Nouvelle Cuisine All Over Again

Also: the world's easiest chocolate cake. And gift suggestions galore.

I’ve been doing a great deal of talking about my forthcoming book, The Paris Novel, which is set in 1983. And so, inevitably, I’ve been talking about nouvelle cuisine. And remembering an almost forgotten chef who was a master of the form.

When Masataka Kobayashi left New York to open the restaurant at the new Auberge du Soleil, the owners of Le Plaisir were so distraught over losing their chef that they closed the restaurant. Two years later, when Kobayashi left the Auberge for the eponymous Masa’s in San Francisco, the new restaurant opened with a six-month waiting list.

He was that big a deal. Tragically, he was murdered a year later. (The murder has never been solved.) I remember his food with such pleasure - it was so ahead of its time (raw filet of lamb!) -that I can’t help wondering what Kobayashi would be cooking if he were still with us today.

Heading into the holiday season it’s always useful to have a fast, easy dessert in your back pocket when last-minute guests show up unexpectedly. This is one of my favorites.

Crazy Easy Chocolate Cake
4 ounces high-quality unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup brewed strong black coffee
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Butter and flour a 9x5-inch loaf pan.

Combine chocolate, butter and coffee in the top of a double boiler or very heavy pot and stir constantly over low heat until melted. Let the mixture cool for 15 minutes. Then add Grand Marnier, sugar, egg and vanilla. Stir well.

Stir flour, baking soda and salt together and add this to chocolate mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Turn out onto a rack for 15 minutes to cool.

Serve at room temperature or, better yet, warm, with vanilla ice cream.

I’ll never forget the air in Juneau; it was the most delicious substance I’ve ever inhaled, and I stood there, taking it in, thinking I’d never breathed real air before.  It was so clean, so fresh, so bracing it seemed like all I needed to sustain life.

But then there was the seafood….

I loved the salmon and the crabs, but for me the biggest treat was the spot prawns we pulled out of the trap every morning.  They were so wonderful we simply at them raw – and then fried the heads and ate those too

No shrimp I’ve eaten since have come close. But I’ve been thinking about them….

Here’s the problem: shrimp have an enzyme right behind the head that goes to work the minute the shrimp die, turning the flesh to unpleasant mush. So you don’t want to buy a dead spot prawn with its head on.  And the heads are so delicious….

Still, if the shrimp are decapitated the moment they’re pulled out of the ocean, and then instantly frozen, they should taste good. Worth a try, I thought. So I decided to order frozen spot prawns from Great Alaska Seafood.

I peeled them, sauteed them very briefly in butter, added a splash of lemon juice. That’s all. They were sweet, clean tasting, with a smooth, subtle and pliant texture. Although they’d been frozen, they tasted as if they’d just emerged from the ocean..

Tiny Salad Set
Never too early to start kids eating well. And this adorable children’s salad set would make anyone eager to toss a few leaves about. Hand carved out of pear wood by artist Matija Rižner, this would make any parent deliriously happy.

When I ordered this indoor orange tree I expected it to blossom once and then slump into sadness, dispirited at being stuck indoors. But here it is, a couple years later, still bearing fruit. The fruit is pleasantly puckery, and when the tree is in blossom the fragrance could not be sweeter. This year I’m sending my friends finger lime trees - because finger limes are so useful - and so hard to find.

Very Fine Fish
Live abalone! Gooseneck barnacles! Occasionally there are even live Santa Barbara spot prawns. I find the e-fish site absolutely dangerous because I invariably want every single item they sell. Their ensui uni, which comes packed in saltwater is spectacular. If you’ve got a pescatarian on your list, they will be enchanted.

Scaling Up
Most kitchen scales are clunky things you need to hide away when you’re not using them. The Hoto scale, on the other hand, is such a beauty it can happily live on your counter. Works well, looks lovely, costs little; what’s not to like?

Send a Pastrami to Your Boy in the Army
Katz’s delicatessen has been making pastrami for 135 years, and they know what they’re doing. You can buy it pre-sliced, but for the true Katz’s experience, nothing beats a whole pastrami.

It does, however, require a little work. Here are the instructions.

1. Place in a large pot of boiling water.
2. Boil the pastrami for 3 hours, or until tender. (Use a fork to test for tenderness) Be sure to watch the water level so that the water does not evaporate too much. The pastrami should be submerged in water at all times. 
3. When tender, remove from water and heat, and trim any excess fat, particularly from the tip. We do not recommend trimming too much. 
4. For best results, slice against the grain for maximum flavor and softness, and angle the blade to produce the widest slices. 

Anchovies
If you don’t like anchovies, it’s because you’ve never tasted these very special little fish from Cantabria in the north of Spain. They are in a class of their own.

Fished only in the springtime, when the quality is at its peek, they’re quickly salted and left in presses to mature for at least eight months. Then they are washed and filleted by hand before being plunked into extra virgin olive oil. The result is a rich, sweet, full flavor that you simply can’t forget. These aren’t anchovies to cook with; they’re anchovies to eat.

They’re crazily expensive – about $2 a filet – which makes them an excellent gift. I’ve tried many different brands, and Don Boccarte from Dao Foods are, hands down my favorite. Lately I’ve been ordering the giant tin – 550 grams. It’s quite a gift for a pescatarian.

Unbreakable Glasses
Have you ever walked into a store, liked everything so much you couldn't decide what you wanted, and ended up buying nothing? That was my experience at Mario Lucca Giusti, a store in Florence that sells "crystal" made of plastic: glasses, vases and pitchers as elegant as glass. They also have a line of beautiful plastic plates and platters; you'd never know they're not ceramic.

Turns out you can find many of their products in the United States. Two good sources are here, and here. If you know someone clumsy (me, for instance), who's constantly breaking things, just about anything Giusti makes would be a wonderful gift.

I met Bee Wilson about ten years ago at a food conference and instantly fell in love with her. She’s smart, knowledgable, down to earth - and a wonderful writer. I’ve liked all of her books, but this one is really special. Perfect for someone who’s just starting to cook it’s filled with great recipes and breezy wisdom that really does make your life in the kitchen easier.

Nick Kokonas of Alinea once said to me, “When I’m in a bad mood I call Will Harris at White Oak Pastures and he always makes me feel better.” I know what he means.

White Oak Pastures, a regenerative carbon negative farm in Bluffton Georgia is one of the most inspirational places on earth. Their animals - they raise a wide range - spend their lives outdoors in fields, woods and pastures. It’s a beautiful place - and they offer the most amazing line of products. Iberico pork fat anyone? Now Will has also written a wonderful book; A Bold Return to Giving a Damn, which is sure to lift the spirits of everyone who frets about the future of food.