WEBVTT 00:00:06.220 --> 00:00:08.288 (Jacques) Good morning! 00:00:08.478 --> 00:00:10.452 Good morning, everybody! 00:00:10.452 --> 00:00:11.699 (Audience) Good morning! 00:00:11.699 --> 00:00:14.547 Claudine and I are delighted to be with you this morning 00:00:14.547 --> 00:00:16.348 to be the first one. 00:00:17.350 --> 00:00:22.007 I left home when I was 13 to go to apprenticeship, 00:00:22.939 --> 00:00:24.674 that was in 1949. 00:00:26.278 --> 00:00:30.172 Actually, home was a restaurant where my mother was the chef, 00:00:31.132 --> 00:00:33.189 I was already in that business. 00:00:33.189 --> 00:00:37.839 In fact, there was 12 restaurants through the years in my family 00:00:38.238 --> 00:00:40.399 and 12 of them owned by women, 00:00:40.539 --> 00:00:44.067 I'm the first male to enter that business in my family. 00:00:45.467 --> 00:00:49.175 I went into apprenticeship from Lyon, where my mother had her little restaurant 00:00:49.175 --> 00:00:52.740 to Bourg-en-Bresse, where I was born a few miles away. 00:00:53.741 --> 00:00:57.078 Prior to that, when we were about 8-9 years old, 00:00:57.078 --> 00:00:58.798 my mother had that little restaurant 00:00:58.798 --> 00:01:02.209 so, my brother and I, before going to school, 00:01:02.209 --> 00:01:04.759 walked with my mother to the market 00:01:04.759 --> 00:01:08.507 - the St. Antoine market along the Saône river - 00:01:09.268 --> 00:01:14.370 and she would walk the market one way, about 1/2 a mile, and buy on her way back. 00:01:14.942 --> 00:01:17.918 Buying a case of mushrooms which were getting dark 00:01:17.918 --> 00:01:20.404 maybe for a third of the price or less. 00:01:21.079 --> 00:01:24.630 We carried, of course, we didn't have a car at the time. 00:01:24.630 --> 00:01:28.587 She'd get home and start doing her vegetables, peeling for the day. 00:01:29.779 --> 00:01:33.171 She did not have a refrigerator at that time. 00:01:33.300 --> 00:01:37.427 She had an ice box, that is a block of ice into a little cabinet, 00:01:37.728 --> 00:01:41.504 so she'd have chicken of the day, meat, 00:01:41.921 --> 00:01:48.127 fish, usually, whiting or mackerel or skate -inexpensive fish - 00:01:48.659 --> 00:01:51.679 and that she has to use it that day. 00:01:51.679 --> 00:01:55.473 And again, the day after, we start all over again. 00:01:55.878 --> 00:01:58.893 Everything was organic, everything was local. 00:01:59.238 --> 00:02:01.990 The word organic did not really exist -- 00:02:02.098 --> 00:02:06.368 well, since chemical fertilizers did not exist either, 00:02:06.368 --> 00:02:09.958 or fungicides, insecticides, pesticides, all that stuff did not exist, 00:02:09.958 --> 00:02:14.594 so everything was, you know, local and -- 00:02:14.924 --> 00:02:17.261 (Claudine) Organic. (Jacques) Organic, that's it. 00:02:17.261 --> 00:02:22.157 So, I went into apprenticeship, I was 13 years old and, at that time, 00:02:23.380 --> 00:02:27.245 it was very structured, well, still is to certain extend, 00:02:28.038 --> 00:02:30.669 you got to be there on time, you got to be clean, 00:02:30.669 --> 00:02:32.638 you have to be willing, 00:02:32.638 --> 00:02:36.532 it's discipline, it's structure, that's the way a kitchen can work. 00:02:37.029 --> 00:02:39.819 We learn through a type of osmosis. 00:02:39.819 --> 00:02:45.226 The chef never really explained anything, he'd just say, "Do that". 00:02:45.509 --> 00:02:49.129 And if you say, "Why?", and he'd say, "Because I just told you". 00:02:49.129 --> 00:02:51.266 That was about the end of the apprenticeship. 00:02:51.948 --> 00:02:55.958 Probably, just as good for someone who's 13-14 years old. 00:02:57.268 --> 00:03:02.468 So, we worked, repeating, and repeating, and repeating those techniques ad nauseam; 00:03:03.168 --> 00:03:06.250 we were not allowed to go to the stove for a year. 00:03:06.638 --> 00:03:09.851 So, during that year, I did pluck a lot of chicken, 00:03:09.854 --> 00:03:14.439 eviscerated a lot of chicken, scaled fish, chopped parsley, 00:03:14.439 --> 00:03:17.857 all of that type of things, and then, the chef called me -- 00:03:17.857 --> 00:03:20.049 My name was "you" at the time, 00:03:20.049 --> 00:03:24.740 then by the time I went to the stove, they called me Jacques, so I got the name. 00:03:26.240 --> 00:03:28.268 So, he said, "You start tomorrow". 00:03:28.818 --> 00:03:31.648 "I start tomorrow?", I didn't know how to do it; 00:03:31.648 --> 00:03:33.889 I went to the stove and I knew how to do it. 00:03:33.889 --> 00:03:38.549 So there was that type of osmosis, things that you show, that you mentor. 00:03:38.549 --> 00:03:43.083 I've got a book called, "La technique", that I published in 1975, 00:03:43.083 --> 00:03:44.590 so it's 40-year old, 00:03:45.131 --> 00:03:48.540 and I don't cook the way I did 40 years ago. 00:03:48.540 --> 00:03:51.906 But the way I did an egg white, or sharpen a knife, 00:03:52.735 --> 00:03:55.284 or bone out a chicken, to give you a sense; 00:03:55.284 --> 00:03:58.707 it is that kind of permanence, that kind of continuity, 00:03:58.707 --> 00:04:00.797 that, you'll learn in the kitchen; 00:04:00.797 --> 00:04:03.986 to be first a craftsman. 00:04:04.299 --> 00:04:11.109 And it's very difficult, very often, to explain in words 00:04:11.109 --> 00:04:13.031 something that you can show -- 00:04:14.850 --> 00:04:16.939 It's easier to show -- 00:04:21.339 --> 00:04:23.419 than to explain 00:04:24.913 --> 00:04:26.388 in words. 00:04:30.320 --> 00:04:32.547 You can do that to chocolate as well. 00:04:32.547 --> 00:04:34.972 You'd do that at exactly the right temperature. 00:04:36.109 --> 00:04:37.620 And we used to 00:04:38.670 --> 00:04:41.103 put the butter in a little container, that on top, 00:04:41.790 --> 00:04:43.698 and now you can charge 20 bucks for it. 00:04:43.698 --> 00:04:46.298 (Laughter) 00:04:47.258 --> 00:04:51.802 Put that in water that's cold, so we could do whatever. 00:04:51.802 --> 00:04:54.270 (Applause) 00:04:54.270 --> 00:04:55.430 Thank you, Titine. 00:04:55.430 --> 00:04:58.174 For me, first you have to be a craftsman. 00:04:58.499 --> 00:05:02.838 You have to be a craftsman, and is that repeat, and repeat, and repeat, 00:05:02.838 --> 00:05:05.368 that is very important. 00:05:06.598 --> 00:05:08.036 Just like 00:05:08.140 --> 00:05:13.579 you can spend a year, two years, in a studio in art school 00:05:13.579 --> 00:05:18.041 and learn the law of perspective, it is perfectly fine, 00:05:18.041 --> 00:05:20.848 and you learn how to mix yellow and blue to make green, 00:05:20.848 --> 00:05:24.238 you know what to do with your sand, with your spatula, with the brush; 00:05:24.238 --> 00:05:27.938 then you can come out and do one painting after another. 00:05:27.938 --> 00:05:30.480 So, does that make you a chef? Not really. 00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:35.759 But you're by then, a good craftsman, and that's very important. 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:38.349 You have, first, to know your trade, 00:05:38.349 --> 00:05:40.061 whether you are 00:05:41.554 --> 00:05:45.180 a shoemaker, or a cabinet maker - like my father - 00:05:45.599 --> 00:05:47.871 first, you know your trade. 00:05:47.871 --> 00:05:58.728 So, those things that we boned out I learned as a child -- 00:05:58.728 --> 00:06:06.760 Then, I learned this from... I don't remember where I learn that but 00:06:07.929 --> 00:06:10.498 when you learn something you learn it a certain way 00:06:10.498 --> 00:06:13.569 and after a while, you don't remember where it comes from, 00:06:13.569 --> 00:06:17.031 and you do it your way, eventually. 00:06:17.031 --> 00:06:22.129 To do a type of lollipop like that as we used to do that you -- 00:06:23.798 --> 00:06:30.018 So, those techniques, as I said, first make you a craftsman, 00:06:30.018 --> 00:06:35.198 and if you are a good craftsman then you can run a restaurant. 00:06:35.198 --> 00:06:38.312 There are about 20,000 restaurants in New York 00:06:38.312 --> 00:06:45.659 and 100 are well known, maybe 200, maybe 300, maybe 400 even, 00:06:45.659 --> 00:06:52.398 but what happen to the 19,500 is that they are run by artisans, 00:06:52.398 --> 00:06:57.117 people who know how to work properly, 00:06:57.117 --> 00:07:04.861 and this is the only way if you become, in my opinion, a good craftsman, 00:07:04.861 --> 00:07:09.440 if you have that type of knowledge then you can express yourself. 00:07:09.440 --> 00:07:15.638 This is half of yourself, the other half has to do with talent. 00:07:15.638 --> 00:07:27.089 If you happen to have talent like, if you have taste, a bit of a vision, 00:07:27.089 --> 00:07:30.729 if you have a little bit of creativity, 00:07:30.729 --> 00:07:32.270 then you can express yourself, 00:07:32.270 --> 00:07:37.311 you now have the means to express yourself, 00:07:37.679 --> 00:07:40.638 if you've gone through those techniques. 00:07:40.638 --> 00:07:45.028 You have to repeat those techniques, as I said, long enough 00:07:45.028 --> 00:07:48.950 so you can afford to forget it after. 00:07:52.409 --> 00:07:55.279 Here we are, half of this, now the filet -- 00:07:59.338 --> 00:08:02.638 (Claudine) If you have any questions you should shout them out, 00:08:02.638 --> 00:08:04.598 it's a good opportunity. 00:08:04.598 --> 00:08:09.759 There's going to be a test. 00:08:09.759 --> 00:08:11.151 (Laughter) 00:08:12.289 --> 00:08:13.349 (Jacques) This way -- 00:08:14.889 --> 00:08:16.357 There's my carcass. 00:08:17.869 --> 00:08:23.178 Now, [inaudible] filet, you remove it here -- 00:08:27.828 --> 00:08:29.160 This one here -- 00:08:34.840 --> 00:08:38.520 So, you free your hand by learning those techniques 00:08:38.520 --> 00:08:46.369 and as I said, you can think in term of texture and other things 00:08:46.369 --> 00:08:50.539 because, as I said, you free your hand by repeating and repeating. 00:08:50.539 --> 00:08:53.298 Now, this is one part of yourself, 00:08:53.298 --> 00:08:55.640 half of yourself is there, it's the craftsman, 00:08:55.640 --> 00:08:58.989 and the other part of yourself 00:08:59.579 --> 00:09:02.839 will depend on whether you have talent or not, 00:09:02.839 --> 00:09:06.829 and even if you have a little bit of talent, not too much, 00:09:06.829 --> 00:09:11.410 you can still run a little restaurant by being a good technician. 00:09:11.410 --> 00:09:15.389 If you have a lot of talent, then you can take it further, 00:09:15.389 --> 00:09:24.498 but not all the chefs are René Redzepi, or David Chang, or José Andrés -- 00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:35.307 Here we are -- 00:09:35.307 --> 00:09:37.838 (Applause) 00:09:41.308 --> 00:09:44.311 (Jacques) At that point you really don't want to cut the bone 00:09:44.311 --> 00:09:49.470 because the skin will shrink all over the place so, we break it. 00:09:50.398 --> 00:09:53.869 And you know, the interesting part, if you carve in the dining room, 00:09:53.869 --> 00:09:57.302 or if you do a quail or a pheasant or a goose, 00:09:57.302 --> 00:09:59.442 the morphology is the same. 00:09:59.442 --> 00:10:02.539 If you cut a chicken in pieces to do a skew, 00:10:02.539 --> 00:10:07.209 you cut exactly in the sample place, at the shoulder joint, at the hip joint. 00:10:09.690 --> 00:10:10.829 Okay. 00:10:13.158 --> 00:10:17.968 Now, you have to be very proud of what you're doing 00:10:17.968 --> 00:10:24.537 but you also have to be humble to a certain extend 00:10:24.537 --> 00:10:27.311 because there's always someone 00:10:27.311 --> 00:10:31.708 who can think with more creativity than you, 00:10:31.708 --> 00:10:35.248 or who can think harder than you do. 00:10:35.248 --> 00:10:39.429 We're all limited by the extent of our taste 00:10:39.429 --> 00:10:41.048 and they are different, 00:10:41.048 --> 00:10:47.062 and sometimes you have a food critic who really doesn't know how to cook 00:10:47.062 --> 00:10:49.699 but maybe can taste better than you do. 00:10:49.699 --> 00:10:53.019 We follow on that and sometimes it's difficult to take 00:10:53.019 --> 00:10:55.668 but that's the way it is. 00:10:55.668 --> 00:11:02.279 For me, a young chef should work with a good chef, in a good place, 00:11:02.279 --> 00:11:08.948 and at that point your [inaudible] is to try to visualize what that chef does, 00:11:08.948 --> 00:11:15.818 if he or she works with you then you try to see -- 00:11:16.300 --> 00:11:18.999 Yeah, where there's no bones -- 00:11:19.339 --> 00:11:20.669 a little bit here -- 00:11:21.488 --> 00:11:25.578 you try to see the food through his or her sense of aesthetic, 00:11:25.578 --> 00:11:27.630 their sense of taste, 00:11:27.630 --> 00:11:33.147 and even if it doesn't coincide with you, 00:11:33.147 --> 00:11:33.900 most of the time 00:11:33.900 --> 00:11:37.089 it won't coincide with your sense of taste or your sense of aesthetic, 00:11:37.089 --> 00:11:39.559 but it doesn't really matter at that point, 00:11:39.559 --> 00:11:42.377 you have to look at it through that, 00:11:42.377 --> 00:11:45.759 and you do it for a year or two, 00:11:45.759 --> 00:11:47.928 then you work with another chef for a year or two, 00:11:47.928 --> 00:11:52.858 and again looking at things from a different point of view, 00:11:52.858 --> 00:11:56.729 different sense of aesthetic, 00:11:57.021 --> 00:12:00.949 and then maybe with a third one a few more times, 00:12:00.949 --> 00:12:05.338 then at some point you're going to give it back. 00:12:05.338 --> 00:12:11.633 You're going to give it back, 00:12:11.633 --> 00:12:13.978 and now you're going to filter it through your sense of taste, 00:12:13.978 --> 00:12:15.088 through your sense of aesthetic, 00:12:15.088 --> 00:12:16.079 that's how it works 00:12:16.079 --> 00:12:18.997 because ultimately, at some point, you cannot escape yourself, 00:12:18.997 --> 00:12:22.372 you are who you are, and that's the way how you are going to do it. 00:12:22.372 --> 00:12:26.281 It's always a bit of a paradox for me 00:12:26.281 --> 00:12:29.060 because I work with young chefs at Boston University 00:12:29.060 --> 00:12:34.100 and everyone wants to do something special and different. 00:12:34.100 --> 00:12:37.281 I do a class which I call a perfect meal, 00:12:37.281 --> 00:12:41.890 which is a roast chicken, a bol of potatoes and a salad. 00:12:41.890 --> 00:12:43.679 It used to be this way -- 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:48.289 they all go to the stove to do the same type of things 00:12:48.289 --> 00:12:54.928 and I say, "Don't try to blew my mind because I know that I have 12 people here 00:12:54.928 --> 00:12:57.112 and I'm going to have 12 different chicken." 00:12:57.112 --> 00:12:58.520 That's the way it is so -- 00:12:58.520 --> 00:13:01.239 you don't really have to torture yourself to be different, 00:13:01.239 --> 00:13:02.190 you are different, 00:13:02.190 --> 00:13:04.050 there's no way that you can do 00:13:04.050 --> 00:13:07.968 exactly the same thing than the person next to you. 00:13:09.219 --> 00:13:13.339 This is a good beef stuffing but -- 00:13:13.339 --> 00:13:14.738 just to give you an idea. 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:23.571 Okay, Titine -- 00:13:27.468 --> 00:13:33.698 We have our galantine, that is if we poach it, 00:13:33.698 --> 00:13:35.678 and our ballotine if we roast it. 00:13:36.359 --> 00:13:37.740 Thank you. 00:13:38.208 --> 00:13:40.051 So, we put it this way -- 00:13:52.869 --> 00:13:55.488 (Claudine) No questions? 00:14:09.758 --> 00:14:11.760 (Jacques) Okay. 00:14:21.569 --> 00:14:24.600 - (Jacques) Very quiet here -- - (Claudine) I know -- 00:14:25.229 --> 00:14:26.699 (Claudine) Do you want some wine? 00:14:28.418 --> 00:14:31.388 (Jacques) Ah, my daughter knows me -- (Laughter) 00:14:33.669 --> 00:14:36.109 (Jacques) Our galantine, so -- 00:14:36.109 --> 00:14:42.088 (Applause and cheering) 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:48.551 (Jacques) Up to that point -- (Claudine) You have five minutes -- 00:14:48.551 --> 00:14:50.348 (Jacques) Oh yeah... okay. 00:14:50.348 --> 00:14:56.998 the technique to do something remain fairly constant -- 00:15:00.348 --> 00:15:03.539 but at that point this is what it'll change, 00:15:03.539 --> 00:15:07.149 when you're happy with the way how you cook it, what you do with it, 00:15:07.149 --> 00:15:09.998 the seasoning and all of that become your own. 00:15:11.631 --> 00:15:13.448 Okay -- (Eggs cracking) 00:15:18.491 --> 00:15:21.468 - (Jacques) Pepper, Titine? - (Claudine) Yep -- 00:15:21.910 --> 00:15:25.178 - (Jacques) That's your salt -- - (Pepper mill grinding) 00:15:29.067 --> 00:15:32.281 (Claudine) Everyone needs one of me in the kitchen, you all need me -- 00:15:32.281 --> 00:15:34.161 (Laughter) 00:15:35.449 --> 00:15:38.929 (Jacques) Now I cook with my granddaughter as well. 00:15:39.730 --> 00:15:41.210 (Claudine) She's twelve. 00:15:42.908 --> 00:15:49.250 (Jacques) Yes, when I did a TV show with Claudine many years ago -- 00:15:51.399 --> 00:15:53.579 (Jacques) Why did you give me two of those? 00:15:53.891 --> 00:15:56.339 (Claudine) I get... I offer whatever you want it -- 00:15:56.649 --> 00:15:58.249 (Jacques) Okay, good. 00:15:58.798 --> 00:16:04.741 (Jacques) I learned to make three different types of omelettes. 00:16:05.140 --> 00:16:13.308 A flat omelette, à la piperade or omelette basquaise and so forth -- 00:16:13.308 --> 00:16:15.349 Western omelette or in the US, 00:16:15.349 --> 00:16:17.779 and then we did an omelette that my mother would do 00:16:17.779 --> 00:16:20.980 with very large curd, brown, 00:16:20.980 --> 00:16:29.298 and then we did a more classic omelette - like this one - 00:16:31.667 --> 00:16:37.579 and loose, we want to make very small curds like scramble egg -- 00:16:52.061 --> 00:16:55.060 Now there are three different types of omelettes that I would do, 00:16:55.060 --> 00:16:58.888 one is not better than the other, it's just different 00:16:58.888 --> 00:17:01.328 A few weeks ago I did that for television, 00:17:01.328 --> 00:17:04.401 they came to my house and wanted me to do the three types of omelettes, 00:17:04.401 --> 00:17:06.468 which I did -- 00:17:06.920 --> 00:17:10.668 and then they realized they only have a minute and a half when they edited, 00:17:10.668 --> 00:17:13.579 so they just took some stuff from one omelette to the other, 00:17:13.579 --> 00:17:16.118 to the other, and mix the whole thing together -- 00:17:16.118 --> 00:17:17.208 (Laughter) 00:17:17.208 --> 00:17:18.448 (Jacques) What a waste! 00:17:18.448 --> 00:17:20.893 Here you bring it back here 00:17:20.893 --> 00:17:23.731 which you're rolling really like a carpet -- 00:17:23.731 --> 00:17:26.579 so you're just bringing one lid -- 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:28.858 one lid here and a half moon -- 00:17:30.049 --> 00:17:34.160 nice half moon... bring that here -- 00:17:34.798 --> 00:17:37.470 bring the other lid on top -- 00:17:38.259 --> 00:17:39.918 this is the time when you want to stuff it, 00:17:41.158 --> 00:17:42.670 change hands, 00:17:42.670 --> 00:17:44.950 and that omelette should be -- 00:17:46.219 --> 00:17:47.758 to the edge -- 00:17:49.578 --> 00:17:52.370 Ooooh! 00:17:52.708 --> 00:17:55.829 - The chefs in my kitchen -- - (Applause) 00:18:01.550 --> 00:18:04.469 The chef in my kitchen would have seen the pleads on top 00:18:04.469 --> 00:18:08.599 and he would have done some reference to the behind of his grandmother -- 00:18:08.599 --> 00:18:10.261 (Laughter) 00:18:10.261 --> 00:18:17.418 As you can see it should be pale right on top, very creamy, 00:18:17.418 --> 00:18:20.278 very soft inside, like scramble eggs, 00:18:20.278 --> 00:18:24.438 and that's what a classic omelette is. 00:18:25.539 --> 00:18:27.661 (Jacques) Yes, Claudine? (Claudine) Yes, papa! 00:18:28.618 --> 00:18:30.130 (Jacques) Ok, will you drink to that? (Claudine) I will! 00:18:30.441 --> 00:18:37.993 (Applause) 00:18:40.458 --> 00:18:45.827 (Claudine) Whatever you take away from here, I hope -- 00:18:46.448 --> 00:18:49.018 and it's so wonderful that you're taking the time to be here, 00:18:49.018 --> 00:18:53.211 I hope you share your knowledge with everyone 00:18:53.211 --> 00:18:56.669 because that's how the craft continues, 00:18:56.669 --> 00:18:59.469 that's how our trade continues, that's how it gets better. 00:18:59.469 --> 00:19:03.982 (Jacques) Yeah, I realized quite well, all of you know those techniques, 00:19:03.982 --> 00:19:09.468 some better than me, yet I thank you for coming 00:19:09.468 --> 00:19:13.589 and listening to me, but for me the permanence is there, 00:19:13.589 --> 00:19:19.498 to teach, to explain and to show at least the basic structure, 00:19:19.498 --> 00:19:22.629 and at that point, when you have that type of manual dexterity 00:19:22.629 --> 00:19:24.508 or technical knowledge, 00:19:24.508 --> 00:19:26.798 then you can run a kitchen quite well. 00:19:26.798 --> 00:19:29.600 As I said, if you happen to have talent, 00:19:29.600 --> 00:19:31.919 then you bring it to a another level 00:19:31.919 --> 00:19:38.149 and, like the person who works in a studio for a couple of years, 00:19:38.149 --> 00:19:40.992 as I said, after that, you know how to mix all your paintings 00:19:40.992 --> 00:19:42.632 and know what you can do with a brush, 00:19:42.632 --> 00:19:45.348 then you step outside you do one painting after another -- 00:19:45.348 --> 00:19:47.379 Does that make you an artist? 00:19:47.379 --> 00:19:50.059 Not really, at that point you're a good craftsman. 00:19:50.059 --> 00:19:52.518 If, however, you have talent, 00:19:52.518 --> 00:19:55.379 now you have the means to express that talent 00:19:55.379 --> 00:19:57.010 and take it somewhere. 00:19:57.010 --> 00:20:00.049 As I said, you do have to transcend that level 00:20:00.049 --> 00:20:04.246 in which you have to concentrate on the manual task that you're at. 00:20:04.246 --> 00:20:08.019 You see a beginner coming around and you said: "Do you have any parsley?" 00:20:08.019 --> 00:20:10.860 and he sayd: "Don't disturb me" - someone is slicing something - 00:20:10.860 --> 00:20:13.900 So you have to transcend that level you don't have to think about it, 00:20:13.900 --> 00:20:17.389 things are there so you can think in terms of texture, 00:20:17.389 --> 00:20:20.572 combination of ingredients, or things like that. 00:20:20.572 --> 00:20:21.617 - Right, Titine? 00:20:21.617 --> 00:20:23.820 (Claudine) Right. Do you have any questions? 00:20:23.820 --> 00:20:26.538 (Jacques) I think I was there at one and a half minute, 00:20:26.538 --> 00:20:27.758 now I'm back to seven minutes? 00:20:27.758 --> 00:20:29.408 (Laughter) 00:20:30.448 --> 00:20:31.728 (Claudine) Oh, okay. 00:20:32.828 --> 00:20:39.239 (Jacques) Yes, any questions? No questions... Yes, sir? 00:20:39.900 --> 00:20:42.549 (inaudible speaking from the audience) 00:20:42.898 --> 00:20:44.499 (Claudine) Oh, yeah -- (Jacques) Do I know that man here? 00:20:44.499 --> 00:20:47.629 (Claudine) I gave him 20 bucks before to say that. Thank you, Michelle! 00:20:48.809 --> 00:20:49.898 (Claudine blowing a kiss) 00:20:50.169 --> 00:20:51.630 (Jacques) Thank you, Michelle. 00:20:51.977 --> 00:20:56.699 Yes, I know that there are great, fantastic chefs here -- 00:20:56.699 --> 00:21:00.402 we had an extraordinary, extraordinary meal at Noma, 00:21:00.402 --> 00:21:03.079 I'm gratified to be here, 00:21:03.079 --> 00:21:05.929 I know I'm the oldest of the group 00:21:05.929 --> 00:21:10.169 and now that I'm passed 80 years old I'm supposed to be wise -- 00:21:10.169 --> 00:21:12.800 I don't think that I'm wiser than when I was 30 years old 00:21:12.800 --> 00:21:16.601 but this is what happens when you get old. 00:21:16.939 --> 00:21:17.858 You think I'm wise, Claudine? 00:21:17.858 --> 00:21:19.769 (Claudine) Yes, yes, yes... of course, you are! 00:21:19.769 --> 00:21:20.898 (Jacques) Ok, that's a good daughter. 00:21:20.898 --> 00:21:23.788 (Laughter) 00:21:23.788 --> 00:21:27.131 (Jacques) Now I'm doing a show with my granddaughter, Shorey, 00:21:27.131 --> 00:21:29.538 which we called "Lesson of a grandfather". 00:21:29.538 --> 00:21:32.749 So, little things, even how to set up a table, 00:21:32.749 --> 00:21:36.369 eat properly at the table or -- 00:21:36.369 --> 00:21:38.948 but no, not enjoying wine yet -- 00:21:38.948 --> 00:21:41.368 (Claudine) No, no, no wine yet, it's just to give us show, so -- 00:21:41.368 --> 00:21:43.481 (Laughter) 00:21:43.481 --> 00:21:44.829 (Claudine) Yes, sir? 00:21:44.829 --> 00:21:49.178 (inaudible speaking from the audience) 00:21:53.118 --> 00:21:57.259 It's a very interesting question... Do you want to repeat the question? 00:21:57.259 --> 00:22:00.728 (Claudine) The question is how are the kitchens today different than 00:22:00.728 --> 00:22:04.319 the kitchens my father was an apprentice in. 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:05.888 Pretty dramatic? 00:22:05.888 --> 00:22:10.158 - Yes, well, no... but, yes! - (Laughter) 00:22:10.158 --> 00:22:12.429 There is a permanence there, the point is that 00:22:12.429 --> 00:22:14.409 you still have to come on time, 00:22:14.409 --> 00:22:16.289 you still have to be ready to work, 00:22:16.289 --> 00:22:20.499 you still work in a place which is very structured, very disciplined, 00:22:20.499 --> 00:22:21.539 like in the army, 00:22:21.539 --> 00:22:23.989 you don't say, "Yes, captain!", but you say, "Yes, chef!", 00:22:23.989 --> 00:22:26.668 it's about the same thing and you have to -- 00:22:26.668 --> 00:22:29.660 you have to so that the kitchen works properly. 00:22:29.660 --> 00:22:31.158 You're a member of a team, 00:22:31.158 --> 00:22:34.079 and if you're late or you don't show up to be part of that team, 00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:35.698 you're going to destroy the structure, 00:22:35.698 --> 00:22:37.708 so that remains the same. 00:22:37.708 --> 00:22:40.411 That being said, when I was a kid, 00:22:40.411 --> 00:22:45.949 when we cut a tomato we only cut it in one direction, 00:22:45.949 --> 00:22:49.339 we never alternate to the other side when I worked at the Plaza and in Paris, 00:22:49.339 --> 00:22:50.729 or whatever in the fifties. 00:22:50.729 --> 00:22:53.307 Now, there's a much greater deal 00:22:53.307 --> 00:22:55.861 and innovation is part of yourself too. 00:22:55.861 --> 00:23:00.188 And, of course, we, up to 20-30 years ago -- 00:23:00.188 --> 00:23:05.898 I've been in the kitchen 65-67 years -- 00:23:05.898 --> 00:23:08.440 the cook were at the bottom of the social scale. 00:23:08.440 --> 00:23:12.828 Any good mother would have wanted her child to marry a doctor, an architect, 00:23:12.828 --> 00:23:17.029 certainly not a cook. 00:23:17.029 --> 00:23:20.298 Now we are genius! I don't know exactly what happened but -- 00:23:20.298 --> 00:23:21.089 (Laughter 00:23:21.089 --> 00:23:22.901 this is great, this is terrific, so -- 00:23:22.901 --> 00:23:24.309 (Claudine) Papa, he has a question. 00:23:24.309 --> 00:23:25.441 (René) I have a question for you. (Jacques) Yes. 00:23:25.441 --> 00:23:33.888 (René) You said you're more than 80, right? 00:23:33.888 --> 00:23:35.098 (Jacques) Yes. (René) Yes. 00:23:35.098 --> 00:23:43.088 (René) So, I'm 39 and I think a lot of cooks 00:23:43.088 --> 00:23:48.629 that deal with this... what can I say, like, guilt, sometimes -- 00:23:48.629 --> 00:23:51.892 they feel like they should be yearning for something in the past, 00:23:51.892 --> 00:23:53.889 that in the past things were better, kind of -- 00:23:53.889 --> 00:24:01.309 Can you please tell us how it used to be in the kitchen 00:24:01.309 --> 00:24:04.799 in whether you think the life in the kitchen is better today, 00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:08.949 and actually, do you think that food has become better 00:24:08.949 --> 00:24:10.301 and is becoming better? 00:24:10.301 --> 00:24:14.275 Or, is it better back in the old days? 00:24:14.275 --> 00:24:17.308 (Jacques) No, it is better (but) there's a cycle also; 00:24:17.308 --> 00:24:20.152 certainly as I said, my mother used only organic products too 00:24:20.152 --> 00:24:22.368 but that's what we have, we didn't have anything else, 00:24:22.368 --> 00:24:25.667 and we're going back to that, which is a great thing, of course, 00:24:25.667 --> 00:24:27.598 to be in communion with the Earth, 00:24:27.598 --> 00:24:29.379 to be in communion with where you work 00:24:29.379 --> 00:24:31.060 and be local, and so forth. 00:24:31.060 --> 00:24:32.501 Yes, absolutely. 00:24:32.501 --> 00:24:36.279 The cooks now that the same structure that we used to have 00:24:36.279 --> 00:24:41.128 but you have much more freedom than we ever had before. 00:24:41.128 --> 00:24:45.570 Certainly, I got kicked in the rear end a few times by my chefs, 00:24:45.570 --> 00:24:49.813 I mean it was the type of things that it was supposed at that time -- 00:24:49.813 --> 00:24:50.979 it was supposed to be difficult, 00:24:50.979 --> 00:24:53.411 you were supposed to go to a rite of passage and all of that, 00:24:53.411 --> 00:24:55.010 which is not really necessary, 00:24:55.010 --> 00:24:57.112 you don't need to be yelled at -- 00:24:57.112 --> 00:25:04.762 I've seen a lot of show on television, certainly, reality show, 00:25:04.762 --> 00:25:09.279 and the kitchen is like mayhem and the chef is yelling all over the place. 00:25:09.279 --> 00:25:12.789 This is not conducive to good work, certainly. 00:25:12.789 --> 00:25:16.708 There's a great deal of love, a great deal of yourself that you put in that food, 00:25:16.708 --> 00:25:20.989 and the yelling and other people's lack of respect, 00:25:20.989 --> 00:25:25.152 those things are not conducive, in my opinion, to learning well 00:25:25.152 --> 00:25:27.598 and teaching people how to cook. 00:25:27.598 --> 00:25:30.088 At a certain age, when I was 12-13, the best way of learning 00:25:30.088 --> 00:25:35.189 was probably through that kind of osmotic way: 00:25:35.189 --> 00:25:37.809 you look, you repeat, you look, you repeat, and so forth. 00:25:37.809 --> 00:25:39.608 We passed that level now. 00:25:39.608 --> 00:25:43.248 Chefs come from cooking schools, 00:25:43.248 --> 00:25:46.490 they come out from college to their older time, 00:25:46.490 --> 00:25:49.051 they want to know how to do it, they want us to explain, 00:25:49.051 --> 00:25:52.409 so it's a different way of teaching than what we're used to; 00:25:52.409 --> 00:25:55.809 and people are much more in a hurry than how we were too; 00:25:55.809 --> 00:25:58.612 we had at least three other apprenticeship without paid or anything, 00:25:58.612 --> 00:26:03.379 so, you know, there are six other apprentices in front of you -- 00:26:03.379 --> 00:26:04.797 so, this is much better now. 00:26:04.797 --> 00:26:08.779 A much greater respect for the chef, for what we do for our tradition, 00:26:08.779 --> 00:26:10.819 and this is why, I mean, we're here today -- 00:26:10.819 --> 00:26:13.669 - Yes? - (Claudine) Wrap it up. 00:26:13.669 --> 00:26:15.928 (Jacques) Wrap it up. Yes, ma'm, okay. But I still see one minute -- 00:26:15.928 --> 00:26:18.900 - (Claudine) Trust me. - (Laughter) 00:26:18.900 --> 00:26:21.791 (Jacques) I don't know whether that's the right answer to your question, 00:26:21.791 --> 00:26:26.020 or if it's specific enough but -- 00:26:26.020 --> 00:26:27.669 (René) Can you just say in a yes or no? 00:26:27.669 --> 00:26:30.678 (Laughter) 00:26:30.678 --> 00:26:33.989 (Claudine) You'll be the first one to ever get that answer, if it's possible. 00:26:33.989 --> 00:26:36.597 If you look back when you were 30 00:26:36.597 --> 00:26:40.448 and you look at kitchens and chefs and cooking now, 00:26:40.448 --> 00:26:42.220 do you believe that is better now? 00:26:42.220 --> 00:26:44.500 (Jacques) Oh yes, absolutely, no question at all -- 00:26:44.500 --> 00:26:45.509 (René) Thank you! 00:26:45.509 --> 00:26:46.642 (Applause) 00:26:46.642 --> 00:26:53.949 (Jacques) No question at all. 00:26:53.949 --> 00:26:56.841 (Claudine) Thank you, of course, to the MAD team for working there, 00:26:56.841 --> 00:27:01.010 took us all to the extend that I find extraordinary 00:27:01.010 --> 00:27:03.988 and rather inspiring so, 00:27:03.988 --> 00:27:05.698 I hope that everyone feels really good about the work here, 00:27:05.698 --> 00:27:09.948 but, of course, thanks to all of you for caring so much about what we do 00:27:09.948 --> 00:27:12.938 and about what you do and bringing it to the next level 00:27:12.938 --> 00:27:15.599 We hope you have a wonderful, wonderful couple of days. 00:27:15.599 --> 00:27:16.799 - Thank you! - (Jacques) We are! 00:27:16.799 --> 00:27:18.309 And drink a lot of wine! 00:27:18.309 --> 00:27:24.509 (Cheering and Applause) 00:27:24.852 --> 00:27:25.739 Thank you very much! 00:27:25.739 --> 00:27:26.819 (Cheering and Applause) 00:27:26.819 --> 00:27:29.569 My daughter, Claudine! 00:27:30.360 --> 00:27:32.568 (Cheering and Applause) 00:27:32.998 --> 00:27:35.108 (Claudine) I'm going to bring this in the back for [inaudible] 00:27:35.108 --> 00:27:36.349 (Jacques) Okay, good. 00:27:38.818 --> 00:27:39.829 (Jacques) Hi Michelle! 00:27:43.098 --> 00:27:45.541 (Jacque) Jose is not here? (René) He's here -- 00:27:47.770 --> 00:27:51.448 (Jacques) Okay. Everything I know, I learned from him, you know. 00:27:51.448 --> 00:27:53.548 (Laughter)