'Good chef needs to be scientific and artistic'
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Antoine Schaefers, professor at Ferrandi, the French School of Culinary Arts in Paris, France, one of the world’s leading culinary schools / Courtesy of Mir Foundation
Ferrandi instructor shares secret of France's most prestigious cooking school
The Ferrandi school’s first cook book “Le Grand Cours de Cuisine: Ferrandi”
By Yun Suh-young
Cooking is considered an activity combining science and emotion, requiring a harmonious balance of the two to produce a delicious meal.
"A good chef needs to be both scientific and artistic. Being a good chef is not just reproducing technique but you want to express a certain identity, a personality, and originality," said Antoine Schaefers, professor at the Ferrandi School in France, one of the world’s leading culinary schools, during an interview with The Korea Times.
"But before that, it takes real motivation, passion, and character to become a chef because you have to endure long working hours and much pressure. It's extremely intense ― you need to multi-process to cook under such pressure."
Schaefers was visiting Seoul to promote a book published by the Ferrandi School which was invited to the Seoul International Book Fair held from June 15 through 19. The book is a cooking guide which contains all the Ferrandi School's secrets starting from the very basics. Named "Le Grand Cours de Cuisine: Ferrandi," it is a one of a kind cookbook that is being published for the first time in 97 years of the Ferrandi School's history with everything a cook needs to know, whether they are an amateur or a professional. Korea is the second country to publish the book after France.
"There have been books published before but not on the scale of this one. The book reveals all of the techniques we have accumulated not only during the 97 years of the Ferrandi School but through thousands of years in the evolution of cooking," said Schaefers.
"The idea started in 2011-12 but it took two years to complete and a lot of revision before printing. We had some arguments and discussions to see what would be the most important information to put into the book. At first we started with a large group of chef professors at the school, but in the end only six chefs, including myself, were left to complete the book."
The book was published in 2014 in France and was translated into Korean and published in Korea in May this year. It will soon be published in Taiwan and China and an English version is also anticipated.
"We summarized the most used techniques in this book. With everything, there is a base, and the main point (of the book) was to introduce the different bases such as coulis, vegetable sauce, for example. We wanted to share techniques that could be applied to other elements and produce the same results," said Schaefers.
"French cooking can be characterized by 3 basic movements ― regional cooking, using only the ingredients around the region, classical cooking and then contemporary cuisine. Contemporary cooking is linked to creativity and artistic feeling."
But creativity can never come without mastering the basics, the professor said.
"Creativity in cooking doesn't come from improvisation," said Schaefers. "It never can, unless the chef is trained in the basics. It's the same with music. Musicians cannot improvise without knowing the notes. The Ferrandi School stresses the importance of 'basics' and trains students to master the basic and traditional culinary skills before going on to creating anything beyond that."
The Ferrandi School's philosophy can be summarized in two words _ technique and expression.
"We often use the expression, 'steel hands with velvet gloves' to describe our chefs. It means they need a certain firmness and determination but with love and softness," said Schaefers.
"It's like the yin and yang. You have to master the science of cooking which is precise chemical reaction, the technique concerning the food balance and diet. And then you need to know how to combine it with the art of feeling, sensitivity and sensuality. If you don't have feeling, it might not work.
"The philosophy follows the French feeling and culture because in France we regard cooking as an art. In France, many chefs are stars and are considered as artists as much as musicians, painters, and sculptors are."
The publication of the book comes almost in line with the opening of the Ferrandi School in Korea which will begin classes in October. The French-Korean cooking school, which will teach both Korean and French cuisine, is a collaborative effort between France's Ferrandi School and Korea's Mir Foundation, a cultural foundation invested by 15 conglomerates in the country.
Korea already has a French culinary academy “Le Cordon Bleu Seoul” established in 2002. The Mir-Ferrandi School will be the second French culinary institute in Korea. The difference, however, between Mir-Ferrandi School and the existing Le Cordon Bleu Seoul at Sookmyung Women’s University is that Sookmyung is a branch school of Le Cordon Bleu while the Mir-Ferrandi School is a co-establishment of both institutions. Both schools aim to foster future professionals who are aspiring to enter the culinary profession.
"It is a coincidence that the book comes with the school's opening but it's a happy coincidence," said Schaefers. "At the school, French chefs will introduce French cuisine to Korea while Korean chefs will come to France to introduce Korean cuisine to France. It will be a platform for cultural and culinary exchanges.
"My food is always inspired by my travels. I travel a lot and I was inspired by many cultures. At the Mir-Ferrandi School, students will be able to share cultures and exchange their culinary traditions," he said.
"The French are familiar with Korean food, but whether they would be interested in cooking it, I don't think they're quite ready yet. But if we offer a course, demand will follow. We tried to introduce Thai cuisine but that didn't work.”
The school has a one-week Japanese cooking program coming up which will be the first official Asian cooking class. He said the same could be done with Korean cooking classes.
“We will need to get acquainted with Korean food."