I feel that Southern food is very much representative of American food in general. I think it is to me the most indicative of what American food has been and continues to evolve. Personally I try to keep it much in line with who I am and what my background speaks to. I try not to appropriate cultures that are not mine. I understand that Southern food in general comes from a culture that is not my culture. There are a lot of those influences in the food that I cook, I feel more comfortable that I'm not appropriating them because I'm seeing them through the lens of time.
What we covered In this episode
- His roots are in the South (Mississippi and Tenesse) and the importance of his mother's and grandmother's influences.
- Southern cuisine celebrates Seasonality and Local Ingredients.
- The constant evolution of Southern cuisine with new influences like South East Asian in Southern Louisiana and East Texas.
- The deliberate choice from chef Michael Fojtasek to ground his creative process in local ingredients that are important to him.
- He made a decision not appropriate cultures that are not his.
- Discover the moderne twists he applies on buttermilk and benne seeds.
- He like to keep the soul in the food and do not like to “manipulate” the food.
- Discover which tools in the kitchen are important to him.
- The parallel that exist between being part of a sport team and a kitchen.
- Chef Michael talks about his mentor Jonathan Benno.
- His relatively long creative process starts at the market on Saturdays.
- His menu is based on small plates and on a series of “sets” (fish, chicken, pork, beef and vegetarian).
- One aspect of the creative process is about problem solving.
- Dairy ingredients (butter, cream, buttermilk, crème fraîche) are irreplaceable to him.
- Listen to Chef Michael talking about his dish called “boiled peanut” that has been constantly evolving since he created it.
- Chef encourages everyone to seek different type of rice and to learn how to cook it properly.
- 5 rapid-fire questions.
Links to other episodes in Austin
Start by learning how to cook rice properly...
I think that the greatest mistake that happens with rice most often is that it's just not cook properly. So learning how to cook the rice in a good way. It just requires you to think about cooking rice in a different way. What's best for each individual rice.
Seek out rice is that costs more money. Probably a great place to start with that is any of the Asian markets.