A Pinch of Salt by "Paul Jobin"

Posted: 20/01/2010 9:02:21 a.m.

As an apprentice I had a dream to write my own cookbook, this I felt at the time would be an indicator to making it big!

21 years later, Harper Collins and Pip Duncan offered for me to be the follow up chef to feature in the Celebrity Chef Cookbook Series, the first being Savvy by Jason Dell. They felt it was time for me to yell to the world ‘about the food according to Paul’. In their opinion I was New Zealand’s version of Australians Bill Granger, a very fine compliment indeed.

Creating a cookbook is much like bearing a child, what will be its name? A pinch of salt is an old world term we use to sharpen the flavour in food. The reaction to this title created a little stir, with such comments as “isn’t this unhealthy?” or “are you saying we use salt in everything?”. I believe that if we use salt to increase the flavour profile in food then we don’t need to offer this at the table, in fact some cooks would take this as an insult after slaving in the kitchen for hours. Yes I almost use salt for everything, even desserts. Try salt flakes scattered across caramel ice cream or a warm just set chocolate tart, you will be hooked. So a pinch of salt was my way of explaining that when you purchase my cookbook you were about to experience recipes that are bold and not shy. As I demonstrate around New Zealand, at a a new venue I often start with my salt test – we start with a bland soup, remove half to another bowl, season this gradually highlighting how the flavours develop over the tongue to the back of the mouth. I surprise my audience when they go back to the original bland bowl and it all becomes very clear.

One of my favourite cookbooks is Stephanie Alexander’s Cooks Companion, I liked how this cookbook was segmented by the ingredients being the theme rather than the usual Soups, Salads, Entrees, Mains & Desserts. Chefs cook by what they find and until harvested it is an unknown whether it will be an entrée or a main?

During a two month grueling proofing stage I added thirty tips into the back of the cookbook. Viewers had loved the way we shared these on Food TV so I thought why not have them print? With a view to selling the cookbook globally, I focused on writing a short culinary autobiography, not quite as revealing as Kitchen Confidential but very insightful all the same. It turned out that this section of the cookbook has been widely read, and my writing style was encouraged by Herald on Sunday, Detour Magazine to continue a weekly column from Peta Mathias and keep the momentum going.

The very first point as both a cook and a diner is to have an open mind about food, it is like music, there are so many individual styles. Coming back from Sydney, I found that NZ was so orientated towards the Mediterranean as the leading food style that other wonderful cuisines struggled getting media exposure. Food is fun, it’s an experience we should all share, it should wake us up and make us feel like living. I needed to convey that what we eat has a fascinating history or at least a story as to how I discovered it and so should others. To purchase fresh as much as the budget allowed, include the roadside stalls and farmers markets, question the best range of products to have in your pantry and to think outside the square – caramel and eggplant do go well together.

I am a creative soul, and like to play crisp and soft textures off with each other, mixing sweet with acid and consider a mix of colours with food. Once you have a grip on understanding how this interplays, you can combine what some may think is unusual but upon putting that spoon in your mouth, we smile!

Or as simply as tasting a vine ripened tomato from the fruit bowl, sliced into slabs sprinkled with sea salt and eaten.

Second title in the Celebrity Chef series published by http://www.harpercollins.co.nz