9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Good morning! 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Applause) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Good morning, everyone! 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Audience) Good morning! 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Claudine and I are delighted [br]to be with you this morning 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to be the first one. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I left home when I was 13[br]to go to apprenticeship, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that was in 1949. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Actually, home was the restaurant[br]where my mother was the chef, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I was already in that business. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 In fact, there was 12 restaurants[br]through the years in my family 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and 12 of them owned by women, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I'm the first male to enter [br]that business in my family. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I went into apprenticeship from Lyon,[br]where my mother had her little restaurant 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to Bourg-en-Bresse, where [br]I was born a few miles away. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Prior to that, when [br]we were about 8-9 years old, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 my mother had that little restaurant 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 so, my brother and I,[br]before going to school, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 would walk with my mother to the market, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the St. Antoine market[br]along the Saône river, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and she would walk the market one way, [br]about 1/2 a mile, and buy on her way back. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Buying a case of mushrooms [br]which was getting dark, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 maybe for a third of the price or less. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We carried, of course, [br]we didn't have a car at the time. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 She'd get home and start doing [br]her vegetables, peeling for the day. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 She did not have [br]a refrigerator at that time. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 She had an ice box, that is[br]a block of ice into a little cabinet, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 so she'd have chicken of the day, meat, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 fish, usually, whiting or mackerel [br]or skate -- inexpensive fish, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and that she has to use it that day. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And the day after, [br]we start all over again. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Everything was organic, [br]everything was local. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The word organic did not really exist, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 chemical fertilizers [br]did not exist either, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 or fungicides, insecticides, pesticides,[br]all that stuff did not exist, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 so everything was, local and organic. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I went into apprenticeship, [br]I was 13 years old and, at that time, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 it was very structured,[br]well, still is to certain extend, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 you got to be there on time,[br]you got to be clean, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 you have to be willing, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 it's discipline, it's structure,[br]that's the way a kitchen can work. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We learn through a type of osmosis. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The chef never really explained anything, [br]he'd just say, "Do that". 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And if you say, "Why?", and [br]he'd say, "Because I just told you". 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 That was about the end [br]of the apprenticeship. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Probably, just as good [br]for someone 13-14 years old. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So, we worked, repeating, and repeating,[br]and repeating those techniques ad nauseam, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 we were not allowed[br]to go to the stove for a year. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So, during that year,[br]I plucked a lot of chicken, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 eviscerated a lot of chicken, [br]scaled fish, chopped parsley, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 all of that type of things,[br]and then the chef called me -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 My name was "you" at the time, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 then by the time I went to the stove[br]they called me Jacques, so I got the name. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 He said, "You start tomorrow". 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "I start tomorrow?"[br]I didn't know how to do it, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but when I went to the stove,[br]I knew how to do it. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It was through that type of osmosis,[br]things that you show, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I've got a book called, "La technique",[br]that I published in 1975 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 so, it's 40-year old, and I don't cook[br]the way I did 40 years ago. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But the way I did an egg white, [br]or sharpen a knife, or bone out a chicken, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to [inaudible]... it is that kind [br]of permanence, that kind of continuity 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that you'll learn in the kitchen. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 To be first a craftman. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And very often it's very difficult [br]to explain in words 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 something that you can show -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It's easier to show -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 than to explain in words -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 You can do that to chocolate as well -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 You'd do that at exactly [br]the right temperature -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and we used to -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 put the butter in[br]a little container and that on top, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and now you can charge 20 bucks for it -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Laughter) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Put that in water that's cold -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Applause) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Thank you, Titine. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 For me, first you have to be a craftsman. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 You have to be a craftsman, and [br]it's that repeat, and repeat, and repeat, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that is very important. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Just like -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 you spend a 1-2 years[br]in a studio in art school 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and learn the law of perspective[br]-- it is perfectly fine, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and you learn how to mix [br]yellow and blue to make green, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 what to do with your sand, [br]with your spatula, with the brush -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 then you can come out and [br]do one painting after another. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So that makes you a chef? Not really. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But you're by then, a good craftsman,[br]and that's very important. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 You have to first know your trade, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 whether you are a shoemaker,[br]or a cabinet maker, like my father, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 first, you know your trade. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So, those things that we boned out[br]I learned as a child -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Then, I learned this from...[br]I don't remember where I learn that but 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 when you learn something [br]you learn it a certain way 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and after a while, you don't remember [br]where it comes from, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and you do it your way, eventually. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 To do a type of lollipop like that [br]as we used to do that you -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So, those techniques, as I said,[br]first make you a craftsman, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and if you are a good craftsman[br]then you can run a restaurant. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 There are about [br]20,000 restaurants in New York 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and 100 are well known, maybe 200, [br]maybe 300, maybe 400 even, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but what happen to the 19,500[br]is that they are run by artisans, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 people who know how to work properly, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and this is the only way if you become,[br]in my opinion, a good craftsman, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 if you have that type of knowledge[br]then you can express yourself. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 This is half of yourself, [br]the other half has to do with talent. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 If you happen to have talent like,[br]if you have taste, a bit of a vision, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 if you have a little bit of creativity, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 then you can express yourself, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 you now have the means[br]to express yourself, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 if you've gone through those techniques. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 You have to repeat those techniques,[br]as I said, long enough 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 so you can afford to forget it after. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Here we are, [br]half of this, now the filet -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Claudine) If you have any questions[br]you should shout them out, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 it's a good opportunity. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 There's going to be a test. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Laughter) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Jacques) This way -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 There's my carcass. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Now, [inaudible] filet,[br]you remove it here -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 This one here -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So, you free your hand[br]by learning those techniques 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and as I said, you can think in term [br]of texture and other things 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 because, as I said, you free your hand[br]by repeating and repeating. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Now, this is one part of yourself, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 half of yourself is there, [br]it's the craftsman, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and the other part of yourself 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 will depend on whether [br]you have talent or not, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and even if you have [br]a little bit of talent, not too much, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 you can still run a little restaurant[br]by being a good technician. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 If you have a lot of talent,[br]then you can take it further, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but not all the chefs are René Redzepi,[br]or David Chang, or José Andrés -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Here we are -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Applause) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Jacques) At that point [br]you really don't want to cut the bone 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 because the skin will shrink [br]all over the place so, we break it.