New Culinary Alphabet
Time to take a new approach
Time to take a new approach
To Stephan "Gastronomy is the same as being a painter or an artist"
Some chefs are more creative than others, just as some painters are better than others." He regards himself as a traveling teacher being an Expat most of his working life.
Gastronomy is honorable pleasure, gastronomy gives you access to another universe, where the sky has no limit, above all, it's all about happiness in the end, it has to be about happiness to enjoy it. Stephan has an innate appetite for new professional 'know how' and he constantly likes to achieve, motivate and give new inspirations to his guests/colleagues and to his profession!
Stephan Oppenhagen's Specialty Cuisine
Contemporary French cuisine, Oriental inspired French Nouvelle cuisine.
Stephan also has a great knowledge of other cuisines such as:
Modern/Classic French haute Cuisine, Fish & Seafood, Spa & Fusion, Danish & Scandinavian- (Traditional Cuisine) , Italian- Mediterranean, Middle Eastern Food, Indian Food, German Food, British Food, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian, and Japanese cuisine.
Cooking is produce
Great cooking is basically a matter of selecting the very best of ingredients.
In Stephan's opinion, the suitability and freshness of the product used is much more important than the skill of the cook.
"A beautiful free range chicken without a cook is better than a cook without chicken"
Most chefs spends a lot of time seeking for the "BEST" ingredients and suppliers, with the view to find the perfect blend of flavors, place and season is a nonstop challenge for almost any Chef, who is prepared to do the shopping worldwide.
Cooking is technique & method
From the moment of reading a recipe and creating the corresponding dish. Great cooking is not just the expression of a Chef's genius imposed a given product.
It is a Chef's expertise built up over many years of experience, enhanced by contacts with other Chefs, guests comments, feedback and demand. Inventive cooking is ART which requires a complete knowledge based on traditional cooking methods, if a great Chef doesn't understand the basic of Haute cuisine then it's even more difficult to create unusual dishes and combinations to perfection.
Philosophy
Tasting a dish should always be memorable somehow. Sharing knowledge and vision of 'Haute Cuisine' as well as the new Contemporary modern French cuisine with all food lovers, professional or amateurs, is always a big challenge.
Most guests enjoy experiencing new emotions which means new techniques.
Although the characteristics of the products may be modified doing the cooking process, temperature, texture, shape, etc. the aim MUST always be to preserve the purity of their original flavor and taste. Cooking techniques, both classic and modern, are a heritage, the Chef has to know how to exploit to maximum. When I start to create and develop a new dish, usually I get a picture of the dish in my mind and then put it down on a paper as a drawing. I see the whole thing complete although there's always the chance I might find something to add at the last moment to improve the effect (or) even change my mind, my advise is always, don't be afraid to think out of the box, recipe books are useful of course, but don't limit yourself!
A New Culinary Alphabet - this is only the beginning
This is just the start of developing a new Culinary Alphabet. A new, fresh and exciting way of combining, cooking and presenting great food.