Knives at Dawn (22 page)

With a new wind at his back, by Tuesday, December 2, Hollingsworth had a rough version of the fish platter conceptualized. The centerpiece, focusing on the one finfish, the cod, would be based on the cod
en persillade
that had been on his list of possibilities for Orlando. He would slice the cod, layer it with a scallop mousse, wrap it in plastic, cook it in a water bath, then paint it with mustard and breadcrumbs, similar to a dish they sometimes served at The French Laundry. He was also leaning toward one
of the garnishes that he had considered but that also had not made the cut for Orlando, a fried cod brandade with tomato marmalade.

For the other garnishes, he had ideas, but they were all tainted—if such a thing is possible—by The French Laundry's elegant simplicity. He just couldn't purge his orientation from his system as he conceptualized garnishes such as a ragoût of dried and fresh wax beans, tomato diamonds, and vegetable brunoise. Such bean preparations are referred to at The French Laundry as a “cassoulet,” a very loose adaptation of the classic French winter bean stew, and the idea was that it would be scattered about (“a drop here and there”) on the individual plates presented to the judges. No doubt those would have been delectable, but they were not intricate enough for competition, and by this point in his crash course, he didn't need anybody else to tell him that.

The custard he'd been imagining was coming into focus as a square or rectangle tinged bright green with spring garlic, which would no longer rest on top but instead would be infused into the custard itself, served on a brioche melba toast with accompanying flavors of tomato compote and caramelized cippoline onion. He was also considering a deep-fried piece of
shirako
(cod sperm … yes, you read right), as well as cod roe wrapped in bacon, cooked sous vide, then crisped and finished with a Niçoise olive sauce.

That was his basic fish concept. “Things might change,” he said. “It's just on paper now.” All he wanted was to have something to work with, a draft he could revise and edit. The custard, for example, could be made with just about anything, and the shirako could be fried or piped out of an ISI gun—a canister fitted with a nozzle and powered by a CO
₂
cartridge that aerates wet preparations like whipped cream. What was important was that he had a first draft that he could work over and revise, then worry about plating.

Hollingsworth's goal for the immediate future could not have been more straightforward: Get together with Guest, “find a day and do it after work. Prepare two plates, and we'll eat it.”

I
RONICALLY, AS
H
OLLINGSWORTH WAS
picking up speed, the team back in New York City was growing ever more anxious. According to Pelka, Boulud so innately trusted Keller, his standards, and his staff that panic hadn't quite set in, but because Hollingsworth had largely gone radio silent, the East Coast contingent had no idea what he was up to. Hollingsworth insists he didn't mean anything by it; there were no formal systems of reporting in place, no instructions on whom to update or when, and so he was going about his preparation on his own schedule and in his own way.

Having reached more or less the same conclusion, on Thursday, December 11, Jennifer Pelka decided to establish a new world order. She sent Hollingsworth the following e-mail, with the subject line Bocuse d'Or USA Training Update:

Hi, Timothy and Adina,

I hope everything is going well out in California! Can you please send on an update to the Board and the rest of the group in regards to your progress in anticipation of the competition? Everyone is eager to hear how the training is going, and we are all certainly at your disposal for help. Ideally, we would like to get a formal update every two weeks until the competition, covering the following:

Independent training sessions: how often, how are they structured, what have you been focusing on?

Training sessions with Chef Henin: how often, how are they structured, what have you been focusing on?

Goals for the next two weeks

Proteins and garnishes: how far along are you with the decisions? How is menu development? Photos and descriptions to date.

Timing

Platters and plating: aside from the MOSS smoker pieces, do you need anything?

Additional needs before Lyon

Needs in Lyon

Day by day schedule in Lyon (Gavin and I are meeting tomorrow about this, and we'll pass on our notes to you thereafter)

Chef Henin, of course, any update notes [from] you would be greatly appreciated as well!

Thanks,

Jennifer

B
Y
F
RIDAY
, D
ECEMBER
12, Hollingsworth was having second thoughts about the fish platter. Though the main cod preparation was the same, he had decided that some of his garnishes, while “excellent” from a flavor standpoint, were perhaps too “pedestrian” and it was easy to see his point. Even the name of one garnish,
cassoulet
, suggested adaptable, rustic cooking, not the formal, structured cuisine that impresses competition judges.

He realized that he'd have to return to the drawing board.

On the other hand, it was about this time that he also was gaining some traction on his meat platter, which began with a surge of inspiration not at The French Laundry and not at the Bocuse House, but at home one night in Napa, when he was cooking dinner for Laughlin.