Q & A: Jun Tanaka
What is it that you love about French cuisine over any other?
I think if you spend your career in cooking, you want to get involved in something with real depth. For me it’s the most complex and it has the most history and culture behind it, and I think you need that to keep you interested in what you’re doing.
How stressful is it working in a top professional kitchen?
It’s non stop, but if you want to get into cooking as a career you have to accept that really early on. Running any kitchen when you’re passionate about food, doesn’t matter if it’s a top end restaurant or a gastro pub, you go into cooking because you passionate about produce and being creative.
You have a real passion for fresh produce, why?
It’s to do with seasonal produce; fresh produce is just a generic term. When something’s in season, it’s at the peak of its taste, its appearance and it price. If it’s in season then it’s at that time when you want to get it on to the menu. That’s the flavour you want to capture and put onto the plate. You should choose the best produce, treat it with respect and then try to enhance its natural flavours.
When you create dishes, out of ten ideas you have maybe one will make it onto the menu. You’ll have loads of ideas and in your head it works but in practice it doesn’t. Even from a technical point of view, it just may not fit into the running of a busy service. There are so many elements to think about.
Why have you taken such an active role in encouraging others to start cooking?
Well I’m passionate about teaching and about food, and being able to pass on that knowledge is really satisfying. I think when you’re good at something and you’re really passionate about it, you want to share it with others. I think what I do is simplify things down to a level that people can understand. So many people in various professions who teach people and assume peoples levels of knowledge are greater than what they actually are. I get a lot of satisfaction from seeing people who don’t think they can cook become passionate about cooking.
There’s no quick tip that can magically improve your cooking.. You have to have confidence, you can’t cook without it. I’ve seen it in professional chefs, as soon as their confidence goes, everything goes to pot. It’s like professional footballers, any sports men who lose their confidence, they don’t play as well, and it’s the same for a busy service in a kitchen.
What is one tip you give to anyone you’re teaching?
Half the battle of cooking well is organisation. If you’re cooking for a dinner party, or for your girlfriend, first decide on a menu, read through any recipes your using, understand them, get all the ingredients in front of you and you do everything in stages. You prepare first, be it chopping or peeling, and then when ALL that is done, you can move onto the cooking stage. A common mistake is to prepare only half the ingredients, especially if you’re cooking more than one course. It’s key to keep your focus on one task.
Taste as you cook, so many people only taste after all the ingredients have been added. Every stage that you add a new ingredient you should taste it to see if you’re happy with it. If you taste it along the way you can always correct it as you go.
What meal would you suggest for guys who want to impress a lady?
The most important thing when you’re cooking for your girlfriend is that you don’t want to spend the whole time in the kitchen. You could do something like long roasted duck, really simple, you get a whole duck, cover it in about ¾ of a jar of honey, season it with rock salt and black pepper, put it in the oven for about 1 ½ hours basting it every 20 minutes. You can then serve it simply with fried broccoli, some sesame seeds and then some crushed potatoes.
If there was one person you could cook for who would it be?
That would have to be my girlfriend.