Claire Legas

Landy Tang — Mon, 07 May 2007 07:00:00 GMT

Claire Legas is now helping teach the next generation of chefs. Prior to that she opened the scharffenberger chocolate cafe, Café Cacao, was Pastry chef at Palio d’Asti, and the intial pastry chef at Absinthe where she ignighted the lavender crème brulee craze. She started her career at the French Laundry.

Chefwatch: Where are you originally from?
Legas: I consider home to be Southern California, North Orange County, as that is where I spent the majority of my childhood. But I was born in Illinois.

Chefwatch: How did you get started cooking?
Legas: My mom was cheap – she wouldn’t pay for “treats” like muffins or cookies, the only way we were going to get them was by making them from scratch. And once I got started it was a slippery slope into all things baked.

Chefwatch: Who or what is your main culinary inspiration?
Legas: I think my main inspiration is that look that people get on their faces when something is really good. Not the comments they make, which can be faked, but the look which is so instinctual you can’t control it.

Chefwatch: How does that translate into what you are doing now?
Legas: Well, it guides everything I do – use the best stuff you can get your hands on and don’t mess with it too much. I’m in this to make people happy – not in a customer service, “have a nice day” way, but to really bring pleasure to people.

Chefwatch: You must have dreamt about your restaurant before you opened it. How does the reality match up with the dream that you had?
Legas: I have dreamt about my dream place – as a baker/pastry chef I imagine it a lot. I had a chance to open something that was kind of mine – not completely – and it wasn’t “me””enough so in the end it didn’t work out.

Chefwatch: What keeps you going day after day and keeps you fresh?
Legas: New food keeps me fresh. I think I go in cycles a bit – I like a shape or a texture or a flavor. I run through that, and then I find something I haven’t worked with in a while and Whammo! I’m off in a new direction.

Chefwatch: What is your favorite ingredient?
Legas: Eggs and butter – ok, that’s two.

Chefwatch: What is the most memorable meal you’ve ever created?
Legas: Since I’m not responsible for making meals, I’d say that a few things I’ve made are memorable for me at least. Le Ding Dong, Rhubarb Tart with Blackcurrant Tea ice cream and Rhubarb Jus, Lavender Crème Brulee, Oh, and this chocolate-hazelnut mousse cake with 16 layers total – all without flour or leavening so it’s ok for less-than-strict Passover seders, that’s amazing.

Chefwatch: What is the most memorable meal you’ve ever eaten? *
Legas: It would have to be one of the meals I had at the French Laundry – but mostly it was a dish. A friend of mine, Lisa Nakamura, was cooking and she made me this dish with hearts of palm standing on end, filled with a “marrow” of beans (imagine this like a hunk of bone) and then a brunoise of vegetables around it and, maybe, it had a truffled sauce. It was just out of this world!

Chefwatch: Who is your favorite chef or place to eat? *
Legas: Ok, I know that you are looking for person or restaurant here, but really, a simple picnic: bread, wine, cheese, maybe some sausage or salami, and olives on a warm day sitting on a hillside, maybe within sight of the ocean, but with some sort of view. That’s it. That’s heaven.

Chefwatch: What was the most challenging time in your career?
Legas: When I was working at the French Laundry. The hours were long and the people weren’t always treated with respect. And the community at the time was very small and self-focused. It was also the most amazing place to work. Everyone was working for the same goal: it was all about the food, period. I’ve never found that atmosphere again, it’s a really, really rare thing. Mostly I found the personal toll to be the part of the job that was difficult, not the requirements of the job itself. And, without a doubt, I left with admiration and respect for Chef.

Chefwatch: If money, time and manpower were no object what menu would you create?
Legas: Hmmmmm…..

Chefwatch: What one piece of advice would you give to cooks who are just starting out that you wish somebody had told you?
Legas: On a practical level: I wish someone had actually taken the time to teach me how to roll dough. Honest. There are plenty of descriptions of it, but no one bothers to explain the why and how of it.

On a more philosophical level: just take responsibility for your job and your actions. Sweeping things under the rug gets you nowhere – just up and say “I fucked up, I know it, how do I fix it?” Man, if more people did that, kitchens would be much more reasonable places.

Chefwatch: What piece of advice would you give to home cooks out there?
Legas: Trust your gut, not the cookbook.

Chefwatch: Any future plans that you would like to share with us?
Legas: I’ll let you know if I get the job…

Chocolate Velvet Cake

Landy Tang — Mon, 07 May 2007 07:00:00 GMT

* 1 pound finely chopped 70% bittersweet chocolate * 1 c heavy cream * 2 T sugar

* ½ c strong coffee, kept warm, not hot

* 6 eggs * ½ c sugar.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a 9” pan with cooking spray. Line the bottom with parchment. Have a larger pan ready to serve as a water bath.

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Place the chocolate in a bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Turn off the water and place the bowl on top of the pot. Make sure that the water is not touching the bottom of the bowl or the chocolate will scorch. The remaining heat will melt the chocolate, this will take 10 min. or so..

Meanwhile, whip the cream with the 2T of sugar to almost medium peaks. Set aside.

Using the wire whisk attachment, whip the eggs on high speed with a stand mixer until double in volume. It is imperative that you allow the eggs to gain a significant amount of volume BEFORE you begin to add the sugar. If you don’t, the cake will not be correct. Gradually add the ½ c of sugar, 1 T at a time, until the eggs have tripled in volume and are very light and fluffy.
Stir the coffee into the chocolate until combined.

Fold the egg mixture into the chocolate in three additions, working quickly to incorporate each addition well.

Fold in the cream in 2 additions.

Pour the batter into the parchment lined pan. Place this pan in the larger pan. Place the unit into the oven, and fill the outer pan with hot water until it comes about ½ way up the side of the inner pan, preferably until the inner pan floats, this will insure an even cake.

Bake for 35-40 min or until just set. It can be slightly soft in the center as it will firm up on cooling. Remove the inner pan from the water bath and cool on a rack. Once it has cooled, you may refrigerate it up to 5 days, wrapped in plastic.
Slice and serve with crème anglaise (vanilla custard sauce) or crème fraiche.

This cake is best eaten at room temperature. If you have refrigerated it, let it come to room temperature before eating. Cutting with a hot, wet knife makes it easier.
©Claire Legas 2007

Claire Legas from ChefWatch

Claire Legas

Chocolate Velvet Cake