of 62 years about his OSS activity.
"I was told to keep my mouth shut," said Mess, now 93 and living in Falls Church, Va.
The files will offer new information even for those most familiar with the agency. Charles Pinck, president of the OSS Society created by former OSS agents and their relatives, said the nearly 24,000 employees included in the archives far exceeds previous estimates of 13,000.
The newly released documents will clarify these and other issues, said William Cunliffe, an archivist who has worked extensively with the OSS records at the National Archives.
"We're saying the OSS was a lot bigger than they were saying," Cunliffe said.

Alinea's Grant Achatz Turns Down Lots of Money to Write a Book His Way | Serious Eats

2008-08-14T00:17:00.001-04:00

Grant Achatz, one of the all-time best and most innovative chefs in the US has his own way of doing stuff. A visit to his website (http://www.alinea-restaurant.com/) will convince you of his creativity in the kitchen.

Now, the chef is trying to revolutionize the world of cookbook publishing. And i think he may be up to something.

Alinea's Grant Achatz Turns Down Lots of Money to Write a Book His Way Serious Eats

Chef says thank you to All Children's Hospital - Tampa Bays Local News

2008-04-11T16:30:00.001-04:00

From Tampa Bays's Channel 10 News:

Dunedin, Florida — Brune Isabelle Alinat is just fine now, and about as perfect as an 8-month-old baby can be.
But one night last summer, in the front yard of her home, little Brune Isabelle scared the life out of her mother, Caitlin. The infant fell out of her stroller, landing on her head on the concrete driveway. Caitlin rushed her to All Children's Hospital.
"They did some CAT scans and she had a skull fracture," Caitlin recalls. Little Brune was just 1 week old. She spent a week at All Children's, but the doctors and nurses, and all their advanced facilities, saved her life.
"It's quite a chance to have a facility like this that is so well-equipped to take care of a 1-week-old baby," says Brune's dad, Gui Alinat.
Gui is a professional chef, and coincidentally was catering an event for All Children's Hospital the night of the accident. Gui and Caitlin decided that just saying, "thank you" to All Children's wasn't enough.
So, they're preparing a gourmet 5-course dinner for the best clients, to benefit the hospital.
Chef Gui is expecting at least 80 dinner guests, but more are welcome. The Dinner with Chef Gui is next Thursday, April 17, at the Mirror Lake Lyceum in St. Petersburg. Cocktails at 6:30 p.m., dinner at 7:30 p.m.
All proceeds benefit All Children's Hospital. If you would like to be part of the evening, call the All Children's Hospital Foundation at 727-767-4199.

Fundraiser for All Children's Hospital

2008-04-08T07:32:00.004-04:00

On April 17, 2008, Chef Gui Catering gives back to All Children's Hospital. Please consider attending this fantastic food & wine event for a great cause.

Last summer, owners Caitlin Curtis and her husband Gui Alinat had the misfortune to rush their newly born daughter (Brune Isabelle, pictured on left) to All Children's ER for a serious head injury. Now, six months later, they are providing a 5-course, elegant dinner in the historic St Petersburg venue Mirror Lake Lyceum, to benefit the hospital, as a token of appreciation and to participate in the hospital's fundraising efforts.

Please consider attending.

When: April 17, 2008 at 6.30 pm
Where: Mirror Lake Lyceum in St Petersburg(http://www.mapquest.com/mq/10-re36lve6)

Who: Invitations + open participation

RSVP: Sylvia Ameen, All Children's Hospital Foundation, 727-767-4476

From Gui Alinat, CEC:

"On August 9, my wife Caitlin and I got blessed with the birth of a beautiful baby girl. Such a little piece of flesh and blood; so much joy and happiness…Exactly a week later, on August 16, our company, Chef Gui of Provence, catered a routine event for one of our best clients: All Children Hospital. Over the years, we had cooked for all the board members, many doctors, donors, and past and present chairmen. I knew all about the hospital, but somehow never actually committed to giving. As it turned out, what happened on August 16 changed my life, my wife's and our baby daughter's. While cooking for the board of the hospital that evening, I received a dramatic call from Caitlin. Our daughter had fallen about 4 feet on a concrete driveway, head first, and broke her skull. We frantically rushed her, on our pediatrician's advice, to… All Children's Hospital. Quite a coincidence!Watching my one week old baby go through a scanner is something I never thought I experienced. And won't ever forget. She is now a healthy 6-month old, smiley and also very loud. In some ways, watching her grow and enjoy life is a gift from All Children's Hospital. Today, it's time to give back. Please join Caitlin and I on April 17."

Menu is as follow:

Selection of passed hors d’oeuvres (cocktail time)

Lobster mango salad with lime aioli

Spring squash soup with shitake mushrooms and truffle oil

Petite beef medallions, polenta and Provencal ratatouille "tian"
Port reduction sauce

Dr. Prattashong’s Bananas Foster

[Special diets upon request]

eDiets commercial

2008-04-03T11:02:00.001-04:00

Chef Gui recently filmed a commercial for eDiets, which airs nationally. His part during the commercial actually took a whole day to film. Watch at 0:24; 0:32; as well as the masterful snapping of the peas (0:58) and the grand finale at 1:09. Cinematographically impeccable! :)

Also note that the commercial airs during episodes of "the Biggest Loser", which in no way describes Chef Gui.

The McDonalds Cake

2008-03-27T15:01:00.001-04:00

As many of you know, our catering company shares his kitchens and offices with Pastry Chef Extraordinaire Kim Yelvington, of Chocolate Pi (www.chocolatepi.com). Kim creates individual desserts for wholesale and retail, special occasion cakes, as well as birthday cakes. Sometimes, even, she is being asked for gigantic masterpieces that makes her work week hectic and her blood pressure rise. That was the case when Mc Donald's Corporation came to her for their 50 year anniversary.

Travel: The flavors of Europe, by Gui Alinat

2008-03-27T14:43:00.001-04:00

Travel: The flavors of Europe

Southpinellas: TV chef spiced up his past exploits

2008-02-18T15:55:00.000-05:00

Southpinellas: TV chef spiced up his past exploits

I want my foie gras!

2007-04-12T10:54:00.000-04:00

Outspoken foodies Anthony Bourdain and Michael Ruhlman sound off about New Jersey's plan to ban the duck delicacy -- and how the food police are ruining America.

Michael Ruhlman: So what made you decide to wake up from your celebrity-chef slumber for this fight?

Anthony Bourdain: This is serious. This is my home state we're talking about and this issue affects my profession -- not to mention one of the most beloved people in the food world. This is like someone breaking into my apartment and stealing my television. It's personal.
I take it you're talking about your friend Ariane Daguin, owner and founder of D'Artagnan, the New Jersey company that produces and supplies foie gras and other duck and charcuterie products to cooks throughout the country?

Ariane is a seminal figure in America's food and restaurant revolution. She began D'Artagnan in 1985 when French chefs were wondering why they couldn't get the kind of food here that they had back home. And yes, her business mainly sold foie gras, which at the time was not available in the United States except in the form of imported canned purée.
I remember the way things were before her -- ducks were skinny, frozen, flavorless, gray. But thanks to D'Artagnan, along with foie gras, Americans got all kinds of things: the wonderful breast of the Moulard duck, called magret; the duck fat; bones and consequently sauce; confits; sausages; terrines. So Ariane is not just the foie gras lady -- she was a Gertrude Stein to a veritable salon of hotshot New York chefs who instinctively reached out to her if they needed something -- fresh truffles, or dried Tarbe beans for cassoulet -- she'd find a way to get it. She became a one-woman supply train for every French chef in New York and consequently any American chef with aspirations to be among the best. And she did all this at the exact moment when American chefs were ready to take off.

You've been known to be less than kind to vegetarians, not to mention the vegans, God help them. So is this just another of your bobble-head-doll rants?

I know I'm in peril of being thought of as some kind of culinary Ted Nugent. But for chrissake, I find hunting for sport appalling. You know how I feel about fur, about cosmetics testing on animals.
So how did I get here, defending the killing of God's creatures? As I see it, what's at stake is the individual's right to choose, the future of my profession, and good taste. Not to mention a delicious organ that dates back to the beginnings of gastronomy as we know it.
Actually, let's go back to the beginning for a moment -- not 5,000 years back to Egypt, where fattening duck liver for food may have begun -- but to the beginnings of the foie gras debate in the U.S.
I first became aware of it after the Laurent Manrique incident.

You're talking about the chef who's now at Aqua in San Francisco.

Laurent is a great chef, a really nice guy -- and a third- or fourth-generation Gascon at least -- who had the temerity to open a little gourmet shop in Sonoma County [Calif.] called Sonoma Saveur, where he sold, among other things, foie gras. Three years ago, people who call themselves animal rights activists threatened him over the phone, vandalized his car, broke into his business and destroyed it.
The most horrifying thing, though, was that they slipped into his backyard while he was at work and videotaped his wife and child cuddling inside their house and sent it to him. To me that's terrorism, it's racketeering, it's extortion. Central American death squads, Colombian drug lords -- they're the kinds of groups that engage in that activity. So that got my back up. But what was even more horrifying was that even after that incident, a law banning the production and sale of foie gras passed in California.

But that ban doesn't take effect until 2012; there's still time to change people's minds.

Ruhlman, that earnest Midwestern optimism of yours may work on the Cleveland chicks, but mark my words: If things keep going like they're going, pretty soon there will be no more foie gras in this country.
I refuse to become comfortably resigned. But anyway, what happened next?
After the Manrique episode a couple of high-profile chefs who, for what we'll assume were the best intentions, joined the chorus of foie gras critics.

Do you want to name names here? Because without Charlie's support...

I've been mean enough to Trotter already -- no need to flog a dead horse, fun as that might be. But a chef had been terrorized for selling good food and it was a time of need; so to my mind, for another chef at the very same moment to publicly announce they would no longer be using foie gras, that provided political cover for the forces that wanted it banned.
And that's where, for me, the issue broadens. Telling people what they should and shouldn't eat is cultural imperialism -- and deeply disturbing. That a group of people could say, "You know, how you eat and how you've been eating for hundreds, if not thousands, of years -- traditional Jewish cuisine, Western European food since Roman times -- that is wrong and should not be allowed." I find that offensive. Ethnically insensitive, jingoistic, xenophobic, anti-human and disrespectful of the diversity of cultures on this planet, and for human history. But that's just the kind of law that has passed -- in Chicago, our second city, no less. It's a win for the forces of darkness, willful ignorance and intolerance.

And now those forces have blown into New Jersey. What do you think of the fact that in explaining his proposition, Assemblyman Panter told the Associated Press that foie gras production is a barbaric practice that has no place in civilized society?
Which ignores, well, the entire history of civilized societies.
And referred to Daguin's profits from the sale of foie gras as "blood money"?

The guy's a nitwit. Every time you gas up your car, you're spending blood money! Our whole lives are built on a heap of skulls -- human skulls! But this is an issue that has become an easy grandstand ploy; it succeeded in Chicago so now it's perceived by lazy, opportunistic politicians as a potential vote-getter. I've compared this to kicking Julia Child in the teeth. It is that offensive to me.

OK, but in all seriousness, Tony, the Chicago counsel that banned foie gras sales earlier this year is now facing widespread ridicule, and is considering repealing the law -- a move that's been backed by the city's mayor. The New Jersey bill hasn't even been introduced. Cathartic though it may be to mouth off on this issue, aren't we overreacting, just a little?

I don't think it's unreasonable to take an apocalyptic tone. Chicago and California have passed laws. Now New York is talking about banning trans fats. I'm not a big believer in frying potatoes in trans fats but I sure wouldn't want to stop anybody. And I happen to like biscuits made with shortening.

Now, if you go to Houston airport and watch group after group of people waddle by, it might well be hard to support the notion that we have brains -- clearly we're eating too much and we're eating a lot that's unhealthy. But shame people out of eating fast food. Show them alternatives. I don't think we should make foie gras or trans fats illegal. What politicians are saying is, "You, the people, are just too dumb to decide what to eat, or how much."

On a Fox News show last spring, in a debate pitting Assemblyman Panter against Ann Coulter (following her disparaging remarks about New Jersey 9/11 widows), Panter defended his colleagues' calls to have retailers pull her books. Do you see a correlation between the two substances he wants off our shelves?

I may find Ann Coulter utterly loathsome and reprehensible on every level, and I would greatly enjoy throwing a shit pie into her face, but the idea of yanking any books off shelves scares the hell out of me. This reeks on so many levels. Along with other wrong-headed, easy-fix, knee-jerk reactions to perceived food scares, Panter's attitude paints a gloomy picture of how we might be forced to eat in this country if the frightened, righteous people who want to ban everything because it might be unsafe get together with all the people who want to ban everything because it might be cruel, and the people who want to ban everything because it might be unhealthy. It's the perfect storm.
The worst thing is that foie gras isn't even one of the more horrible examples of raising animals -- and it's such a small sector of the food supply. But it's an easy target because it's fancy, and associated with the French, and the videos people see are lurid.
Cruelly raised foie gras -- the poor animals you see in the videos in tiny pens with tubes being, as they always say, "shoved down their throats" -- is bad foie gras. None of us would buy that stuff. That's not what we want, and that's not what D'Artagnan sells. In proper foie gras farming, the same feeder tends the duck every day, and more often than not, it's the duck who approaches the feeder. They have room to run around, to live a good, natural life -- even a pampered one -- compared with the horrifying and vastly more widespread practice of raising battery chickens.

Most Americans seem only to hear about foie gras bans relative to the so-called inhumanity of their force feeding. Just a little investigation reveals the fact that these ducks have to be super healthy to support all the weight they gain. It's also been widely reported that they have no gag reflex and their throats are naturally tough due to the way they eat in nature. And accounts by the journalists who've had unrestricted visits to these farms -- like Mark Caro of the Chicago Tribune and Lawrence Downes at the New York Times, for example -- all suggest these ducks are far from inhumanely treated. The opposite in fact.

They live much better lives than any chicken that's been sold by the colonel, that's for sure. And really these ducks aren�t doing anything that a porn star doesn�t do on a regular basis.
Funny. But we are in agreement. In my opinion, the four farms that grow ducks for foie gras in this country -- especially the largest ones, in New York and California -- they ought to be made examples of by our legislators, not as places of animal torture, but rather as models of humane farming. Unlike factory hogs, which have their tails painfully cut off and never see the light of day before winding up as cheap grocery store pork, the billions of chickens that live packed wing to wing and live in their own ammonia-reeking waste, or the feed-lot antibiotic-laced beef -- if I had to come back today as an American farm animal destined for the dinner table, I'd choose to be a Moulard duck raised for my fat liver in a heartbeat.

Yes, it seems to me that the activists for whom the suffering of animals is unbearable, their lobbying against foie gras is not just bad time management, it's cynical time management.
Billions of chickens, hogs and beef are being harmed -- that's carnage on a far vaster scale -- but big agribusiness is a difficult and powerful target. They don't get much bang for their buck, from a political standpoint. It's much easier to go for the small artisanal farmer with little resources and no lobbying group in D.C.
And as an aside, as a reader of the news, I have to say it disturbs me that while people are being force-fed in Guantánamo Bay, politicians are wasting an hour or a minute complaining about poor ducks. Hell, Whole Foods is worrying about freaking lobsters and mollusks.
Yes, I did hear that the conditions the oysters used to live in at Whole Foods were just deplorable. But now they each have their own personal trainer.
Look, if you don't want to patronize a business that serves foie gras, don't go there. Running full-page ads telling people how evil you think it is -- that's also a legitimate enterprise, in my view, and one that's been effective in the case of anti-fur activism. But particularly as I travel so much and have come to know so many other cultures older than ours -- to criminalize ways of eating, to suggest that we've all been wrong since Roman times, well, that kind of interference scares me. It's like an American tourist traveling around the world stopping over in different countries, and saying, "This is wrong and you should stop that -- because me and my privileged, well-fed, white friends in our comfortable shoes think so." I respect people's decisions. You don't want to eat foie gras? Don't eat it.
But the intended bill on foie gras in New Jersey is not a breath of fresh, sensible air, it's a whiff from the crypt.

25th Anniversary of the Dali Museum

2007-03-14T23:15:00.000-04:00

We had the honor to cater the Salvador Dali Museum's 25th Anniversary on March 10.

This exclusive, by invitation only, black-tie seated dinner celebrated the significant milestones achieved over the past 25 years, the extraordinary works of Salvador Dalí and the new and exciting exhibit, Dalí and the Spanish Baroque.

Our staff had a lot of fun making this event a great success. 210 VIPs, including Governor Charlie Crist and other dignitaries. An army of servers. The 6-course, highly-creative menu encompassed Chef Gui's cuisine, as well as Catalan and Surrealist art influences to reflect and celebrate the life of Salvador Dali.

Chef Gui's selection of 5 passed hors d'oeuvres

First course

Tuna tartare, light chili oil and dill served in a custom-carved ice block

Second course

Tomato tart tatin, olive tapenade and Pyrennees goat cheese dollop

Main course

Beef tenderloin with beet-potato galette, spring vegetables and port reduction sauce

Dessert

"The first days of spring" dessert creation

Espresso-chocolate dessert with Dali melting clock, fresh berries salad.

We will post photos and a video of the event shortly.

Foie gras ban

2007-03-14T23:04:00.000-04:00

By Chef Gui

Recent articles about foie gras, the food delicacy threatened in its existence by the bill passed in California (2004) and more recently in Chicago (August 2006) abound.

Various writers, including local food columnist Brian Ries of the Weekly Planet, sum it all up, sometimes with excellent articles on a difficult, sensitive subject. From the absolute delight of a foie cooked with brio, to the concerns raised by animal rights activists, they manage to give readers a feel for this poorly understood, French-sounding, fear-factor kind of food.

In Chicago, Charlie Trotter, who feels a good deal of empathy for the ducks, has stopped serving it in his restaurant, way before it became outlawed. He has a point. As a celebrity, he has to show example and practice responsible eating. Chefs initiate food trends. Emeril would tell us to grill manatee steaks or over-easy sea turtle eggs for breakfast; some of us would probably consider it. But the food chain is not what it used to be. It is now important to acquire knowledge and values to build a humane and sustainable future.

Most often than not, however, writers and chefs leave out a major point.

Being a local chef who has been enjoying, writing on, and working with foie gras for many years, I want to emphasize the importance of producing it in good conditions.
The animal rights activists, in their extreme but legitimate concerns, laser-focus on the way ducks are treated. Fine. But there is a good deal of hypocrisy in the fight they cherish: All modern, large-scale food production raises ethical questions.

There is also hypocrisy in the way they lobby the legislators and their constituents. Their websites are effective. Their voices are loud. Their imagery, gory enough.

Yet, outlawing a food item in an otherwise perfectly dynamic, culinary city whose state has never seen a foie gras farm is a very drastic measure indeed. No matter that waterfowls do not have gag reflex; no matter the process merely exploits the natural ability of the animals to gorge themselves in preparation for migratory flights; and no matter that the respected American Veterinary Medical association voted against a resolution opposing the practice of force feeding ducks and geese.

It’s not that the Lilliputian foie gras industry is white as snow. Even I suspect mass production of foie gras, at least in the, count them, three US farms that produce it, is as cruel as the food industry. Visit an industrial beef, pork or chicken farm, and it will likely hurt your senses. With Easter around the corner, one could elaborate on the mass slaughtering of the turkey, and the abject conditions in which they are raised, ignominiously bred to produce abnormal large breasts that will only satisfy our delicate taste for white meat. The point here is that foie gras farms are only as cruel as the companies who run them.

In the meantime tough, some other farms, mainly in France where labels and restrictions have been put in place to prevent this very problem, standards for raising ducks and geese for foie gras consumption are totally acceptable, even, I assume, for grass-eater, granola-raised PETA activists. I know, because I have visited those farms, talked to farmers, and have been studying the problem for many years. Last summer, for instance, I talked to two grandmothers, small producers of foie gras in rural France, in a farm that looks like the idea you and I have of a farm: Greenery, free roaming chickens, ducklings, barking dogs, fresh hay and oddly pleasant manure smells. When comes the time, they sure force feed the ducks with relative gentleness, for the last 3 weeks of their lives (the birds’, not the grandmothers’). Nonetheless, they show an affective link, complicity and a respect for the waterfowls that is characteristic of the web of life, the farmer relationship with the animals they raise. Any reader who grew up on a farm will agree.

Metal tubes? Punctured throats? Broken beaks? Tiny cages? Tortured animals?
I have not seen that. And there is just no way the grandmas, once all visitors have gone, take the previously hidden WMD arsenal out and start the torture with satanic rictus on their faces.

The truth is that foie gras can be produced in a very “humane” way. At least as ‘humane’ as raising animals for human consumption can be. In proper foie gras farms, mortality standards for foie gras producing birds are about the same as in nature.
A trained chef can actually notice if the animals have been mistreated by looking at the quality of the foie itself. Robusts, healthy animals give the best foie gras. Happy ducks make happy chefs. Happy chefs make happy diners.

The problem raised by animal rights activists is purely the result of mass production of animals, and not a problem inherently created by the making of foie gras.

With that in mind, the unreasonable ban on foie gras seems grossly unfair. Let’s raise awareness and finally address the vast problems of large-scale production of any farm animal. At the meantime, foie aficionados should be able to decide whether or not they should eat the delicacy. Knowledge, education and origin-tracking is important here, and I suggest a label, maybe with a logo similar to dolphin-safe tuna cans’, to let amateurs know if the farm where the foie comes from is ethically proper.

The food fight is really about understanding what foie gras really is. Some self-proclaimed ‘freedom duck fighter’ PETA activists won’t likely feel rested until all of us turn vegans, whether we decide it or not. And the way our politicians, under enough pressure and a few pictures that unease their gag reflex, by mimetism turn their backs on a secular tradition and a yummy delicacy. We may not be able to eat short ribs by the end of next year. Today, foie gras; tomorrow, BBQ?

Meanwhile, fast food places are popping up at every corner of suburban America; and the cheeseburger, considered a menace to public health by some, is yet to be outlawed, in Chicago or elsewhere.

Tracy Stern's Artist Dinner

2007-01-09T18:31:00.000-05:00

Michael Murphy's new show, New York Peep Show, will be bringing three fresh voices from the art capital to Tampa providing a peep into the New York art scene. To kick off this show, Tracy Stern, the celebrated New York Social Hostess, will be hosting an exclusive evening of food, drinks, and art right here in Tampa at the Michael Murphy Gallery M! The dinner will be attended by the artists from Michael Murphy Gallery M’s New York Peep Show: Damon Johnson, Olan, and Alexander Charriol. The cuisine will be prepared by Chef Gui and will feature recipes from Tracy Stern's new book, Tea Party, launching April 2007.

Tracy Stern, founder of SALONTEA, has been featured in more than 50 publications including O Magazine, The New York Times, People, Vogue, Bazaar, New York Post, and W Magazine. Tracy Stern has also appeared on NBC, TLC, and VH1. This commendable lady is famous not only for her Artist Dinners and SALONTEA, she also has a line of tea infused beauty products, BeauTea, that are adored by Hillary Duff and other starlets. Tracy Stern also runs the exclusive “Divas Who Dine”, a series of New York ladies luncheons and events. She is a darling of the Paparazzi and is regularly seen at all the premier New York social events.

The artist dinner includes dinner, drinks, and a sneak peek at the New York Peep Show. Tracy Stern’s SALONTEA will also be brewing their special artist tea for the event. People familiar with Tracy Stern’s reputation for running sophisticated, elegant, and fun events will not be disappointed. The dinner will be held at Michael Murphy Gallery M on Friday, January 19, and will begin at 6:30 PM. All-inclusive tickets cost $165 per person and reservations are required.

Please call 813-902-1414 to reserve a seat. There is limited seating!

Menu

Selection of passed hors d'oeuvres

Wild mushroom risotto with truffle oil and
Ceylon cheese crisps

Ceylon tea steak or
tuna au poivre
with garlic cream sauce

Homemade vegetable fries
with Ceylon tea salt

Frisee salad with
sherry vinaigrette

Marinated fresh berries
with white chocolate-coconut mousse

and
SALONTEA's special
Artist Tea

New Sommelier Service

2006-11-07T13:33:00.000-05:00

A sommelier (pronounced suh-mal-'yAy) is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, commonly working in fine restaurants, who specializes in all facets of wine service.Chef Gui Catering is now offering the services of Sommelier William E. North for all our dinner parties, as an additional option.William is a fourth generation wine and spirit professional whose classical training began a quarter century ago at The Ritz-Carlton Buckhead, and culminated with his appointment as wine steward at Alto Palato, one of the top 20 restaurants in Los Angeles according to the Los Angeles Times. He has been mentioned in Gourmet Magazine, and is now proud to affiliate his company, Wine Steward Services, with Chef Gui in order to offer an incomparable sommelier service to our clients.

Email us to know more about this service.

Make school lunch a learning experience

2006-11-02T08:34:00.000-05:00

Hailstorms cause pesto shortage in Italy - Yahoo! News

2006-08-28T11:18:00.000-04:00

Hailstorms cause pesto shortage in Italy - Yahoo! News

March 23, 2006 event at USF (pictures)

2006-03-29T08:30:00.000-05:00

Here are more pictures from the VIP seated dinner in honor of Dr. Wangari Maathai's visit to University of South Florida.

Gui cooks for Nobel Peace Prize Winner

2006-03-29T07:20:00.000-05:00

Dr. Wangari Maathai won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace. Dr. Maathai created the 'Green Belt' movement and stands at the front of the fight to promote ecologically viable social, economic and cultural development in Kenya and in Africa.

She visited USF on March 23rd and Gui had the honor of cooking for her and a few other dignitaries.
The VIP seated dinner for 20 took place on campus at the Lifsey House (otherwise known as the president's residence). Menu was all vegetarian, organic and as follow:

Selection of cocktail hors d'oeuvres

Trio of chilled soups served in ice block
(Carrot, orange and Grand Marnier-Edamane-Tomato and basil)

Warm artisan goat cheese, cumin and micro greens
Fresh tarragon oil and toasted walnut vinaigrete

Seared curried Serian and reduced ratatouille jus
Mash beet and Spring baby vegetables

Citrus variations

Dr. Maathai's lecture followed shortly thereafter, and she mentioned the menu with intelligent humor. Coming from Kenya, Africa, she said that it was the very first time she was served soup in a carved ice block! (see pictures of the dish above)

Taste: Chef's Table: A case for what the future holds

2006-03-29T07:18:00.000-05:00

Evos, the self-proclaimed healthy bay area restaurant chain, claims to be "the future of fast food." While I hope time will prove its young, maverick founders right, I often wonder what the future of food, fast or not, actually is.
Following cyclic eras of prosperity and chaos, food supplies have had a heck of a time, roughing it through the Great Depression and then rationing during World War II. After that came irresistible delicacies such as TV dinners, Jell-O, Rice-A-Roni and Spam. Along with convenience and comfort, some processed foods also brought the threat of obesity and cardiovascular disease.
What will be on the dinner table in decades to come?..

[Read on]
Taste: Chef's Table: A case for what the future holds

Taste: Truffles are worth the trouble

2006-01-04T08:00:00.000-05:00

Taste: Truffles are worth the trouble

A Star Chef at Your (Expensive) Stove - New York Times

2005-12-02T08:31:00.000-05:00

"ONE evening in early October, Daniel Boulud and a small staff of sous-chefs and servers dressed in formal white restaurant attire stepped off an elevator and into the spacious TriBeCa apartment of Michel Wallerstein and Gary Garrison. They rolled in crates of peekytoe crab, Colorado lamb, Maine halibut and tuna tartare, and enough fixings for a five-course feast to help the couple celebrate their 10th anniversary with a group of their friends... "

To read on, click on the headline above.

Chicago Tribune | Splitting the haute cuisine scene

2005-11-18T12:51:00.000-05:00

A recent collumn by Garrison Keillor:

"The pleasure of fine dining has pretty much worn off for me, I must admit. I realized this the other day when I sat in a French-type restaurant and gazed at the menu and felt a craving for a grilled cheese sandwich and a bowl of chili. Not a gourmet chili made from beans imported from Chile, but the kind that comes in a can, thank you very much. The kind you used to get at..."s

Click on headline above to read more.

A talented cook is a proper chopper

2005-11-17T09:51:00.000-05:00

November 16, 2005 column in the St Petersburg Times, by Gui Alinat

Test drive a Sub-Zero PRO 48

2005-11-16T08:59:00.000-05:00

Test driving a refrigerator, huh?.. Who would have thought?..

Well, the folks at Sub-Zero claim just that, as a promotion for their new model: the PRO 48. While signing up for the "test drive" will surely lead you to a lifetime of Sub Zero spam, the new model's website is worth a quick look. I have to admit, the PRO 48 looks really cool.

The main feature is definitely the heavy duty commercial look and that one glass panel. It lets cooks visualize what's inside, and really remind me of a pro kitchen refrigeration system. Also really interesting is the "auto-close" system, a hinge design that lets doors finish closing easily and automatically.

The Sub-Zero folks would like us to think the PRO 48 is the Ferrari of refrigeration. They may have a point. After all, i did not encounter one yet in the many home kitchen i visit daily for my business as a personal chef. But i have the feeling they overdo it a little. Their website overflow with very curious descriptive terms such as "dual refrigeration", "triple evaporation", "advanced controls", "masterpiece in food preservation". They even have an online video, an interactive section, a photo gallery and of course the test drive page.

Come on, guys, get real! We're talking about a fridge, here!

To "test drive" the PRO 48, follow the link above (click on the headline).

Taste: A talented cook is a proper chopper

2005-11-16T07:41:00.000-05:00

Chef Gui's column published in the Saint Petersburg Times on November 16, 2005

White magic: truffle auction hits new high

2005-11-15T08:40:00.000-05:00

A white truffle sold at a Christie's charity auction for 95 000 Euros! While we may label the news obscene and outrageous, for us gourmets, it has some value.

From The Independent:

"The smell, when it first hits your senses, is almost overwhelming. Musky, fungal and earthy, the aroma of decaying leaves and autumnal woodland. And, says one leading chef, almost sexual in its allure, leading to its reputation as an aphrodisiac..."

Read more by clicking on the headline above.

Our commercial kitchen in South Tampa now open.

2005-09-10T07:57:00.000-04:00

We have moved our offices and kitchen to South Tampa. This is an exciting move. Not only we are closer to most of our clients, and closer to Pastry Chef Kim Yelvington's Chocolate Pi Cakery (who provides most of our desserts), but our facilities are huge and comfortable, allowing us to upgrade to a full size catering company.

Blog readers around the Tampa Bay area are invited to check us out at 2821 S. MacDill Avenue (corner of Bay to Bay and MacDill, where Pane Rustica used to be before they moved to a few blocks down the street).

We are planning a VIP grand opening and an open house, so stay tuned.