Cooking with Star Appeal
Bart van Berkel is somewhat well known among food lovers as the cheerful bald guy who won the final of MasterChef 2014 as the best amateur chef of the year. He has long since outgrown his amateur status. He is now active as a professional chef with his own catering company and cooking school. And now also as a cookbook author.
The idea behind his book is as simple as it is effective. Fifty recipes for the home cook, inspired by the signature dishes of top chefs. To be prepared within 1 hour, using readily available ingredients. Bart spent short and longer periods doing work placements with (Michelin-starred) chefs to see what goes on in a top kitchen. Renowned chefs participated in the project, including Le Ciel Blue** by Onno Kokmeijer, Parkheuvel** by Erik van Loo, De Lindehof** by Soenil Bahadoer and Noble by Edwin Kats. Bart also worked in the kitchen of The Jane in Antwerp, now awarded two Michelin stars, run by the successful duo Sergio Herman and Nick Bril. In the company of the aforementioned chefs, Bart launched his new book at The Jane.
Home Version
The common thread running through the book is dishes that have made the aforementioned chefs famous and for which Bart creates his own home version. By carefully observing and cooking along during his work placements, Bart deconstructs a dish and then gives it his own twist, making these sometimes complicated recipes achievable for the home cook as well.
The strength of the book (which he self-published with the money he won on MasterChef) is that Bart is a credible explainer. As a former hobby cook, he speaks the language of the home cook. In clear language, he explains recipes, preparation methods and techniques in detail. He leaves no question unanswered.
Gold Leaf
Such as the black tower with gold leaf by Ciel Bleu chef Onno Kokmeijer, filled with celeriac cream, king crab salad, beurre noisette ice cream, caviar and gold leaf. A complex little dish that Bart reduces to a charming-looking homemade craft project with a variation on the king crab salad and salmon roe instead of caviar. All this while retaining the refinement of the original dish, in which flavours such as salty, sweet and sour come together.
Foie Gras
Bart ingeniously transforms Edwin Kats’s dish of foie gras with spring carrot, apple syrup, liquorice and hazelnut into a version with duck breast, liquorice sauce (!) and hazelnut. He also manages to turn the yakitori-sauce-glazed sea bass, smoked over pine needles, which is served smouldering in a small Asian cast-iron pan at the table in the restaurant of its spiritual father Peter Lute, into a more achievable version for the hobby cook.
As a former hobby cook, he speaks the language of the home cook
Bonus
Woven throughout the book are informative step-by-step photo pages explaining basic techniques such as cleaning a langoustine, cleaning a red mullet or making a chicken roulade.
As a bonus, the reader is taught basic techniques such as shaping quenelles or the best way to pass a product through a sieve. Discover the Chef’s Secret also offers a range of easy-to-make crumbs and crackers to add a ‘bite’ to a dish, various basic recipes for broths and stocks, and for creams and dressings.
Do-it-yourself cookbook
For the home cook with star appeal, Discover the Chef’s Secret is a must-read do-it-yourself cookbook with which you are guaranteed to impress at dinner parties where you want to wow your guests. For those who would rather leave that to the real big names, the book is above all an excellent checklist of which signature dishes by which chefs are still missing from the wish list, so that you can immediately make a reservation.
Fancy getting started yourself? FavorFlav may publish three recipes from the book:
Langoustine with ginger beer & avocado
Rabbit ravioli with pea sauce & feta cheese
Discover the Chef’s Secret
Bart van Berkel
€ 29,95
Text: Marcus Polman
Images: FavorFlav
