PRESENTED BY ODILE MATTEI
DIRECTED BY ERIC PIO
HAVE A TASTE! WITH ODILE MATTEI
Hello.
He has worked with Pierre Gagnaire, Paul Bocuse and Régis Marcon.
He is well-known for his strictness and creativity;
After 11 years in Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert,
Christophe Roure, two-star chef and Meilleur Ouvrier de France
moved to Lyon in June 2014.
We're in Lyon at Le Neuvième Art, with Christophe and Nati Roure.
Why did you come to Lyon, Nati and Christophe?
Since 2008, we've held a 2nd Michelin star,
so we wanted our project to evolve
and last year, we got the opportunity to come to Lyon.
In a few months, we were owners of our own business
and in a position to begin building work fairly quickly.
Also, it is was obvious for us really,
having been a Toque blanche for so many years
some chefs suggested houses for us to buy, so we visited lots of places
and it was obvious for us, totally natural, to come to Lyon.
And you invited the Toques blanches and the chefs for lunch
at the end of September?
Yes.
We wanted a setting with both colleagues and friends...
As well as with people who have already been in the job for some time
and that I'd known since my youth.
Seeing them in our restaurant yesterday was a great pleasure.
One of those friends is Eric Pras.
He is part of this generation of chefs with an enormous amount of talent,
he always has objectives,
he's always being creative and he's a strict man,
with others, but especially with himself.
That's really important. It's a real sign of humanity for me.
So Nati, you entrusted the decor to the designer Alain Vavro.
Alain and Dominique had already joined us on our projects in the Loire Valley,
so they already knew us
and had figured out what we liked.
We love anything on trend,
we like seeing what's being done,
and while walking around various showrooms,
we saw that there were certain styles in place
that we liked a lot, very stripped down styles,
natural styles,
quite Zen styles, like reverting back to nature,
with cork, stone or grass, very natural materials, in fact.
We liked it a lot and kept these ideas in our head,
saying... - That's really us.
Yes, that's really us. And it resembles your kitchen.
We kept it in a corner of our minds, saying,
in the new building, that's what we'd like to highlight.
We wanted to completely break away from Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert,
where we had darker things, leather armchairs, black, slate.
We had steel sculptures.
We broke away from that, keeping just one sculpture, as a reminder.
We wanted to completely break away from that.
Now let's visit sculptor Thierry Courtadon at Volvic.
Hi, Thierry - Hi, nice to meet you.
So here we're at your workshop.
Yes, we're in the heart of our workshop.
This is Volvic lava. The volcano is just behind us.
How did you meet Thierry?
It was Serge Vieira who introduced us.
I just wanted to have some small crepe plates made.
I was slightly embarrassed when I saw these beautiful pieces.
We were missing a really essential piece,
something to put in the middle of the table.
We didn't want flowers or a conventional candle
and that's where Thierry came in.
He helped us out of a tricky situation
and straight away things went very quickly.
He told us we needed a draft
and we went home, discussed it, made notes,
sent him something by mail and it was all very quick.
TASTE
INTENSITY, COLORS
True, I just took a look and then afterwards,
I could understand a little what they wanted and what steps...
We had a product, a cube, which was already made
and we suggested that, but to attach sentiment to the object,
why not engrave words to explain the story and emotions of the place?
Do you often work for restaurants? - Yes, often.
I had never even dared dream of a table made of Volvic stone.
I could never have imagined my stone on the finest French tables.
It's great that an artist is building something for us.
Simply put, he is going to attach sentiment to the place
and as chefs, we must also... and I'm more of an artistic chef...
...connect with this sentiment
and the kitchen must be the perfect image of the place.
That's why it works
and the customer can feel all that.
It's a harmony of artists.
If you hadn't been a chef, what job would you have done?
I would have done this like him.
What he does, in a place like this, I imagine it being total bliss,
alone and in complete concentration,
as well as being in natural surroundings.
So it's a kind of calming influence.
So what if we gave him some stone to sculpt, as it's his dream job?
I can make an omelette, let's see if he can sculpt?
I'm not sure I can! - Just joking!
It's very precise. - To within a 10th of a millimeter.
What's your impression, Christophe? - It requires great dexterity.
It's...
It's not easy.
Well it's only the 1st time you've tried it.
Let me assure you, he has 40 years' experience, OK?
There you go.
Very good. I'll stick to the kitchen.
Let's go to "Le Neuvième Art" and cook.
It's time to cook Christophe's recipe.
What are we going to make?
We're going to make something quite simple,
but which also has a complex side.
A dish called Textures of Raw and Cooked Porcini Mushrooms,
with grated hazelnuts and porcini mushroom sabayon.
First of all, we need dried porcini,
but then also some fresh.
We are also going to use a little cured ham,
some fresh hazelnuts or walnuts.
We're going to add a few chestnuts to make some crispy bread
and we're going to make a puree with potatoes, butter, egg,
milk and cream.
Let's begin! - We'll start by making porcini cream,
You're adding oil?
We'll do it with a little bit of olive oil.
You've added shallots? - Yes.
Olive oil, shallots and the mushrooms.
You've soaked them? - Yes, I put them to soak yesterday.
While the shallots and the mushrooms are sweating,
we're going to start the potatoes for the puree.
We're cleaning them.
These are potatoes from my grandparents' place.
From your grandparents' garden?
A potato seems trivial
but the reactions are not the same... That's an egg from their place.
And the result is not the same.
That's typical of you.
The importance of home-grown products. - It's essential.
If you could cut these.
Show me first, though.
Like that.
Of this calibre.
The same with the caps? - Yes, same with the caps.
I'm adding the porcini soaking liquid
and leaving it to cook a little and then we're going to mix.
And then we're going to get the cream, which will form the base of our puree.
It's ready, so let's mix it.
We'll take this porcini puree.
It's smells strongly of porcini. - Yes, it needs to be quite intense.
Next, we're going to make a puree with the siphon.
We're going to mix the porcini cream that we made earlier.
Haven't we already mixed it?
Yes, but now, we're going to mix it with all the other ingredients.
The potatoes that I'm draining, the milk and the cream.
We'll just heat it up.
A little bit of egg white.
The potatoes, from Grandpa's garden.
We'll also take the egg.
From your grandfather's hens.
Have you seen the color? - It's very yellow.
You'll see after we've mixed it all, that will change everything.
We'll put our liquid in here. - Yes. Cream and milk.
We'll mix it and finally, we'll add the clarified butter.
And there you've left some egg white. - I'm not going to use it.
And its color comes from the egg yolk.
Now we can start decorating this small slice of bread.
So it's a slice of bread... - I have cooked it in a waffle iron.
You've cooked the dough in a waffle iron? OK.
A few leaves.
Now we can get back to this.
Next, we're going to add a few pieces of ham.
There we go.
I saw you, greedy guts! - You must taste to see if it's good.
Next we'll place a few...
slices of raw porcini mushroom.
I'm going to add some hazelnut oil.
Next, we've got a little porcini powder,
some dried porcini that I've mixed,
that we'll sieve over the top.
We'll add a little sea salt.
And we'll finish off with the bread.
We'll drop a little oil over the top.
Hazelnut oil.
Let's taste it!
I'm going to try the puree.
And on top, we've got the porcini.
Yum. That's excellent. - And the ham that's been warmed up.
Which is also...
You like working with mushrooms? - Yes, I do.
I like working with shitake for its texture.
It's really a mushroom with a lot of texture.
I use these for flavor and others for texture.
That's what interests me.
Shall we see where they grow? - Yes.
Let's take a look.
Léo and Mathieu, you're farmers here in Grammond in the Loire Valley.
So what do you grow here on these family grounds?
We have two kinds of produce: shitake,
these mushrooms of Asian origin,
and we also have these blueberries
So we're busy harvesting in July and August.
The origin of this mushroom, Léo, shitake, it sounds slightly Asian.
It's definitely Asian.
It's the 2nd most produced mushroom in the world,
after button mushrooms.
It's widely eaten in Asia for its medicinal properties.
And mushrooms are grown all year round,
365 out of 365 days.
We bring in the substrate every other week
and keep the production going throughout the year, bringing it in
and putting it out again.
Christophe Roure helps himself here by sending his pastry chef,
one of your neighbors.
Christophe Roure has been buying our mushrooms for some 10 years.
Are they easy to cook?
Not exactly the easiest. They are quite rich in flavor,
so they need to be accompanied
by something equally as rich, so that the mushroom is not overbearing.
Typically in a sauce, like a stew, or something else...
It's appropriate.
It took us well over 2 hours to get here from Lyon.
We're at the Fourmontoise Cooperative in Perpezat, Puy-de-Dôme.
We're here to meet Etienne, from Paul Bocuse's food market.
And Maëlys, based here at the Fourmontoise Cooperative.
Exactly.
Is it a new cooperative?
Yes. It's now 1 year and 9 months since it opened.
And we mainly produce Rochefort-Montagne cheese.
Is it a local cheese with its roots in this area,
Puy-de-Dôme, in the Rochefort-Montagne region?
Yes. It's made with pasteurized milk,
which is produced in nearby farms.
Are there still many producers here? - There's around nine left.
So, Etienne, do you sell a lot of Rochefort-Montagne cheese?
Not much, no. We've not really pushed it yet.
But, why not?
Especially the mature cheese like this one.
I think that would interest customers.
Christophe is also interested.
I would like to try as I think this is a fine cheese.
I like full cheeses, big pieces like this one
with different flavors according to their age.
I've already tried it. It has an interesting texture
and a long aftertaste.
Is your shop the only one that sells this Saint-Nectaire?
Yes, exactly.
Hervé Mons works with two producers.
The Batte and Verdier families.
It's special, not only because it's made with pasteurized milk,
but also because it's made from Saler cow milk,
the Auvergne super cow. - The best. The one with horns.
Did you know this Saint-Nectaire? - I'd tasted it,
but I didn't know that it was specifically made from Saler milk.
I did know that it was made with pasturized milk.
So it's always interesting to travel and have the chance to discuss.
Directly with people.
Etienne, why are there only two or three producers?
Salers must be next to their calves in order to express milk,
so that requires different organisation
and not everybody buys into that.
So what's done differently with this cheese?
The cheese is made differently. We need to adapt to this kind of milk.
As Etienne said, it's not the same and it's complicated to work with.
Saint-Nectaire is a geographically protected cheese,
so it must always be kept for 28 days in the cellar.
As the cellar is here in the maturing area,
they stay there for around 28 days
and are finished in Mons's cellars in Saint-Haon-le-Châtel.
Once in the final cellar, they stay there a while
before being sold in shops.
Our Saint-Nectaires have matured for more than 60 days.
That also affects the final quality, of course.
They bear a striking resemblance to Volvic stone.
A work of art. - A work of art.
Thanks to you both.
Let's hear from a chef in Chaudes-Aigues, Cantal.
Your friend Serge Vieria is going to say a few words about you.
CHEF'S LUNCH WITH CHRISTOPHE ROURE
We're serving you some John Dory with haddock cream,
bottarga, seaweed, palm heart, with small crusty rolls.
It's flavored with a zest of lemon. Enjoy.
We always know it will be creative and innovative.
He constantly transforms and creates new things.
It's unbelievable.
It's very personal cookery, there is clearly a lot of technique involved.
That's his thing. And there's more than just powerful flavors.
He's chosen products that we're not used to working with.
He has a very personal style. That's his distinguishing feature.
He's loyal and he's a nice guy.
Underneath his reserved, slightly shy exterior,
he's a bon vivant. And I can't say any more than that.
Christophe is a perfectionist with a finely honed technique.
He's a true technician. Perhaps one of the best in the region.
And it's lucky for everyone that he's come to Lyon.
Very technical. He shares things, thinks about his team....
and with his customers too.
It's very artistic, really admirable,
I think that everybody thinks he's unbelievable. His precision...
I think we need to underline his extraordinary artistic side.
One difficult thing, that Christophe does to perfection,
is express sentiment through technique
and when you eat a dish and say "Wow!"
It's so good. It's technically great, it's cooked perfectly...
But with the addition of sentiment, something that gives you goose bumps,
then I feel we've reached the highest level of excellence.
Once he's reached cruising speed, I mean, here in Lyon.
It's a place that will really stand out in the sector.
I'd like to say some words, on your behalf, privilege of old age.
Thanks to Nati
and Christophe and all their team, in the restaurant and kitchen.
Congratulations, ladies and gentlemen. It was a real treat.
I knew you, Christophe, via everything I'd heard.
I never had the opportunity to meet you before.
I met you here, with my friends... It was a great moment of pleasure.
From the first appetizer to the final dessert.
You're an unparalleled technician, awarded Meilleur Ouvrier de France.
I wish you and those you share your passion and enthusiasm with,
continued success. We've all had an excellent experience.
Congratulations to you all and we'll look forward to next time.
Thank you very much.
It's the end of this edition of Have a Taste.
In conclusion, cooking, for you, is a way of sharing emotion.
That comes up all the time.
In any case, that's how I see it. Systematically,
I have to be moved and then I share my emotion with the customer.
When that happens, I've succeeded.
And you have. Since you've moved here, all we've heard is compliments.
We hope so, Odile. Fingers crossed for the future.
Thank you for treating us. - Thanks.
Thank you for tuning in and see you for our next Have a Taste.
Bye.
Subtitles : Babel Subtitling