Chefs from across British Columbia will meet in Victoria on November 19, 2015 to compete in the Gold Medal Plates for the BC spot in the Canadian Culinary Championships held in Kelowna in February. We’re heading over to check out the event and as a prequil have interviewed the chefs. Here’s the scoop on Alex Chen from Boulevard.
Tell us a little bit about your restaurant and/or style of cooking.
At Boulevard, I draw upon my personal experiences, my childhood memories of cooking with my family, and of course my training with some amazing chefs throughout the Pacific Rim and West Coast. These experiences all influenced my cooking style, my love of seafood and my desire to always use fresh, local ingredients. I also like to use a very balanced flavour profile, which is something I picked up from cooking with my Mom.
Where do you eat in your city?
I like to eat in Richmond (where I live) because it’s convenient to take the whole family, and there are a wide variety of cuisines available.
What would be your ideal food day?
For breakfast, I would start with the double-baked almond croissant from Thomas Haas Chocolates & Patisserie. It’s one of my favourite things to have when I’m craving a treat. For lunch, I recommend dim sum at Fisherman’s Terrace in Richmond. And for dinner, there’s nothing like Le Crocodile, which is one of my family’s favourite spots for traditional French fare. Chef Michel Jacob is one of the city’s most respected chefs and he consistently serves dishes that I love and admire.
What ingredient do you always have on hand?
Shallots. They add flavour and texture and I put them in everything from sauce reductions to foundations for stocks and soups.
What’s your go-to recipe when you’re eating at home?
Depending on the requests that I receive from my wife and kids, there are a number of comfort-food specialties I enjoy cooking at home. My favourites range from a slab of meat slow-cooked to tender perfection on my Big Green Egg (a Hamada-style ceramic charcoal barbecue cooker), to roasted chicken with all the fixings, to meatballs and spaghetti to Hainanese chicken and rice and various styles of traditional Chinese-style soups.
With the holidays coming up, could you give us something easy to prepare that would impress? Recipe below.
Butternut Squash Velouté with Apple Cider, Allspice and Crème Chantilly, served as part our Sunday Pig Roast Series which runs each Sunday until the end of November.
I also surveyed our facebook followers as to what questions they would like answered by chefs when interviewed and here are some of these answers.
Who is your favourite supplier, and why?
My favourite supplier is Joe Salvo, president and founder of Ponderosa Mushroom. We buy all of our mushrooms — wild, cultivated or dry — from him and they are extremely organized, reliable and passionate about their work.
What’s your favourite dish, at home or out?
Bouillabaisse. I love classic French cooking, and the Bouillabaisse perfectly exemplifies what we like to do at Boulevard, which is to take a classic dish and make it as authentic as possible using local ingredients.
What inspired you to get into this industry?
My love of food was developed early on, when I learned from the aunts on my mother’s side of the family who would all cook for big family gatherings such as Chinese New Year celebrations. Everyone would get together once every few months at the home of my grandma, who was a great cook as well. An integral part of the Chinese culture is looking forward to getting everyone together and sharing meals.
Butternut Squash Velouté with Apple Cider, Allspice and Crème Chantilly
1 medium size butternut squash
4 Tbsp butter, unsalted
1/2 large white onion, julienne
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 fennel, julienne
1 small leek, thinly sliced
1 small carrot, peeled and small dice
1 stalk celery, small dice
1/2 tsp all spice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup apple cider
2 cups cream
8 sage leaves
3 sprigs fresh thyme
salt and black pepper
juice of ¼ lemon
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- Peat oven to 350 F
- Cut butternut squash in half and scoop out seeds
- Season squash with salt and pepper
- Spread 2 Tbsp of butter on squash
- Sprinkle all spice and cinnamon on squash
- Add thyme and garlic
- Wrap squash with tin foil and roast in oven for 30 minutes, or until very tender
- Remove from oven and let sit in room temp for 20 minutes
- Open tin foil and scoop out flesh away from butternut squash skin, discard sage and thyme
- Heat pot over medium-high heat, add oil and 2 Tbsp of butter
- Add onions, fennel, leeks, carrots and celery.
- Sweat mirepoix for 3 minutes
- Add squash, chicken stock and apple cider, let simmer for 20 minutes
- Add cream and simmer for another 20 minutes
- Season to taste and puree into squash soup until smooth
